Related stories

Thinking About Business in New Years China Business Summit Held in Beijing Brands in Transition: Making it Work in China One Night in Beijing, Luxury in China Foreign Banks Granted More Freedom in Currency Business

Identifying Leaders in Your Organization

Are You Really Up for Being a Leader?

The first leadership quality that I try to identify is a person’s overall willingness to take on responsibility. If you are managing a team, then your team members’ quality of work, work attitude, and commitment to achieving results are a direct reflection of your leadership ability as far as your company’s top management is concerned. The success or failure of the team and each individual on your team is your responsibility. Therefore, as a manager of people, you have to be prepared to take on the responsibility to do whatever is needed to bring about a successful outcome for those you are leading.

Actually, it is not just the people you manage that you need to be responsible for; you must also be accountable for your own decisions. By definition, a leader is up front, the face of the company in many situations. Here you are constantly determining the direction and objectives for the group. As you move higher in an organization, your effect on others increases in importance. As a result, you have to be willing to make critical decisions, but also to live with and support the results. 

What is Your Value to Others?

In addition, the levels of responsibility and commitment that are involved to take on a leadership role require you to have a basic desire to want to make a difference for those under your charge. As a result, the second quality that I look for when trying to identify strong leaders for our company is whether they fundamentally care about others.

One of our client company’s personnel directors said, “Unfortunately, many mainland managers that I’ve seen tend to be ‘me-centered’ and do not convey a real interest in the development and success of those that they manage. They place too much emphasis on authority as a leadership approach and do not recognize the effectiveness of providing value to others as a way to win over and motivate their team. Just ask yourself: to what extent are you willing to follow someone who you feel does not have genuine concern for your success or well-being? On the other hand, what is your willingness to work hard and overcome obstacles for someone that you feel has your best interest in mind?”

A True Sense of Leadership

In providing a good example of this, I’d like to talk about the leadership approach of our Shanghai branch manager, Rita Dong. In addition to opening and overseeing many of our key client accounts, she leads a growing organization of more than 25 search professionals in Shanghai. Not too bad for someone who only recently turned 27.

Dong did not exactly begin her career on the professional management fast-track. Before joining our company, she was a hotel management trainee and then an executive assistant to the general manager for a leading international telecommunications company. When she came to Wang & Li four years ago, she began as an office administrator for our Beijing office. Within a month, however, it was apparent that she was capable of doing much more. She demonstrated her capabilities with every opportunity presented to her. As a result, her career is on the rise. 

What makes Dong one of the most outstanding young leaders that I’ve ever met is that at such a young age she is able to develop and lead other professionals in our company, even those five–ten years older than her. While I have met many impressive, young individual contributors over the years, I don’t know many who are mature and capable enough to be such a strong people manager at such an early career stage. What allows her to do that so successfully is that she always wants the team that she’s a part of to do well and does everything that she can to make that happen. 

“The main thing that I try to do as a manager and leader is to help others be more successful. At my age, I know people may initially doubt my capabilities,” said Dong. “So I don’t try to impose my ideas or presence on others. I just try to lead by example and support my colleagues in whatever ways that I can to help them do their job better. Actually, it’s much more satisfying to me personally to see someone on my team close a big case than for me to do that myself.”

“Dong’s generosity as a colleague and leader is really exceptional,” said Echo Cui, Wang & Li’s Beijing branch manager. “When I first joined the company as a new search consultant, Dong never tried to establish her authority or superiority with me. Instead, I really felt that she was interested in helping me out. She proved that time and time again by offering me advice, input, or whatever else I needed. Even though I’m several years older, I’ve learned a lot from her. In many ways, she’s my role model for many of the things that I’m trying to do well as a leader myself.”

In your own organization, who are the people who are willing to take on responsibility and who demonstrate a genuine interest in looking after and adding value to the success of others?  In terms of staff who may be worth investing in as future leaders in your organization, I believe that the people who come to mind in response to these two key qualities are ones who are worth serious consideration.

Larry Wang is the founder and CEO of Wang & Li Asia Resources, a leading Greater China recruitment and staff development services firm. Wang is well-recognized for his career planning and development expertise to bilingual/international-calibre management professionals working in China. Larry Wang’s column will appear monthly in Business Beijing. For more information please visit: www.wang-li.com.