In my years of observing leaders, I’ve seen certain signs that a person has high potential for leadership. A wide cognitive bandwidth—capacity and inclination to see things in a broad context—is one earmark of a CEO who anticipates how changes in the environment will affect the business or of a marketing VP who sees how marketing relates to company direction.

Individuals who have leadership potential:

1. Seek information and see the broader view.These potential leaders aren’t born with the breadth and scope of thinking that characterizes successful leadership; but those with a drive to constantly search for more information and see things from a broader view have the potential for it. Look for actions that reveal such thinking, an ability to think strategically.

2. Exhibit drive and aggression. These traits are easy to observe even in young people. What boss wouldn’t notice the young sales representative who pushes hard to win more business and outshine his seasoned peers in hitting targets? But a representative who does her job to a tee and also has a handle on what her sales manager does—and what the regional sales director does—is showing something more than drive. She's showing leadership—a desire and ability to see a bigger picture.

3. Put the business on the offensive. Leaders must set a clear course of action. After gathering information and shaping alternatives, potential leaders must sort out what is important, make a decision and act on it. Even when information is muddled and the right path unclear, leadership requires finding clarity and acting decisively despite uncertainty and ambiguity. Leaders take disparate facts and observations and connect the dots to create a clear view of what they think is likely to happen. Because leaders see the hazy outlines of change coming, they put the business on the offensive.

4. Synthesize data for decisions. Most individuals with leadership potential show an uncommon ability to analyze and synthesize data and make decisions based not only on the data but also on intuition. They have a way of clearing the fog. Leaders sense that 20 percent of factors account for 80 percent of value. Those with a keen grasp of leadership sift, sort and select information based not only on its content but also on its source. They think in second, third and fourth orders of consequence are extremely clear about goals and constraints, develop alternative paths and have a backup plan in the event a decision proves wrong.

5. Balance inherent tensions. Leaders make judgment calls daily as they balance tensions between the short and long term, between shareholders and customers and employees and constituencies, and between opportunities and aspirations versus real-world realities and constraints. Some people are not decisive or tough enough to be in the leadership position. They let opportunities slip away, powerful personalities dominate and other people set the course. These people are not leadership material.

6. Passionately pursue learning and growth. Employees with leadership potential continually learn and grow, taking stretch assignments that tax their abilities because they are stimulated by the challenge and chance to increase their knowledge base about the business, people and the external world.

7. Are intellectually honest and dissatisfied with the status quo. They have the confidence to acknowledge when they don’t have the answers, knowing they can find them. They search for new ideas and different ways of seeing things. This insatiable thirst for learning tends to make them more contemporary than their bosses, more aware of leading-edge technologies and trends.

8. Have integrity and tell the truth. Leaders must tell the truth at all times fearlessly and without weighing the consequences. When confronted with a moral or legal quandary, they must always choose the ethical course of action. Leaders must also radiate a sense of urgency. In being tested over the years, a high-potential will have increasingly broad and difficult jobs. Without relentless drive and near-total immersion, they can’t maintain the endurance necessary to master tasks.