Your best leaders are probably not considering leadership

It was 2005. She was 27 years old and starting a career as an electrical engineer. Fresh out of a grueling master’s program, Nala (alias) was eager to get her head out of the books and into some real work.

“If anyone was ever born to be an engineer, it was me. I knew very early on that this was what I was going to do.”

She landed what was a dream job for her and logged a few fast years with one of the world’s most innovative manufacturers of high-tech componentry. Soon Nala began to see the world differently. As she walked through big box stores, drove her car, or lounged on the couch in her apartment, she couldn’t see electronics, appliances, and devices without seeing what was inside. She was now part of a team that made many of these products possible.

“I kind of had to pinch myself,”?she said with a faraway smile.

And then she looked back at me, eyes bulged and laughing,?“I could not possibly have been more unprepared for what came next!”

Nala had been one of several dozen engineers assigned to a Detroit-based SWAT team deployed to deliver technology that had been promised but didn’t yet work. Time was slipping and pressure was mounting. The team’s two leaders floundered, and performance began to sputter, badly.

“We all expected one of the executives from corporate to show up with a hatchet,”?she recalled.

No one came. Instead, on a snowy Saturday morning, Nala’s phone rang. It was the Senior Vice President of the division.

Laughing to me again, Nala said,?“I knew his name, but I had never even been in the same room with him. It took me a minute to realize who I was talking to.”

Condensing details, Nala was asked to step up to lead the Detroit team. The SVP did not mince words. Her new job would begin with an ugly assignment: Dismantle and rebuild the entire team, starting immediately, which meant Monday.

The words Nala used to convey her shock were… colorful. Her memories of those moments almost two decades ago remain vivid. She remembers that when the call ended with the SVP, she hadn’t yet begun to sort out how she would approach her new job. She was stuck trying to process something more basic.

She put it plainly,?“In my mind, I wasn’t a leader. I was an engineer. Until that moment, I had never even considered being a leader.”

No one from corporate was coming, with a hatchet or otherwise. Others had seen attributes in Nala that she herself had never seen. They believed she was the right one to rebuild Detroit, even if she had no clue how to begin.

In the weeks and months that followed, with help Nala carried out tasks more painful and exhausting than what many leaders encounter over the course of their entire careers.

At this point in the story, her smile faded.?“About three or four months in, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t last. I started looking into other jobs, other companies, even other careers. I was done.”

That is, until the new team started to perform. Condensing once more, the Detroit team under Nala’s leadership began to gel in ways she didn’t anticipate. Before long, it found its footing and over time soared beyond anyone’s expectations.

I’m skipping over many of the specific leadership tactics (perhaps that’s another post) because what Nala shared next is the point of this week’s newsletter. She said,?“That’s when I discovered my ambition to be a leader.”

Today, Nala is SVP of the division she joined nearly two decades ago. That first leadership assignment, which she guided from near failure to success, sparked something that she hadn’t known was there.

Nala had no idea she could be a great leader. She had never even considered it.

And she’s not alone. Nor is her story unique to people who have never been leaders. We found in our?newly released CEO Report ?that 20% of CEOs never expected to be CEO. They were drawn into it by thoughtful development, professional coaching, and guidance from CEOs and other senior leaders. Interestingly, and much like Nala, these “unexpected” CEOs turn out to bring some of the strongest skill sets, like more nuanced relationship building and the ability to lead with empathy.

Oh, and one more biggie that may come as no surprise if you’re paying attention to diversity and inclusion trends: Unexpected CEOs are significantly?more likely to be women, from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, and younger. ?

I didn’t ask Nala if she considers herself to be a potential CEO, but if past is prelude, the thought may never have crossed her mind. And that may just strengthen the case for considering her.

How many leaders in your organization have never even considered leadership, or stepping up to a much bigger assignment? What might happen to your business and your culture if you could find some people like Nala and unleash the dormant leadership greatness that’s just waiting for the right opportunity?

And what about you? Have you considered your leadership greatness? It’s there, even if you haven’t tapped into it yet.

Just ask Nala.