Building Capability
Tool: The Leadership Posture Check
Chapter: 10 — Leadership Is Direction, Not Control
Purpose: An honest self-assessment of the leadership behaviours that most affect the success of a capability build — and a clear-eyed view of where you might get in your own way.
How to Use This Tool
This one is personal. It works best if you answer honestly — not as you’d like to be, but as you actually are. Consider asking someone who works closely with you to complete it independently and compare answers.
Optional: Before you begin, look at your Business Landscape Map from Chapter 2 and ask one question: who currently owns each zone? If the systems column is controlled by one person and the customer-facing roles by another, that’s a leadership coordination question before it’s a technology question. The map can surface political dynamics that this self-assessment will ask you to be honest about.
Allow 30 minutes.
Part 1: Direction vs. Control
Rate yourself honestly on the following. For each statement, mark where you actually sit on the scale.
1. I can clearly articulate where this organisation is going and why — in a way that gives my team genuine direction.
1 — I struggle to articulate this clearly
2 — I can explain it but it doesn't always land
3 — My team knows where we're going but not always why
4 — I can articulate direction clearly and people find it motivating
5 — This is a genuine strength — clear direction is something I'm known for
Score: ___
2. When a decision is made below me, I can let it be made — even if I’d have decided differently.
1 — I find this very difficult — I tend to revisit and override
2 — I can do it but it takes effort and I sometimes circle back
3 — I manage it most of the time
4 — I've genuinely delegated and I trust the people I've delegated to
5 — I actively push decisions to the right level and am comfortable with the results
Score: ___
3. When a problem surfaces with a capability build, my first instinct is to understand and solve — not to find who’s responsible.
1 — I'm honest enough to admit I look for accountability first
2 — It depends on the situation and how much pressure I'm under
3 — I mostly manage this well but it slips under stress
4 — My team knows they can bring problems to me without fear
5 — This is a cultural strength in how I lead — problems are information, not failures
Score: ___
4. I can ship something that isn’t perfect — as long as it’s good enough to learn from.
1 — I find it very difficult to release something I'm not fully satisfied with
2 — I know I should, but in practice I keep finding things to fix
3 — I can do it when the business case is clear, but it's uncomfortable
4 — I've learned to separate "good enough to learn from" from "ready to be the final answer"
5 — I see early release as strategic, not compromising — and I actively model this
Score: ___
5. I don’t push things out the door before they’re genuinely ready to deliver value.
1 — Speed is my default — I'd rather ship something incomplete than wait
2 — I've deployed things before they were ready and it's cost me trust
3 — I try to find the balance but I don't always get it right
4 — I hold the line on readiness while also resisting perfectionism
5 — I have a clear instinct for when something is ready — and my team trusts that judgement
Score: ___
Part 2: Environment
6. In my organisation, a problem with a technology project is more likely to be treated as information than as ammunition.
1 — Honestly, problems tend to get politicised
2 — It depends on who's involved and what's at stake
3 — Mostly, but there are pockets where politics creep in
4 — We have a reasonably healthy culture around this
5 — I've actively built a culture where problems are welcomed and addressed
Score: ___
7. I make decisions when they need to be made — even when they’re contentious.
1 — I tend to defer or seek consensus longer than I should
2 — I can make the call but I'm uncomfortable with the conflict it sometimes creates
3 — I make most decisions well but there are categories I avoid
4 — I can distinguish when to build consensus and when to lead
5 — Decisive direction, even on hard calls, is something I'm known for
Score: ___
Part 3: Investment Mindset
8. I think about this capability build in years, not projects.
1 — Honestly, I'm thinking about the current phase rather than the long arc
2 — I can see the longer vision but the day-to-day tends to dominate
3 — I have a multi-year view but I don't refer to it as often as I should
4 — The long game shapes how I make decisions in the short term
5 — I genuinely see this as a multi-year investment vehicle and I make decisions accordingly
Score: ___
9. I’m genuinely in the work — not watching from a distance or delegating without engagement.
1 — I've handed this over and I expect to be told when it's done
2 — I'm involved at key milestones but not in the ongoing work
3 — I'm reasonably engaged but less than I probably should be
4 — I'm in the conversations, making decisions, and staying close to what's real
5 — My engagement is one of the reasons this is going well
Score: ___
Scoring
Total: _____ / 45
36–45: Your leadership posture is genuinely strong for this kind of work. The risks for you are probably in the areas where you scored below 4 — focus there.
25–35: There are real strengths here, but there are also patterns that could create friction. Identify your two or three lowest scores and think honestly about what they’d look like in practice.
Below 25: This is worth sitting with. The leadership dimension is the most consistent differentiator between capability builds that succeed and those that stall. Some of what’s here may be addressable with the right structure around you.
Your Top Two Watch-outs
Based on your scores, what are the two leadership behaviours most likely to create problems for your capability build?
Watch-out 1:
What it looks like in practice:
What you'll do differently:
Watch-out 2:
What it looks like in practice:
What you'll do differently:
Online Version
Want to go deeper?
The online version of this tool includes a 360-style version for gathering team feedback on your leadership posture, a guide for building the right governance structure around your capability investment, and a facilitation guide for using this assessment in a leadership team conversation.
Available in the members area at [website]