What are your leadership metrics?

Both in organisations and individually we seem to obsess about the metrics – and ‘more’ seems to be perceived to be better: more money, more customers, more prolific in our output. But ‘more’ usually means we sacrifice reach for depth. A couple of weeks ago I spoke to an audience of over 500, yet the impact I can have in an hour will inevitably pale in comparison to the impact I can have when I work with people over days or weeks, let alone the lifetime I spend with those I live with and love.

As Clayton Christensen so wisely observed, “the only metrics that will truly matter to my life are the individuals whom I have been able to help, one by one.”

As leaders, I think we need to create our own personal metrics so we can judge our performance in ways that are meaningful to us. These might include: the number of meaningful conversations we have with our people; the proportion of our time we devote to thinking about what we are doing and why we are doing it, instead of getting embroiled in the doing; the clarity with which we express a vision/purpose/strategy; what we have chosen to learn and followed through on; or the courage we show in speaking up or shutting up – depending on our disposition.

These metrics are as much about depth as they are about reach, but in focusing on the depth first the chance is that our reach is amplified. So the inevitable question is – what are your leadership metrics?