My experience working with young and new leaders has taught me one crucial lesson 🧑🏫: hire for attitude, not just for competencies.
In an ideal world, you’d get both.
But reality rarely works that way.
💡 When promoting a high-performing employee into a leadership role, remember, being great at their job doesn’t automatically make them a great leader.
Leadership is a skill set that needs time, mentorship, education, and coaching to develop.
As the one promoting them, it’s your responsibility to support their growth. You can mentor them yourself or bring in professional guidance, but they will need time to evolve.
When hiring for leadership roles, organizations often look for the complete package 📦.
Skills, experience, and motivation.
But if you have to choose, hire for attitude.
Skills can be learned.
Just like a promoted employee needs time to grow into their leadership role, a new hire with the right mindset can develop the necessary competencies.
Your role as a leader is to adapt your style to support these emerging leaders. 👉 At first, they may need more direction.
Over time, they’ll grow into independence.
Be intentional with your leadership.
Hire motivated people.
Develop their potential.
The impact will be worth it.