Most companies already have their next leader on payroll.
They just haven’t activated them yet.
Leadership used to be something you waited to see—someone “stepping up.”
But these days, the better approach is to look for the signs they already are.
If you’re serious about growing your business, developing internal leadership is the smartest play. Let’s break down how to do it.
Soft Skills Are the Starting Point
When evaluating someone’s leadership potential, don’t start with their job title. Start with their soft skills.
We look for four traits every time:
- Empathy: Can they actually listen and respond thoughtfully?
- Urgency: Do they push projects forward without being told?
- Humility: Are they willing to admit mistakes and learn from them?
- Financial IQ: Do they understand how the business actually makes money?
These qualities are far more predictive than technical ability. You can teach someone how to use a CRM. You can’t teach urgency overnight.
Not Everyone Gets an Invite
Before we train, we qualify.
When we built our Emerging Leaders program, we didn’t blast an invite to the entire org. We selected candidates based on:
- Core value alignment
- Peer nominations
- Real-world behavior that signals leadership
- Their ability to role-play hard conversations
That last one matters more than you’d think. If someone can step into a tough role-play scenario and hold their own, it’s a strong indicator they’re ready for more.
Weekly Training, Daily Reinforcement
Leadership isn’t something you teach once. It’s something you build over time.
That’s why we run two programs every week:
- Emerging Leaders: Focused on high-potential employees preparing to manage others.
- Current Leaders: Designed to sharpen skills like decision-making, coaching, and accountability.
Every session follows a consistent structure:
- We review core values and highlight real behaviors that match them.
- We cover a focused topic—something like “Crucial Conversations” or “Coaching Under Pressure.”
- We keep the format dynamic: breakout sessions, group discussions, short video lessons.
Nobody zones out because the content is directly tied to what they face every day on the job.
Build a Culture That Surfaces Leaders
Leadership doesn’t live in theory. It lives in culture.
We’ve structured our company in a way that helps leaders emerge:
- P&Ls and departmental goals are visible to everyone
- Core values are repeated constantly—not just printed on the wall
- Meeting rhythms are consistent across all teams
- Site visits are run by team leads, not just managers
When someone can teach a concept—whether it's technical or cultural—they understand it on a deeper level. That’s where real growth happens.
Track Behavior, Not Just Talk
You can’t develop what you don’t measure.
That’s why we look for specific behaviors when evaluating progress:
- Are they stepping in to solve problems without waiting for permission?
- Do they hold their peers accountable—even when it’s uncomfortable?
- Are they taking ownership over results, not just tasks?
Leadership isn’t about volume. It’s about responsibility.
The best indicators are what they do when nobody’s watching.
Test Before You Promote
Leadership roles shouldn’t be handed out based on tenure or job performance alone.
Test your future leaders by giving them controlled challenges.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Assign them a short-term project with real business impact
- Let them mentor a new hire
- Have them run a portion of a weekly meeting or job huddle
You’re looking for initiative, not perfection. Can they handle pressure, communicate clearly, and bring others along?
Why This Approach Works
You don’t need to reinvent your future leaders.
You just need to give them structure, clear expectations, and the tools to grow.
When you create a culture that rewards the right behaviors—and give people the chance to lead before they have the title—something powerful happens.
You stop searching for leaders.
You start creating them.
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