How to Identify and Foster Young Leaders at Your Firm

Growing a company from the ground up and promoting from within helps strengthen the culture and productivity of an organization. Identifying young leaders at your firm can help you find the next great generation of managers, executives and team leads who know the company inside and out. All members of a company can and should be focused on growth and professional development. As you begin to identify and foster future leaders in your organization, seek out those who are more oriented toward personal and team growth and can communicate their thoughts clearly. 

Here is a list of qualities of a future leader that can help you as you search for the next class of company leaders, managers and more. 

Leaders Are Learning-Oriented

The best way to identify young leaders in the workplace is to find who is always trying to learn and improve. Forward-thinking team members are not satisfied with staying in the same place and doing the same thing day-in and day-out. Future leaders in your organization will strive to learn new things and improve on their past work. They understand that they do not know everything, and likely they never will. Future leaders in your organization will admit that and will also work hard to never stop learning. 

Foster learning opportunities for your team and encourage employees to try new things. Provide opportunities and challenges to young leaders, and let them learn how to overcome hardships in the workplace. Offer your future team leaders encouragement while also letting them know that sometimes, failure is necessary for future growth and success. After you identify young leaders in the workplace, help them continue to learn and grow as a professional so they can succeed once they secure a leadership position. 

Leaders Communicate

Future leaders are those who have perfected the art of communication. Identify team members who are excellent at communicating their needs, project updates, issues and challenges. Open, two-way communication is essential for fostering a productive and positive work environment. That communication starts with leadership and runs throughout the organization. 

As you foster young leaders at your firm, encourage them to keep communication open and honest while still being professional. Verbally reward good communication by thanking them and reciprocating honest and clear communication. Finally, allow future leaders opportunities to communicate with your team. Give them roles where they can distribute information and lead meetings. This will help prepare them for future leadership positions in your organization.

Leaders Are Flexible

In any organization, a good sign of a future leader is someone who is always up to the challenge. Strong leaders are flexible and can respond to adversity and adjust on the fly. Identify individuals who can remain calm under pressure and can tackle a job without complaining or without needing excessive assistance. Not everyone has to be able to put a fire out themselves, but they should know where to start and how to hold their own. As you look for team members who may be at the organization long-term, notice who can be flexible in a changing and fast-paced environment. Pay attention to who bounces back after a negative review, a mistake or just a bad day. These are key qualities of a future leader who can help your team grow and develop.

Leaders Are Humble

Another way to identify future leaders in the workplace is to see who has a sense of humility. Leaders and strong individual team members both hold themselves accountable and are able to own up to their mistakes. They know they are not perfect and will be the first to admit so. While a strong leader may not make many mistakes, they will take ownership and keep in mind that they are, in fact, human. 

Humility is a strong quality of a future leader. Whether they are acknowledging an error or are celebrating a team victory, they are always focused on continued growth and learning. Even when they do celebrate success, they do so in a team context, acknowledging the hard work others put into a project.

As you foster leadership opportunities for your team, pay attention to who has a team mindset, who is humble and who is self-oriented. Give these team members challenges and team-centric projects. Gather input from the team and ask how the project went and why it was a success. This will give you valuable insight into who may be ready for future leadership responsibility.

Find Future Leaders with Pinnacle

Whether you are looking for talented young individuals who will be at your firm long-term, or more seasoned employees who are ready to step into leadership vacancies, identifying the right qualities and the right talent is essential. Knowing what makes a good leader will help you in your search and can help you on the path towards future growth. 

The recruiters at Pinnacle understand how important a strong team built of future leaders can be. Growing your company from the ground up is a great way to develop a strong culture, promote opportunity and reward employees. As you search for new talent to join your team and to grow long-term, work with the recruiters at Pinnacle. We have helped many clients in Pittsburgh find top talent in the area and can help you, too. Contact us and get started on your talent pipeline.