How well do you lead? Thats not an easy question to answer, is it? Here are three criteria for you to consider:

Have you made a difference that others acknowledge and value?

There are two key aspects to this criterion. The first is that you have made a difference. Thats not as simple as it sounds. Many leaders (and employees) confuse activity with results. They believe, mistakenly, that having meetings, developing project plans laden with charts, graphs, and timetables, and sending out memos are sufficient evidence of getting things done. Its not. To meet the first criterion, you must have planned for and achieved a predetermined set of measurable results, preferably on time, on budget, and at the intended level of quality.

The second aspect of this criterion is that the difference is acknowledged and valued by others. Ive met several leaders who toil in a communications wasteland, never taking the time to ensure that others know what theyve done. Consequently, the results they produce are not widely known and the impact they are making is underappreciated. Furthermore, a great number of leaders also mistakenly believe that whats most important is that the results they produce matter to them, not to others. They couldnt be more wrong. Whats most important is that senior leaders acknowledge and value the results you produce for the organization. The results matter more if leaders believe the senior executives know about them and believe they are important. Just because you believe them to be important is not sufficient.

Do people follow your lead?

As obvious as it sounds, leaders encourage others to follow them. Just because you can get someone to do what you ask, whether its through the authority of your position or because of their fear of not doing so, does not make you a leader. Leaders find ways for others to follow them, using a variety of approaches, all of which should be honest, ethical, and authentic. There are two obvious ways of knowing if your direct reports are following your lead. Do they enthusiastically and proudly talk about what your group is doing to those outside of the group? And, do they practice what you preach, demonstrating commitment to your values and principles by putting them into action?

Direct reports are not the only ones, though, who can follow your lead? Are there others in the organization who recognize what youve done and undertake the same initiatives as you have to make a difference where they are? That is, is your mark on the organization spreading beyond the boundary of your assigned responsibilities? Do other groups, divisions, sectors, and divisions mirror your efforts to become better units? This is another visible indicator of your leadership

Do people continue to ask for your advice?

Here, too, the impact is both on those who work directly for you and those who dont. For those who work for you, there are two ways that you may know if they are seeking your advice. First, your subordinates come to you for advice, not because they want to pass off on you the responsibility for making a decision, but because they want to hear what you have to say. Youll know if this is working if they take your advice and use it to improve what they do and even, at times, by not taking your advice, letting you know, and still taking appropriate action. Second, do subordinates, after they no longer work for you, seek out your advice periodically about significant challenges or issues they face? If they do, its a measure of the respect they continue to have for you.

Do others, outside of your particular team or unit, come to you for advice, too? They may not be as direct as your subordinates  they may, for example, ask for you to be on a task force with them. But the intent is the same, that is, they respect what you have done and how you think and they want to benefit from your knowledge and experience. If this happens consistently, youll know that your leadership is spreading throughout the organization.

Using these three means of evaluating your leadership is a good way to find out about how well you lead. Take the time to ask yourself these three questions and see what you discover about your leadership.

James Kouzes and Barry Posner wrote that, Theres nothing more demoralizing than a leader who cant clearly articulate why were doing what were doing.

Despite that seemingly common sense observation, far too many leaders fail to communicate clearly, assuming, I suspect, that the purpose of their work is obvious.

Not so. Staff members need to know what their leaders are thinking about the work they do, especially its purpose and value.

When was the last time you let others know why were doing what were doing? When and how should you do so again?

Patrick Lencioni writes, As a leader, youre probably not doing a good job unless your employees can do a good impression of you when youre not around.

What intended impact do you want to have on others? Are they embracing the values and actions you preach by their words and actions?

If not, what else can you do so they do a good and favorable impression of you?

Email archie@archietinelli.com