I had a friend who bought a business, and he didn’t know who to put in charge. The former CEO left, and he believed that the current team had the horsepower to lead the business without bringing in an outside hire. He just needed to know who should sit in the big chair.
So here’s what he did, and how you can spot the real leader in any room.
Observe the group
The first thing he did was to attend executive team meetings for a few months. He didn’t make any comments. He just watched, interested to see the dynamics of how the group interacted with each other.
Spot who the leader is
His rule of thumb for spotting the leader is simple. He only does one thing. You can do it too:
Watch who people direct their comments to
That person may or may not have a title. They may have lots of education or none.
None of that matters. What matters is who sorts out to be the lead dog on the team. And the team actually decides that on their own, by following that person.
After a few months, it became obvious who the real leader was, and he put that person in charge. The champion is crowned in the ring!
Here’s how to know if you’re the real leader or not
Look behind you. Are people following you? Do they listen when you talk? Can your ideas win the day? Having followers is a key sign that you’re a leader 🙂
If you want to explore this idea more, check out my free leadership self test. How do you score? How does your team score you? Download it here for free:
Incidentally, the video above has some additional content that may interest you on this topic. And we’re all interested in hearing your comments about spotting the real leader in any group. Leave them below for everyone to see!
Getting ahead is about getting started! Cheering for you!
Trevor Throness is a speaker, consultant, and author of “The Power of People Skills.” He is also co-founder and senior instructor at professionalleadershipinstitute.com https://professionalleadershipinstitute.com/
Find more about “The Power of People Skills” here: https://www.amazon.com/Power-People-Skills-Dramatically-Performance/dp/1632651068
