<span style="font-weight: 400;">While scouring the Internet a few days ago, I came across a fascinating diagram of </span><a href="http://sales.resdiary.com/misc/celebrity_chef_mentor_prot%C3%A9g%C3%A9/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">famous chefs and their mentors</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Many of them household names, the kitchen maestros listed all shared one thing in common - they had risen from relative obscurity and been mentored and trained for much bigger things from within.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Chefs have to be great leaders, and it’s always fascinated me that leadership can develop within people who might otherwise reside much further down the company food chain.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The key thing, clearly, is finding these people and nurturing their </span><a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/leadership-and-learning/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">latent leadership talent</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. But how do you do that, and, more importantly, how do you identify such capabilities in the first place?</span>
<ol>
 	<li>
<h3><b> Shift the review focus from performance to potential</b></h3>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you carry out staff reviews, there’s a good chance you’ll focus somewhat more heavily on performance rather than potential.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Current performance is of course a vital metric, but measuring the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">potential </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">of people will help you identify leadership qualities. </span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s important to sweat the small stuff, too; the way they conduct themselves in meetings, for example, might hint at a room-commanding power.</span></p>

<ol start="2">
 	<li>
<h3><b> Assess the level of engagement</b></h3>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Employees often make suggestions for process improvement. However, those who go above and beyond to prove a point when they think their suggestion will change the business profoundly are the ones to watch.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Someone who believes passionately that their idea will incite big change is usually highly and emotionally engaged with the company. They may appear irritating at first, but look deeper; could they be a leader?</span></p>

<ol start="3">
 	<li>
<h3><b> Look for starring roles, not watchers</b></h3>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">People who stand on the side-lines shouldn’t be ignored (and, indeed, some may have hidden leadership qualities), but they stand in the shadow of the people who make things happen.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sticking with the celebrity chef theme, there’s a clear link between the most successful; they all go out of their way to do more outside the kitchen. Almost without exception, they indulge in </span><a href="http://sales.resdiary.com/misc/ingredients_celebrity_head_chef/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">book writing, TV shows and charitable campaigns</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> - far more than ‘simply’ cooking award-winning dishes.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s easy to dismiss this as self-promotion, and while that’s true to a degree, self-promotion can only happen if you stand up from your desk and get on with it.</span></p>

<ol start="4">
 	<li>
<h3><b> Identify regular failures</b></h3>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">People who fail consistently shouldn’t be dismissed as incompetent. </span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">By identifying such employees and reviewing their failures, you might find that they’re simply trying to achieve something far bigger than their current job title and set of responsibilities allows.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">What’s more, if they’re </span><a href="http://leadchangegroup.com/how-to-rectify-a-serious-leadership-mistake/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">embracing failure</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and not allowing it to stunt their drive, you may well have stumbled across a fabulous future leader.</span></p>

<ol start="5">
 	<li>
<h3><b> Find the multitaskers</b></h3>
</li>
</ol>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Employees who dream of more responsibility and the opportunity to inspire others are usually great multitaskers.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you find a particular person who seems keen to take on more tasks at once than should ever be deemed sensible, any naivety must be ignored; they clearly </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">want</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to push themselves to limits with which only leaders are familiar.</span></p>
<b>Wrapping up</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding leaders within your team is wonderful. Beyond the obvious savings in recruitment costs and time, nurturing such people is immensely satisfying and usually results in a leader who has a strong emotional bond with the organisation.</span>