Maureen Moriarty's column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer asks, "Do you have what it takes to be a leader?" She notes, rightly, that many people get promoted to boss because they're good workers, not because they show any aptitude for leadership. She's got her own list of what you should have.  Here's mine.

Before I get to the list, though, let's clear something up. When you get put in charge of a group, you don't have any choice about being a leader.

You will be the leader because the members of the group will treat you like the leader.  What you do have is a choice about what kind of leader you'll be. 

Here are some things to ask yourself to figure out your personal leadership potential. Honest answers will serve you well. This is not a list of good and bad. It is a list of the things that people who are successful as leaders have to do.

Are you willing to be responsible for performance?  One of your jobs as a leader is to accomplish the mission through the group. If you're not willing to be accountable for the group's performance you will have absolutely zero credibility with your boss and your team.

Are you willing to be responsible for the performance of others?  Lots of people who are OK with being responsible for their own performance break out in a rash when it comes to being responsible for the performance of others. But that's what leaders so. As one of my trainees put it, "When you're promoted, the team is your destiny."  Can you live with that?

Do you like helping other people succeed? If that's not something you like to do, management will be a bad choice for you.  One part of your job is accomplishing the mission through the group, but the other is caring for your people and helping them develop and succeed.  If you don't like helping people that will be very hard to do.

Can you make decisions? Your boss will ask you for decisions. Your team members will ask you. Customers and peers will ask you. If you can't make decisions, you can't be a good leader.

Can you confront the people who work for you on a daily basis about their performance and behavior?  This is very hard, almost impossible, for some people.  But remember this. The earlier you talk to people about a behavior or performance issue, the easier it is to deal with it.

Are you willing to work at improving your skills and the skills of your people? The learning of a leader is never done, and the learning work is often invisible. Good leaders keep learning and growing.  Are you up for that?

If you can honestly answer "yes" to the above, then you can learn pretty much everything else.  You can learn to identify and build on your strengths and your team members' strengths. You can learn to communicate effectively, think through strategies, read financial statements and just about everything else you'll be asked to do. 

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

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