Organizations that win the transformation game have some things in common:

• A compelling vision for change
• Sound strategic plans
• An aligned and functional executive team
• Leaders who lead

You might think it’s a given that the people in your organization who are tasked with leading are, in fact, leading. Oh, contraire. There are the obvious signs that leaders are failing – poor results, flagging financials, staff turnover, etc. But there are some leading indicators that you can detect before too much damage is done:

1. Your 1:1 time is spent going over operational and tactical items – a sign that the leader is missing the forest for the trees (or twigs)
2. The leader’s team is not a team but a collection of individual contributors who work for the same boss – a sign of inability to maximize collective resources
3. The leader is too busy to spend time in 1:1s with subordinates – a sign of misplaced priorities
4. Meetings are poorly run, with no clear outcomes, agenda, or follow up notes – a sign of disorganization
5. Cross functional meetings are attended by multiple people from the same functional team – a sign of failure to delegate or lack of trust in subordinates
6. The leader makes decisions based on short term gain and fails to think about long term implications – a sign of lack of strategic thinking
7. The leader backs down on decisions or fails to stand up for her principles in the face of conflict – a sign of unclear focus or lack of conviction

One of my clients recently said “leadership is a calling.” If your leaders aren’t heeding the call, it’s time to take action.