How do you determine the leadership potential of an engineer who has never managed people before? What criteria do you use to evaluate potential managers?

We almost always “pilot” people leaders with some projects where they need to lead people for a determined purpose and duration. If they are successful we expand their role. If it fails at the end no face is lost and they continue with their technological role and we jointly discuss areas of improvement. Perhaps they need more time to develop objective skills or communication skills with people. Each situation is unique but doing leadership on a trial basis can be helpful for both the future leader and for the company

- Watch how they manage their work.

- See if they can abstract their work details and be able to explain it to people outside of the domain.

- See if they like to draw diagrams to explain things and get people on the same page.

- See how they interact with their peers. Do they get the respect and offer a helping hands as needed?

- See if they value team success more than individual.

- See if they can understand why they’re working on what they’re doing.

The list can continue on, there’s no shortcuts. You need to develop the skills of people assessment through the years.