--- name: leader-standard-work description: "A leader's own daily routine, in the same steps/key-points/reasons shape as a work instruction — what keeps a key performance indicator (KPI) tree, a training matrix, and a kaizen event's gains from quietly decaying once the excitement wears off. Use when: You've built a KPI tree, a training matrix, or a daily/escalation process and want to make sure someone actually checks it, not just that it exists. A team lead role is changing hands and you want the new leader doing the same real routine as the last one, not reinventing it from memory. You want to see honestly which parts of the routine still have no real technique behind them. Not for: The role is too new or too undefined to have a real routine yet — run it informally first, then document what actually works. You're documenting what a leader should ideally do in theory rather than what a real routine looks like — start from what's actually happening." --- # Leader standard work A leader's own daily routine, in the same steps/key-points/reasons shape as a work instruction — what keeps a key performance indicator (KPI) tree, a training matrix, and a kaizen event's gains from quietly decaying once the excitement wears off. Family: Daily management · Format: .xlsx · Domain: core ## What it is Leader standard work is a work instruction for the leader's own job: the specific daily or weekly checks that keep a team's systems actually running instead of becoming paperwork nobody looks at. Same shape as any other work instruction — major steps, each with a key point for how to do it right and the reason it matters — applied to a leadership routine instead of a frontline task. ## When to use it Use it when: - You've built a KPI tree, a training matrix, or a daily/escalation process and want to make sure someone actually checks it, not just that it exists. - A team lead role is changing hands and you want the new leader doing the same real routine as the last one, not reinventing it from memory. - You want to see honestly which parts of the routine still have no real technique behind them. Not when: - The role is too new or too undefined to have a real routine yet — run it informally first, then document what actually works. - You're documenting what a leader should ideally do in theory rather than what a real routine looks like — start from what's actually happening. ## How to fill it in - **purpose** — What does this routine accomplish, and what would drift or decay without it? - **steps** — Drafted from your description of the routine — major steps, each with zero or more key points and, for every key point, the reason it matters. - **narrative** — Drafted from the steps actually built. ## What good looks like The example below is the queue lead's own daily routine for the renewal-risk support process running through this catalogue's other examples — checking the KPI tree, walking the queue against the ILUO matrix's real coverage, confirming on-call. This is literally what keeps those other artifacts alive day to day, not a separate exercise. Full worked example, on-screen and as a downloadable .xlsx: https://www.katafacts.com/katas/leader-standard-work ## Common mistakes - **Writing a routine that's really just a restated job description.** — Leader standard work is a specific, repeatable checklist of real checks — a job description doesn't tell tomorrow's leader what to actually do at 9am. - **Treating the routine as done once it's written, never revisited.** — The whole point is catching drift before it becomes a real problem — a leader standard work document that's never updated is exactly the paperwork it exists to prevent. ## What it connects to Downstream: - **Key performance indicator (KPI) tree** (`kpi-tree`) — A leader standard work routine is often literally 'check the KPI tree' as its first step — the routine is what makes the tree get looked at. - **Training matrix with I, L, U, O skill levels (ILUO)** (`iluo-training-matrix`) — Walking a queue against real training coverage, not just who's assigned, is a leader standard work step that uses the ILUO matrix directly. ## Where AI helps Judgement — stays with you: - Deciding what actually needs daily leader attention versus what can run on its own - Deciding whether a drafted key point reflects real technique or is worth sharpening Analysis — AI helps: - Drafting major steps, key points, and reasons from a description of the routine - Drafting the narrative from the steps actually built Drudgery — automated: - Counting steps and key points - Identifying which steps still have no key point - Exporting to xlsx in the house format --- Leader standard work is licensed [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribution: Katafacts (katafacts.com). ## Using this skill Apply this method as part of whatever broader task, instructions, or deliverable you're already working on -- it's a method to use, not a standalone conversation to start. There is no generation tool for this catalogue yet, so draft the artifact's actual content yourself, following the fields above, the same way a person filling this out by hand would. The canonical guide page and a downloadable worked example (.xlsx) are at https://www.katafacts.com/katas/leader-standard-work.