Qualities to Look For When Selecting Leaders and the Selection Process - Assignment Example

I will look for managerial, leadership, and behavioral qualities, skills, and attitudes that are essential for high performance (Arthur 2001). The qualities include adaptability, conformity with company policies, communication skills, interpersonal skills, decision-making abilities, creativity and innovativeness, integrity, and leadership qualities.
Adaptability
I will look at the ability of the manager or leader to adapt to the current organisational climate including the current challenges in order to ensure minimum disruption with the current activities of the company (Arthur 2001).
Compliance
I will look at the ability of the candidate to comply with the existing company procedures and policies in his or her area of responsibility.
Communication and interpersonal skills
I will select the candidate on the basis of excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to adapt the communication method to the situation and the audience (Allen 2004). I will look at the clarity in the communication and interpersonal skills that are essential in building trust and cordial relationships within the company (Allen 2004). The candidate must be able to listen to subordinate grievances and have emotional intelligence in order to maintain subordinates’ anger.
Conflict management
I will look at the ability to prevent counter-productive tensions and the ability to solve the conflicts in a productive manner that leads to a win-win situation for all conflicting parties.
Creativity and innovativeness
This is an essential quality of managers and leaders and I look at the candidate’s ability to initiate new ideas and new solutions to problems within the company. I will also look at the capability of encouraging new approaches from the subordinates and the ability to influence the subordinates towards commitment to the new ideas (Allen 2004).
Decision-making abilities
I will look at the ability to take decisive and informed decisions with limited time and resources within the company. The candidate must be capable of evaluating alternative courses of action and understanding the implications of each alternative decision (Gupta 2008).
Leadership qualities
I will look at the integrity and flexibility of the candidate. I will also gauge the capacity of the candidate to influence the efforts of subordinates towards the attainment of shared goals. I will assess the risk-taking abilities, the ability to ensure teamwork, and sensitivity towards the needs of others (Gupta 2008).
Appreciation of diversity
I will also assess the candidate’s appreciation and awareness of cultural diversity and ability to leverage such cultural differences in order to enhance the productivity of the company (Bunting 2007).
Steps in the selection process
The selection process will consist of preliminary screening of applications, competency- interviews, background screening and reference checks, selection decisions (Bunting 2007).
The first step will include screening the job applications and shortlisting potential candidates who meet the job characteristics and requirements such as the educational qualifications and experience required (Bunting 2007). Read More