How can leaders assess leadership potential?
You will need to spot potential and then nurture it within young leaders. This is critical in the health and longevity of any church.
Here are 17 Questions to help you assess leadership potential.
These questions are derived from Oswald Chamber’s book entitled Spiritual Leadership. There are actually 20 questions within his book. These seventeen are the ones that I find to be most helpful within my context.
1. Have you ever broken a bad habit?
- To lead others, you must master your appetites
2. Do you keep self-control when things to wrong?
- The leader who loses control under adversity forfeits respect and influence.
- A leader must be calm in crisis and resilient in disappointment.
3. Do you think independently?
- A leader must use the best ideas of others to make decisions,.
- A leader cannot wait for others to make up his or her mind.
4. Can you handle criticism?
- The humble person can learn from petty criticism, even malicious criticism.
5. Can you turn disappointment into a creative new opportunity?
6. Do you readily gain the cooperation of others and win their respect and confidence?
7. Can you exert discipline without making a power play?
- True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and needs no show of external force.
8. Are you a peacemaker?
- A leader must be able to reconcile with opponents and make peace where arguments have created hostility.
9. Do people trust you with challenging and delicate situations?
10. Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without taking offense?
- Leaders always face opposition.
11. Do you depend on the praise of others to keep you going?
12. Can you hold steady in the face of disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?
13. Are you interested in people?
- All types? All races? No prejudice?
14. Are you tactful?
- You should be able to anticipate how your words will impact a person.
15. Is your will strong and steady?
- Leaders cannot vacillate or cannot drift with the wind.
16. Can you forgive?
- Or do you nurse resentments and hold grudges toward those who have hurt you?
17. Are you reasonably optimistic?
- Pessimism and leadership do not mix.