According to J. Oswald Sanders, here are some ways to investigate your potential:

–          Have you ever broken a bad habit?  To lead others, you must master your appetites.

–          Do you keep self-control when things go wrong?  The leader who loses control under adversity forfeits respect and influence.  A leader must be calm in crisis and resilient in disappointment.

–          Do you think independently?  A leader must use the best ideas of others to make decisions.  A leader cannot wait for others make up his or her mind.

–          Can you handle criticism?  Can you profit from it?  The humble person can learn from petty criticism, even malicious criticism.

–          Can you turn disappointment into creative new opportunity?

–          Do you readily gain the cooperation of others and win their respect and confidence?

–          Can you exert discipline without making a power play?  True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and needs no show of external force.

–          Are you a peacemaker?  A leader must be able to reconcile with opponents and make peace where arguments have created hostility.

–          Do people trust you with difficult and delicate situations?

–          Can you induce people to do happily some legitimate thing that they would not normally wish to do?

–          Can you accept opposition to your viewpoint or decision without taking offense?  Leaders always face opposition.

–          Can you make and keep friends?  Your circle of loyal friends is an index of your leadership potential.

–          Do you depend on the praise of others to keep you going?  Can you hold steady in the face of disapproval and even temporary loss of confidence?

–          Are you at ease in the presence of strangers?  Do you get nervous in the presence of your superior?

–          Are you interested in people?  All types?  All races?  No prejudice?

–          Are you tactful?  Can you anticipate how your words will affect a person?

–          Is your will strong and steady?  Leaders cannot vacillate or cannot drift with the wind.

–          Can you forgive?  Or do you nurse resentments and harbor ill-feelings towards those who have injured you?

–          Are you reasonably optimistic?  Pessimism and leadership do not mix.

–          Do you feel a master passion such as that of Paul, who said, “This one thing I do!”  Such a singleness of motive will focus your energies and powers on the desired objective.  Leaders need a strong focus.

–          Do you welcome responsibility?

Copied from pages 36-37 of J. Oswald Sanders’ classic book “Spiritual Leadership.”