Leadership potential can be assessed by determining if you demonstrate the competencies or effective leadership behaviours that are needed for a leadership role.
Give yourself 2 points for each statement you strongly agree with and 1 point for those you moderately agree with. If you don’t agree, give yourself 0 points.
__When I make a mistake, I try to do damage control so that no one finds out.
__Sometimes I don’t tell the whole truth to my boss.
__I get frustrated when the legacy mistakes of my predecessors affect my job so I make sure that everyone knows it happened before my time.
__I am all for hearing the ideas of others, but I believe that the leader needs to have a strong opinion of the way it needs to be and stick with it.
__A leader is a very powerful person that should be respected.
__A leader will always have their favourite employees; I strive to be one of the favourites.
__I am very competitive and do not like working with people who are smarter or more competent than I am.
__Sometimes I get overwhelmed with information and ignore new information or changes as it can really slow me down.
__I tend to deal with the immediate concerns first and consider the long term implications after things are under control.
__I will share information with others once I’ve had a chance to fully absorb it.
__I ignore contentious issues and wait to see if they will resolve themselves.
__Writing is not my strong suit so I make sure that I have people below me that can write my memos, reports and other communication documents.
__I do have a temper and my coworkers are aware of it.
__I cry frequently at work, especially when I’m stressed or frustrated.
__I find performance reviews very difficult as I know what my weaknesses are; I don’t need others pointing them out for me.
__I am more interested in long term planning and leave the short term planning to others.
__There never seems to be enough behind-the-scenes resources to support my initiatives.
__I set strategic goals for my department first and then see if they mesh with corporate strategic plans.
__The job of the legal and PR departments is to cover my back if I say something inappropriate in public.
__I prefer to make things happen than create a vision or big picture.
Total your score. If you scored:
0-3 = You were born to lead. You are a natural at it. Leadership comes easily to you and you excel at it. If you are not in a leadership role currently, you may find more career satisfaction if you move into a leadership role. Talk to your boss or supervisor and let them know of your interest in a leadership role.
4-9 = You may have leadership potential but you’ll need to take some leadership training so that you understand the role of a leader clearly. Read every leadership book you can get your hands on as it will help you reprogram your thinking and understand how you can be more effective as a leader.
10 or more = You are more of a follower and probably have been criticized for having a bad attitude. Chances are high you are miserable in your current career and you can’t see a future for yourself – it is probably time for a major career shake up.
Reference: Key Leadership Competencies – Government of Canada
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