The well-worn adage in real estate, "Location, Location, Location," applies to leaders as well.

Finding "the right place" for you to work as a leader is as important to your career success as choosing the right location is for the enjoyment of your home. Leaders who overlook the importance of location, who misread the cultural clues or who ignore clear signs, often find their careers languishing or sidetracked. A few examples:

Several years ago, after earning my Ph.D., I became a business school professor, believing that my years as a leadership development consultant would work to my advantage. I couldn't have been more wrong. The mismatch between my values and expertise and those of the business school faculty and Dean soon became apparent.

I was interested in practical solutions and real business problems and in building new programs and initiatives; the faculty was interested in their research and obtaining, and then keeping, tenured positions. I was interested in building bridges to the business community; the Dean was interested in improving scholarship and was unfamiliar with business and uncomfortable with business leaders.

Only when I returned to working as an independent consultant did I find an environment, the demanding and resulted-oriented world of business, that fit me better.

Henry came to the mid-sized company with the reputation for turning around organizations. Previously, he had worked for a large multi-national consulting firm and had started his own company. He was brought in to drive changes and make improvements in key parts of the business.

The mismatch arose early when his direct, take-no- prisoners, let's-get-this-done-today, style turned off or offended many of the senior members of the organization. They were used to a collaborative, relationship-oriented, and more tactful style. He struggled to get things done, oblivious to the reputation he had established for not being a collegial team member.

Only when he was told he had to have a coach and get input via a 360 feedback exercise did he become aware of the problem and take steps to repair his reputation.

Jane is an engineer working in manufacturing. She is also ambitious, wanting to move up and become a manager. The dilemma is that her business does not afford the opportunities for upward mobility that other more dynamic and growing industries do. She's stuck. Her aspirations don't fit the staid business she's in.

Only if and when she moves to another industry and/or business that is growing will she likely find the opportunities she desires.

There are several questions you can ask in order to determine whether the organization you're in, or the one you are considering joining, is a good fit for you and whether it is right for your career; among them:

How dynamic, growing, and demanding is the business? Or, is it stable, steady, methodical, and risk averse?

How do people engage with one another? Do they debate, openly discuss, and put their cards on the table forthrightly? Or, are they tactful, polite, and courteous?

How is power distributed? To whom? Is power held among a few who lead with authority, clarity, and vision? Or, is the organization collaborative and consensus-building, with power distributed more widely?

Are the people in the organization who share your values, knowledge, and skills typical of those who advance? Or, are the people in positions of influence unlike you and come from a significantly different set of experiences and abilities?

Knowing the answers to these questions will help you assess the fit between your career aspirations and the organization. How would you answer them? What does that mean about whether you're in the right location?

Mario Batali, the chef, was recently asked what he looks for in hiring executive chefs. He answered, "I don't hire them. I bring them up from my team."

He spends his days working in each of his restaurants, sharing his wisdom and experience with his chefs, managers, and wine directors and stimulating their thinking about how to get better.

What are you doing to nurture and develop talent? What can you do, each and every day, to stimulate your staff to become better so you, too, can promote them from within to leadership positions?

How is power distributed in your organization? Michael Segalla and his colleagues have assessed how power is distributed in organizations (see Harvard Business Review, May 2010, "Find the Real Power in Your Organization").

They found untapped potential, dangerous deadwood, and branches of power outside the formal structure. They then created maps to show where the real power lay and where the surprises were.

How is the real power distributed in your organization? Can you map it?

Email archie@archietinelli.com