Here’s the thing: if you wait until you receive a leadership role to get a leadership education, you may be waiting for a long time and you may not last long once you get there. We all need a leadership development plan that includes work experiences, formal training, networking and self-study. But don’t overlook the easiest, cheapest and most accessible one of all: observation.

Here are eight observations to make of the leaders around you.

How They Make Decisions

You can tell a lot about the leaders around you by the decisions they make – or don’t make. makes. One of the biggest frustrations to senior management is middle management who won’t make the tough decisions at their level. As an observer, you obviously won’t have access to all the same information, but you can still learn a lot.

How They Communicate with Their Teams

Engagement studies reveal that the majority of organizations have a “communication problem” – especially in the consistency and cascading of high-priority messages. Good leaders over-communicate what is truly important. Take special note of what the leaders around you decline to communicate publicly.

How They Organize Their Time & Priorities

A leader’s time is of great value. It’s a finite resource that must accommodate a growing number of responsibilities. Observe the systems they use to stay on top of schedule. Pay special attention to what they say “no” to.

How They Respond to Crises and Criticism

When Robert Mueller was confirmed as Director of the FBI, it wasn’t because of his special ability to respond to crises. He specialized in white collar crime. But one week later the World Trade Center was hit and Mueller became a full-time crisis manager. The leaders around you may not have to manage a catastrophe, but pay attention to the way they handle disruptions to their plans – and the public response they receive.

How Engaged Their People Are

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that employees prefer to work for strong leaders. It’s not because it’s easier – many times it’s not. Followers will usually work harder and stay later for a leader they respect. “A” leaders attract “A” followers who are engaged in the work, with the organization and with each other.

How Many Leaders They Produce

Did you know that leaders actually grow on trees? The best leaders develop and produce more leaders who in turn produce more. This may be most clearly seen in professional football “coaching trees,” where nearly every successful coach cut his teeth under a previous successful coach. Figure out which leaders in your leadership community have the best reputation for developing talent – and take note of their approach.

What Results They Get

Execution is the bottom line of leadership effectiveness. Without it, leaders lose their opportunity, regardless of the circumstances. Leadership is a tough business. Always take note of the results the leaders around you achieve – especially if there are significant challenges. It’s easy to win when all the momentum is on your side. It’s hard when the odds are against you.

The Mistakes They Make

This one is perhaps the most obvious and insightful. Every mistake of someone else’s you learn from, you potentially avoid making yourself.

You’ve probably realized by now that not all the examples around you are good ones. A failure by one leader could mean you receive a new assignment before you’re ready for it. Regardless, you’ll be able to share your informed observations with others. Don’t wait until later to build your leadership competency. Start taking notes today.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his new ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website  or follow him on Twitter.

And how do we get more leaders in our organizations?

In order to figure that out, we’ve got to start by defining what leadership is begin with.

Let’s Define Leadership

If we all sat down together and tried to answer the question: “what makes someone a leader?” we’d probably be at it for quite a while. Whenever I ask a group of managers, inevitably they respond with notions such as: someone who sets vision, communicates well, behaves ethically, executes, and a wide variety of other responses. They’re all good answers, but if leadership entails everything, how can we actually differentiate between a leader and a non-leader?

I’ve come to use a simple definition of leadership. Here it is:

A leader is someone who: has influence and creates change.

That’s it. That’s how we can tell who the leaders are. Here’s the good news: this is an all-inclusive list. Not everyone is a leader, but everyone can become one by using the influence they have to create positive change right where they are. That means we can have leaders behind the counter just like we can in the C-suite. We can have leaders on the front lines as well as leaders at headquarters. Not everyone has the same level of influence or scope for change. But everyone can do something. Leaders make the difference.

Who Do Leaders Lead?

So who do leaders lead? These are the three groups:

Self: It may sound odd to say that leaders lead themselves, but that’s where it begins. Leadership begins by being proactive and accepting the responsibility to create change and deliver the results one’s self is responsible for. Leaders take the responsibility to know their strengths and weaknesses and make a personal development plan to increase their growth and thereby their performance – without waiting for someone else to do it for them.

Others: After leaders accept responsibility for themselves, they can accept responsibility for others. This doesn’t necessarily mean managing others, but simply playing a role in using their influence to create positive changes for others. Team members are the best places to begin. Everyone has different strengths, personality styles, knowledge, skills and experiences. Leaders recognize and maximize opportunities to use theirs to benefit others. (My whole ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor focuses on how anyone can do this). And if you don’t have anyone on your team you can develop, find a way to develop someone else on another team.

Organization: Did you ever stop to think that each person in the organization can do something to make things better for everyone? Obviously, major decisions from the top can drastically change the organizational reality for each person. But one process improvement, enhancement or good idea that is shared and implemented can accomplish the same. Where someone is doesn’t matter. What they make of things does.

It’s not enough to tell your followers that all of them are leaders and then move on. We’ve got to let them know what a leader looks like and then who they can lead – and how. If you think only the folks at the top of your organization are leaders, that’s all you’ll get. But if you build from the ground up, tomorrow’s leaders will start coming to you today.

Nathan Magnuson is a leadership consultant, coach, trainer and thought leader.  Receive his ebook Trusted Leadership Advisor by subscribing to his website or   follow him on Twitter.