LeadershipSOPs App FAQs

If you are a LeadershipSOPs App (SOPsApp) subscriber, your first stop for in-App support should always be the M(ai) App Support feature built into the App. Secondarily, we invite you to direct message our support team within the Messages feature. The frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers below seek to address the common questions we hear from leaders exploring the SOPsApp or the LeadershipSOPs methodology and framework.

Do I need to read the book (From Expert to Executive) to use the SOPsApp?
Does the SOPsApp leverage one set of LeadershipSOPs for all leaders in all situations?
Is the SOPsApp helpful for executives as well as new leaders?
What are some example LeadershipSOPs I will find in the SOPsApp Library?
Why doesn’t the LeadershipSOPs model include soft skills competencies?
Where does accountability land within the LeadershipSOPs framework?
Why are there so many acronyms?
Do I have to document my LeadershipSOPs?
Is a community of effort the same thing as a team?

**1. Do I need to read the book (From Expert to Executive) to use the SOPsApp?**

Answer: No, the LeadershipSOPs App (SOPsApp for short) is based on the LeadershipSOPs framework and methodology, but it has been designed for use by anyone who embraces the power of exploring, documenting, prompting, and improving repeatable leadership routines. Naturally, the SOPsApp does refer to these leadership routines as LeadershipSOPs (standard operating procedures for leading), leveraging the globally recognized leadership brand established by Leader Legion’s CEO. Like its namesake framework, the SOPsApp does categorize LeadershipSOPs by three primary domains (Structure, Operate, and Perfect) and sixteen more specific dimensions, depending on whether they help leaders design (Structure), engage (Operate), or improve (Perfect) the communities of effort (CoEs) they require for success. Using this system to categorize SOPs within the App helps leaders (and their AI agents) browse SOPs, spot redundancies and gaps, and learn to think holistically about “The Work of Leading.” The SOPsApp also refers to the concept of CoEs regularly (where others might want to use the word, team). CoEs and teams are similar but not the same. A CoE is an a group of stakeholders which is inherently larger than a leader’s formal team (because it includes the core team and additional stakeholders such as supervisors, executive sponsors, and internal collaborators which do not report to the leader). However, CoEs are typically named for the core teams which instigate their formation (i.e., Sales, Accounting, or ERP Implementation), but they include dozens of other people their leaders must regularly engage to successfully cultivate the broader community required for success.

2. Does the SOPsApp leverage one set of LeadershipSOPs for all leaders in all situations?

Answer: No, there is no single set of LeadershipSOPs which works for every leader. The LeadershipSOPs framework and the SOPsApp identify the core work of leading across three domains and sixteen dimensions. This work is common to all communities of effort (CoEs); but the right way to do structure, operate, and perfect these communities is up to each individual leader, circumstance, and CoE. To help leaders in this endeavor, the SOPsApp contains an agentive AI coach and a crowdsourced library - both of which offer template SOPs which can be added to users’ Playbooks, customized, and then translated onto their daily Gameplans.

3. Is the SOPsApp helpful for executives as well as new leaders?

Answer: Yes, the SOPsApp contains SOPs and advanced functionality which supports leaders of all skill and organizational levels. New leaders will benefit from a tremendous head start, reviewing and adopting (on day one) LeadershipSOPs which typically take a lifetime to accrue. The SOPsApp is designed to help these leaders find a balance between working with the team (as a senior member close to the work itself) and developing the team and its members (as the one responsible for structuring, operating, and perfecting it). Mid-level leaders who manage multiple functions and teams are benefitted from more sophisticated SOPs and the tool’s ability to produce Gameplans for each community of effort they lead. These leaders will specifically appreciate SOPs which integrate annual planning and budgeting, skip level meetings, and organizational design reviews. Executives whose reach spans across the enterprise will lean on the SOPsApp to help manage complexity, instantly incorporate lessons learned, and scale for impact. Leader at all levels will appreciate their personalized AI agents and the ability to share SOPs with others across the platform (and see the impact their published SOPs have on others as they get into action). In other words, the SOPsApp is highly customizable to each leader’s needs. It can be used to develop simple habits for leading a small team or complex routines for scaling across multiple entities and teams.

4. What are some example LeadershipSOPs I will find in the SOPsApp Library?

Answer: The SOPsApp Library grows with each passing day and each new leader we add. The best way to see examples is to register for a free preview account. That said, we have seeded the library with simple LeadershipSOPs for preparing for, conducting, and following up on regular one-on-ones with direct reports, and very complicated, multi-month strategic planning and budgeting ones. We have categorized each SOP using the LeadershipSOPs framework, which divides all LeadershipSOPs by one of three leadership domains (Structure, Operate, and Perfect) which is determined by whether the SOP helps design (Structure), engage (Operate), or improve (Perfect) the target community of effort. This schema helps spell out, in the broadest terms what types of LeadershipSOPs you will find in the SOPs (i.e., SOPs that help structure, operate, and perfect a community of effort). Furthermore, each domain is broken down into sub-categories called, dimensions. For instance, the Structure domain consists of nine dimensions: Strategy, Culture, Objectives, Purpose, Ecosystem, Work Methods/Tools, Organizational Structure, Rewards/Recognition, and Knowledge/Capabilities. The Operate domain consists of just three, but very broad, dimensions: Planning, Accountability, and Stakeholder Engagement. The Perfect domain includes four all focused on different types of development: Personal, Individual (Coaching), Team, and Organizational. The SOPsApp is searchable and filterable by these domains and dimensions, providing leaders with an easy way to search through dozens of examples for each dimension of leadership.

5. What types of workflows can be automated within the SOPsApp, from a specifications perspective?

Answer: Within the SOPsApp, LeadershipSOPs consist of sequential steps which are initiated by a repeating schedule or a single event, with each individual step being associated with one or more concurrent Leadership Actions (which display as checklist items on your Gameplan). Individual steps are activated in sequence (by default) - meaning the Leadership Actions associated with Step 2 will populate on a leader’s Gameplan after all of the Leadership Actions for Step 1 have been dispositioned (either completed or canceled). Advanced users can adjust this default sequence to initiate a subsequent step with or after the prior step’s start or completion, in increments of whole days, allowing for tremendous flexibility. The SOPsApp allows for scheduled (recurring) and event starters — subsequent steps within an SOP are activated either with or after a preceding event starts or completes. is designed to leverage two types of “Starters”: Scheduled and Events. Soft skills enhance our ability to read and engage with others. Because leading is inherently people-intensive, they frequently improve leadership effectiveness. However, they do not inform the actual work of leading, they enhance delivery. As a result, starting with soft skills when training leaders is like starting with sportsmanship while training a football quarterback. It will improve on-filed interactions but do little to develop quarterback who understand their position on the field of play. We believe both are important but have develop our model to address what we see as the primary and most underserved element within leadership programs. The LeadershipSOPs model helps leaders lead more of the time, more comprehensively and more consistently by communicating the:

5. Where does accountability land within the LeadershipSOPs framework?

A: Accountability is core to leadership and addressed within the LeadershipSOPs in a few different ways. First, the framework establishes the primary accountability for every leader, generating a willing, capable, and sustainable Communities of Effort. This is in contrast to other models which suggest the primary accountability of the leader is goal achievement. Our belief is goal-centric versus people-centric definitions of leadership set leaders upon a slippery slope that can only lead to “the ends justifying the means.” Second, the “A” in the PASE model (which highlights the three dimensions of the Operate domain) stands for accountability and contains an approach to problem-solving and improving accountability which encourages leaders to develop clear and effective assignment, execution, monitoring, evaluation and after-action operating mechanisms for all major work streams and pieces of work.

6. Why are there so many acronyms?

A: Our reliance on acronyms and other mnemonics are born out of our desire to communicate the purpose, work and process of leading in a memorable way. In so doing, we compressed and organized the most important leadership concepts hidden within thousands of books and models into just six acronyms.

LeadershipSOPs: A mnemonic double entendre identifying our core methodology (developing and deploying standard operating procedures) and our three domains of leading (structuring, operating, and perfecting)
SCOPE: Every Community of Effort has a SCOPE. It represents the primary business architecture of the group. Reaching beyond mission, vision and values, SCOPE stands for: Strategy, Culture, Objectives, Purpose, Ecosystem.
WORK: This acronym comprises the second half of the organizational design model, alluding to the work methods, organizational structures, rewards and recognition, knowledge and capabilities required to pursue and deliver the SCOPE.
PASE: The PASE model includes planning (operational and financial), accountability, and stakeholder engagement. Frequently, these operational dimensions account for the bulk of a leader’s time.
AEMEA: Our AEMEA accountability model breaks down the “A” in PASE into the critical components of a work execution system with each letter referring to the assignment processes; execution planning; monitoring mechanisms; evaluation routines; and actions required to manage performance.
ECT(M): The LeadershipSOPs Transformation Model is often abbreviated, ECT(M) - Explore / Clarify / Transform / Master. This sequence can be applied to personal, individual (i.e., coaching), team and organizational development. The model encourages those seeking or impacted by change to engage in the active and positive phases of what is known as the change curve. The parenthesis around the “M” focuses on the common need to cycle through the Explore, Clarify, and Transform phases multiple times until success is ultimately found (and then amplified through repetition and mentorship which ultimately leads to mastery).

7. Do I have to document my LeadershipSOPs?

A: Taking the time to write down your LeadershipSOPs is an important step toward formalizing your thoughts, committing to them, setting yourself up for future process improvements and passing on your best practices to others. We highly recommend it and are finalizing an application, called LeaderForce to help leaders quickly document, organize, share and automate their LeadershipSOPs.

8. Is a Community of Effort the same thing as a team?

A: We think the term Community of Effort is more descriptive and powerful than the word team. “Community” is a very humanistic term suggesting choice, interdependence, shared goals, and trust. “Effort” is a great way to communicate a focus on developing the capacity to do work versus being overly focused on the team’s actual work or it’s actual goals. This concept is strange to some (as it feels like we are suggesting an inattention to results) but we like to say, “Leaders should be more focused on the means than the ends, less they find themselves at the end without the means.”