I may soon be in a leadership role or more authoritative one how do you know you are ready?

This put into words something I struggled to convey to anyone, but always felt was right.

Solitude and Leadership

The leaders I’ve respected have had a good sense of themselves and are equally comfortable making decisions and asking for help. I think you’re ready when you’re confident in your ability to do both calmly and without ego.

Congrats on the promotion. Someone thinks you’re ready.

I can’t understand why are so confuse about it. Leadership means you have a leader quality, socialism, problem solving techniques, problem resolving techniques, convincing power and most important thing you have a confidence on you. Don’t thing about it, just open yourself, build a leader quality & go for it.

The short answer is, you won’t be ready for it. But asking us and more importantly, asking yourself if you are ready is the first step toward becoming the kind of leader you admire. And over time you will grow into the role.

I’ll second what @Pachyderm_In_The_Room has said. In many ways you will not only “not be ready” right now, but you will “never be ready”. So you have to deal with that lack within yourself, and deal with the people you’re leading, and deal with the situations presented anyway. But maintaining your introspection is always valuable. Attempt to see yourself with others’ eyes (and ears) and develop yourself, because it’s doubtful that anyone else will attempt to develop you.

Never forget that you can be replaced. It’s nice to have a little say in the world but at the same time never forget that someone else always has more.

You don’t know if you are ready until it is thrust upon you. All of the theory and book learning in the world can’t make you ready. It is being in the situation, working with the people you are leading, and figuring out the group dynamics that make a leader.

Your best approach is to take on the role, but then be able to think and react quickly to the situations that arise.

You porbably won’t know until about a year after you start. If you are nervous about it, that is a good sign that you are ready.

Once you start the job, give yourself time to adjust to the role. Always be fair, honest and above all, talk to your staff. Make them feel valued. If you don’t, you might end up with a lot of unhappy people looking to go somewhere else to work. I don’t feel valued and I am looking for somewhere else to work. It really does make a difference.
Good luck.

I was recently blindsided by a leadership role. I was in no way, shape, or form ready to take it on but I had no other choice. The first decision I made was to not panic. Panic kills. The second decision was that only my wife would be the one to see my self doubt. I would project a confidence I didn’t feel around everyone else. This was three months ago. The false confidence is now being replaced with a real confidence as I continue to get a grip on things. I still feel overwhelmed but it is now at a tolerable level.

Just bear in mind that you will make a lot of mistakes. This is all right.

Dwelling and fretting over those mistakes is not all right.

Learning from those mistakes so that you can avoid them in the future is all right.

Well, you won’t know until you actually attempt it. I had 3 opportunities to be in management, and all of them failed for me. My first try was at a food plant where they pushed a lead mechanic position on me (because they couldn’t fill it in through normal means), and I got tired of getting yelled at by my manager despite the fact that we were shorthanded, and that they just didn’t pay well enough for the skill level that they required. That ended in less than two months for me, and I went back to my old position.

I’m not going to bring up the other two opportunities here, but unless I own the place, or be in a situation where I would have more power than I did before, I don’t think I’d be ready for a management position. I can’t post anything else outside of my own experiences.

You are ready when competent people ask you to do it. You are not ready when you have to convince competent people that you want such a role now.