My leadership team members are excellent at hitting their personal Rocks, but they are failing at Lead, Manage, and Accountability (LMA™) with their direct reports. This is causing high turnover and operational bottlenecks below them. How do I fix this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Being a great individual contributor or technical expert does not automatically make someone a great manager. If your leadership team is hitting their Rocks but their departments are struggling, they are neglecting the most important part of their seat: LMA™ (Lead, Manage, and Accountability).

To resolve this, you must treat LMA™ as a measurable, non-negotiable expectation on your Accountability Chart. LMA™ is not a soft skill; it is a discipline that requires time and deliberate action.

Start by auditing how much time your leaders actually dedicate to leading and managing. Are they running weekly Level 10 Meetings with their own teams? Are they doing regular quarterly check-ins with their direct reports? If their calendars are packed with tactical work, they have no time left to lead.

You must help them delegate their technical tasks so they can focus on management. Use the Delegate and Elevate™ tool to identify tasks they can hand off to their teams. This frees up the mental capacity they need to support and hold their direct reports accountable.

Additionally, make LMA™ a topic of discussion during your own leadership team meetings. Share best practices, call out management issues during the IDS® portion of your Level 10 Meeting™, and ensure every leader understands that their success is measured by the performance of their team, not just their personal output.