There's a great quote by Henry Ford that goes "The question 'who ought to be boss' is like asking 'who ought to be the tenor in the quartet'. Obviously, the man who can sing tenor". When it comes to leadership development, we sometimes forget this essential component - being a leader in action.

In a recent article for Forbes.com, I wrote about CAP, competence, attitude and potential - the three qualities that you need to get ahead at work. Competence represents the ability to perform assigned tasks well, attitude represents emotional intelligence and potential represents organizational intelligence or strategic, big-picture thinking.

If you take CAP one step further, you find that the difference between getting things done and being the one deciding what will be done (i.e., the leader) is having the ability to motivate. In addition to being competent, socially adept and having a big picture view, leaders also need to be effective in directing others towards individual and organizational improvement.

Although many organizations have defined career tracks for advancement into positions of leadership, there are ways to make yourself a shoe-in for a leadership position before you are actually graced with the title: demonstrate that you can lead by the fact that you are already (informally) leading.

Now that's not to say that the ability to motivate alone will make one a successful leader. After all, it matters a great deal what the people in your organization are being motivated towards - is it increased efficiency? Strategic growth? Or is it short term gains or simply more paperwork?

How can you figure out whether or not you’ve got what it takes? Conduct a leadership gap analysis by take stocking of your CAP and finding the gaps between where you are today and where you would be if you were an effective leader:
Competence: How am I performing as defined by my job description? What technical skills could I develop more fully?

Attitude: What is my attitude towards my work? How are my work relationships? Am I aware of my strengths and weaknesses? Can I accept constructive criticism? Do I learn from my mistakes? Am I honest with others about what I need from them in order to work well together?

Potential: Do I understand the mission of my organization? Do I understand how things work and who does what? Can I readily identify the formal and informal networks in my organization? Do I see the big picture of where the organization needs to go? Can I identify existing or potential problems? How about opportunities?

As you take stock of your cap and make your way to “potential”, see if you can identify actionable solutions to existing or potential problems or ways to capitalize on existing or potential opportunities. Understanding the nature of these problems and opportunities requires you to make use of your technical competence. Knowing how to work with others to get these changes made requires you to make use of your attitude.

Now that you’ve identified what needs to be done and how to work with others to do it, you’re just about there. If you truly know yourself and your organization, you can get others on board to make needed and strategic changes. The leap to leader takes a great deal of confidence, and this confidence comes through developing your CAP and your motivational abilities. Once you’ve done that, you’re a leader in action.
As the old saying goes, if it walks like a duck...
Be an effective leader in action in order to become the leader by name.