Leadership Traits to Look for While Hiring

The HRT Features Desk Editorial, HR Technologist

April 26, 2017

The nature of business has evolved to become more complex and uncertain, and hence more demanding. Kissing success is no longer a result of mere technical proficiency or business excellence. It is about taking people along with you on the journey, and this calls for some very good leadership qualities. Moreover, the concept of leadership is changing. Leaders are no longer relegated to the C suite. Organizations today demand leadership at every level and every function; it is an intrinsic requisite for professional success. This need must be woven into the talent strategy, particularly the talent acquisition agenda. Here’s how you must build the best of leadership skills as a part of your hiring and selection strategy.

Leadership must be ingrained as a way of life at the workplace. And for this, organizations must aim to identify basic leadership traits when hiring people.

1. Learning orientation: A true leader is one who constantly strives to upgrade himself or herself. It demonstrates a willingness to stay in tune, and take the effort to stay market-relevant. For this, it is important to know whether a candidate is a self-starter when it comes to identifying and pursuing professional development opportunities. The correlation is obvious: Only a person who values such a trait for oneself, will empower his or her team and others around him to do so. To gauge this skill, question candidates on how they developed their skills to reach where they are.

2. Decision-making: Tough times call for tough decisions, and the ability to make a tough decision can make all the difference between success and failure. Taking up an innovation approach, especially, requires one to be fearless in the decision-making approach. Ask the candidate about how he or she took a difficult decision, or resolved a challenge at hand.

3. Keen to gain feedback: A strong desire for professional growth is important to have in every employee, and for this, the employee must be eager to seek constant feedback. It indicates a high willingness to learn and stay up-to-date. Ask the candidate about when they sought out feedback and how they reacted to it.

4. Dynamic personality: Being charismatic is an important trait to be a good leader. Leaders must naturally motivate and inspire, by drawing people to them. Look for the underlying personality of the candidate during the interview. It is sure to shine through.

5. Emotional Intelligence (EI): Leadership is all about taking people along with you, by enthusing and inspiring them towards the common goal. For this, a leader must develop high empathy, and understand other people’s emotions well. Mere task orientation does not work well without an equally strong people orientation to aid communication and collaboration. Ask the candidate about a time when he or she demonstrated EI.

6. Quality focus: The real mark of a true leader is the willingness to go the extra mile to deliver the best, be it a product or a customer experience. Evaluate the candidate for quality consciousness, thoroughness and ability to put heart and soul into the task at hand. Refrain from hiring someone with a half-hearted approach. Inquire about specific examples of work or metrics that showcase the quality of their work.

These are some of the inherent leadership qualities that must be present to a certain extent in your selected candidate. You may then need to fine-tune these traits to fall in line with your organizational agenda by organizing culture and learning and development interventions for the new hire.