Our society and culture are obsessed with leadership. Universities, government agencies, private sectors, and other entity busy making new initiatives that involve youth in preparing their future to become a great leader. With so many options out there, you may be wondering which program suits best for you and the more important question is: Do I really have the quality to become a leader?

If you can relate to most of these 7 signs, the answer just might be YES, you are a true future leader.

You are a true future leader if you…

1. love making PLANS. You clearly understand where you want to go so you are able to plan accordingly on how to achieve. For there is a famous quote saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. So what plans do you have in mind now?
2. have EMPATHY. If you precisely see what someone else feels and urge to take real action towards it, then you are a leader in the making. Studies reveal that higher empathy level on someone increases their leadership quality, because empathy involves a growth mindset.
3. are a SELF-STARTER. You love to seize every moment to not just wait, but make the very first move from yourself. You think critically and start acting as the role model because you are aware that lead-others starts from lead-yourself.
4. are COACHABLE. We all ALWAYS have things to learn. But the question is, are you ready to receive and act upon the feedback? McKinsey and Company mentioned in its recent article, that successful consultants who made it to partner position are those who are coachable.
5. dare to PERFORM. You like to express ideas, are encouraged to thinking out loud, and let others know your true quality. Once in a while, you take the challenge to perform in bigger scene to deliver speech. Even though you are very nervous about it, your gut says that you can do it.
6. are up to making CONNECTION. African proverb said, “Alone you can go fast. Together you can go far”. Carrying the spirit of collaboration, you enjoy meeting new people and maintain the relationship to work together. You also know how to behave when you communicate with high-level people, yet you are not awkward to have a conversation with the local people in grassroot.
7. are not afraid to CHANGE. One thing that will never change is the change itself. You are not afraid of change coming because you see the change as a sign that you are moving forward, you are progressing. You are not afraid to change as necessary either because being adaptive is needed to survive.

These 7 characteristics are commonly found in a leader, whether it’s formal or non-formal one. By now you might think that you don’t have all of them at the moment. That’s totally fine, because leadership is an ongoing process. The next step would be finding the best way to unleash your leadership potential.

Good luck, future leaders!