Identify Opportunities Through Leadership Audits

What if you could view team and player patterns quickly and clearly? Imagine seeing:

• Periods of high or low productivity
• Rate of engagement with people
• Whether team relationships are positive or negative
• Whether you have a morning or afternoon peak flow
• Traction you are getting on critical objectives
• And more . . .

. . . All in a visual or written manner? That’s what an effective leadership audit allows you to do.

To lead effectively under normal circumstances is not easy. To do so under extra pressure (post-pandemic, talent drain, difficulty hiring talented team members, etc.) is much more demanding.

As circumstances continually change over time, it is an excellent practice for every formal leader to conduct a regular audit of their influencing and coaching impact.

A leadership audit helps formal leaders to:

• Plan their weeks better to engage in higher value tasks and strategic planning that move the business forward
• Treat others with dignity and respect in every interaction, whether things are going smoothly or not
• Identify tasks and projects that you can delegate to qualified team leaders and team members
• Monitor important recurring tasks – financial review, department review, culture review, strategic planning, etc.

Your leadership audit begins with formalizing your top three objectives for the next three months. Those objectives will likely come from your strategic plan (if you have one), your job description, current demands, market opportunities, and your role in helping with the company's challenges.

Your audit continues with time tracking. Spend two weeks noting your work activities, including

• how many hours you spend on tasks or projects,
• how much time is lost to interruptions, etc.

You don’t need to go into minute-by-minute details. Starting with thirty-minute time blocks is fine.

Finally, note how much time you’re in a zone of highest productivity and relationship effectiveness each day - and what time that peak zone typically occurs.

This data offers a starting point for analysis and refinement. After reviewing it, identify opportunities and adjust tactics to continue evolving each week. Continue conducting regular audits, leveraging improvements, and tackling challenges.

Don’t wish you knew how to boost your leadership effectiveness. Use leadership audits to identify precisely how to do so.