The Leader's Checklist summary

An effective checklist can’t live on paper alone. It needs to work in the real world. That means testing it through evidence. 

Consider this revealing exercise run by a large financial services firm. Leaders there started with a list of 200 desirable traits, narrowed it to 39, and then ran a comparison on how the leaders’ peers and team rated them on those traits, versus how the leaders actually performed one year later. Only nine traits consistently linked to results. Favorites like loyalty to the company, building a team-based sales culture, and streamlining processes had no measurable impact. So the firm rebuilt its checklist around the nine that did.

It’s all very well knowing what makes a good checklist, but what should actually be on it? Where do you begin? 

Thankfully, there are 16 oven-ready principles you can reach for in any setting – ordinary workdays, off-sites, online sessions, and crisis calls. Not every prompt fits every moment, yet the discipline of asking keeps you moving from intention to action. Taken together, these principles have proven their worth when uncertainty and change raise the stakes.

The ninth principle on our list of 16 is to Build Leadership in Others. Make it an expectation that every manager develops leaders. Shape a culture that enables effective leadership, and ensure development opportunities reach widely.

For the tenth principle, Manage Relations. Keep hierarchy lean so information – especially bad news – moves upward. Require self-awareness and empathy in your managers. Set standards that censure autocratic, egocentric, or irritable behavior.

According to many managers, three of the 16 principles we’ve just seen are often underutilized – either in the manager’s own behavior or in what they observe from others, especially more senior leaders. The result is a personal shortfall and weakened leadership when the stakes are high.

Honor the Room is one of the most commonly neglected. This principle means showing confidence in those around you. Some leaders fail to demonstrate respect, suppress feedback, and erode trust. One example was former Pfizer CEO Jeff Kindler, whose confrontational style and micromanagement left him isolated and eventually pushed out by the board.

In April 1865, General Ulysses S. Grant ordered a formal surrender ceremony to mark the end of the American Civil War. He chose Union officer Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain to oversee the event. As the first Confederate brigades approached, Chamberlain – acting on his own initiative – ordered a bugle call which signaled his men to “carry arms,” a formal salute of respect. 

The gesture came just days after Chamberlain had been wounded by Confederate fire. It was a moment of restraint and grace, and many interpreted it as a gesture of reconciliation. A Confederate general, John B. Gordon, noticed the salute, and instructed his own troops to return the honor. This silent exchange became known as “a salute returning a salute.”