How 4 Simple Questions Can Redefine a ‘Great Leadership Day’

Wherever you lead, and in whatever capacity, there is one question that should be top of mind when the day is done

“Did I lead well today?”

If you can’t answer that question clearly and definitively each and every day, what was the point of all of that leadership energy you expended? What was the point of all of those decisions you made? What was the point of all of those meetings, the phone calls and the emails?

Bundle it all together and you’re really left with only one question that can possibly justify it all.

“Did I lead well today?”

Well, fortunately, figuring that out is not as difficult as some might make it out to be. Knowing whether or not your leadership made a difference today does not require a complex algorithm or some big data computations.

Just answer these four questions:

1. Did I add value to someone today?

Leaders add value anytime they help someone solve a problem, anytime they help a teammate further a project or anytime they enable someone to see how their work fits in the big picture.

If you added value to someone today, chances are you led well today.

Watch: The Leaderonomics Show: ‘Transformation is all about you, not me,’ says Marshall Goldsmith

2. Did I make measurable progress towards a key goal today?

If you’re a leader worth your salt, you have a clearly defined set of goals you are working towards. There are clear milestones you want to reach in order to move things forward.

Can you point to tangible progress you made today? Then you led well.

3. Did I make a meaningful contribution to a team goal today?

Not every goal appears on your own personal plan. There are team goals that you, as a leader, must contribute towards.

Did you leverage your leadership to enable the team to move closer to achieving its goals? You led well.

4. Did I lead with kindness?

The first three questions deal with ‘what you did’. This one looks at ‘how you did it’.

Kindness is not weakness. It’s a way of interacting with people that conveys trust and respect. And if that marked your leadership today, that was a very good day of leadership.

Read this: Kindness Matters. And, it’s Good for Your Brain

Take the mystery out of evaluating your day. End each day by asking and answering these four simple questions.

Because there’s nothing like knowing that today was a good leadership day.