Why use a talent assessment to find future leaders? An organization that promotes from within will have very little trouble recognizing potential leaders because a past job performance is usually a good measurement of leadership skills and abilities. But what if the company is seeking to hire recent college graduates who will be developed into future leaders over time? The human resource manager can use an asssessment to determine the best candidates for a leadership position.

An organization may want to also develop, revamp or upgrade a leadership training program that has become obsolete. As the leadership training committee maps out a plan to find likely candidates for training. They can also develop their ownassessment and interview process. A talent assessment for leadership abilities can be given as part of a psychometric assessment that includes aptitude and personality testing. There are twelve indicators of a good leader that can be determined thorugh a talent assessment.

1. Carefulness - a tendency to plan and think before speaking or acting.

2. Cooperation - the ability to be likeable and genial in interpersonal relationships.

3. Creativity - the ability and willingness to think "outside the box"

4. Discipline - a tendency towards being dependable, responsible, and able to follow through in order to complete tasks

5. Goodwill - able to be forgiving and to think of others as having good intentions

6. Influence - ability to impress others by speaking with authority

7. Optimism - tendency toward a positive attitude and having confidence in favorable outcomes

8. Order - naturally neat and has good organizational skills

9. Savvy - ability to read people to know their needs and intentions

10. Sociability - enjoys being with other people at work and at social gatherings

11. Stability - ability to remain calm and rational during stressful situations

12. Striving - abiity to keep pushing and working hard to obtain goals

There are more than enough assessments in the marketplace to choose from. Employers may also wish to develop their own assessment the is customized to their particular organization. The best advice would be to compare several assessments to get a feel of the questions asked and what report one can expect to get before finalizing a decision. The talent assessment can help an organization save time by looking for leadership abilities at the same time it is hiring. When a company knows it is in need of potential leaders to replace leaders who will be retiring in a few years, using assessments can help identify those potential leaders.