From the C-Suite to the first level supervisor, all leaders supervise someone. That is, all leaders are called upon to perform some sort of oversight function. And, in so doing, they need to ensure that their subordinates have the right resources, the opportunities, the capabilities, and the support necessary to have a fighting chance to do a good job.

But how do you measure whether someone is an effective leader when it comes to supervising others? Here are five supervisory skills you can use:

Ability to Analyze Strengths and Weaknesses: Have you had a situation where the leader was faced with a challenge and you were able to observe them close up? What about assigning tasks to subordinates? Consider how effective the leader was in these instances.

Effectiveness at Identifying and Providing Leadership Development for Their Team: Whether the job is highly technical or not, there will most likely be instances where all employees need some training. So consider whether the leader gives everyone an opportunity to participate in training.  Do they just offer training to the chosen few, the high-potentials, or do they offer training opportunities to all who are wanting to learn and grow?

Opportunities to Exercise and Enhance Skills: It is one thing to provide training. It is quite another to create opportunities for employees to apply what they have learned. That is what development is all about. What about allowing employees to try out new tasks or maybe even train others? These are all areas for consideration.

Identifying and Setting Reasonable Goals: Do employees know what they are expected to do and when? Are employee performance goals linked to organizational performance goals? Are the goals reasonable and achievable? These are just three quick questions that can provide insight about the leader’s ability to manage priorities and achieve results.

Leaders Must Possess Interpersonal Skills: Leadership is not just about telling others to do a good job. It is about having the ability to work with, communicate with, and work shoulder to shoulder with their team. They will face challenges. Someone will bring a heart ache into work from home. How will you handle that as their leader?

So the next time you have to evaluate the skills and potential of a leader (or critique your own performance), you may want to do so in light of these skills. Are there other skills that make a good leader? Absolutely. But these will give us something to think about today.

• What do you think of the list?
• What would you add to the list?

Are you brave enough to share some example or anecdote from your own experience?

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Photo credit: erkuthanci / Foter / (CC BY 2.0)
Photo credit: the past tends to disappear / Foter / (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)