The Demand

This week you check whether your unit-level leader is running Unit 2 out of fear, out of ego, or without development — because the leader is the rung’s product, and if you build them wrong, Rung 5 collapses Unit 2 back into Unit 1.

The Work

  1. Review the last five decisions Unit 2’s leader made. If every one was checked against your preference first, name that as dependency, not alignment — the same trap as Rung 2’s first hire, scaled up.
  2. Compare Unit 2’s actual standards against Unit 1’s system. If the leader has drifted into running things their own way — not the system — name that as drift, not leadership, and correct it against the documented standard, not against your personal preference.
  3. Check whether the leader has received the same coaching cadence you received on your way up. If not, schedule it this week — a real development conversation, not a check-in.
  4. Identify whether the leader has hit their own Rung 3 or Rung 4 constraint inside Unit 2 — cover-shift problems, trust problems with their own leads — and confirm someone is developing them through it.
  5. Check your own calendar this week for shifts on the stage at any unit. If they exist, correct course: your verb is building unit-level leaders and the systems they run, not running units yourself.

This week, run one real development session with your unit-level leader and confirm your calendar shows leadership development work, not stage time.