/ceos-lma

name: ceos-lma
description: Use when assessing leadership and management effectiveness using the LMA framework
file-access: [data/lma/, templates/lma-assessment.md, data/accountability.md, data/people/, data/clarity/, data/meetings/l10/, data/conversations/]
tools-used: [Read, Write, Glob]

ceos-lma

Assess leadership and management effectiveness using the LMA (Leadership + Management = Accountability) framework — EOS Toolbox tool #11. Walk a manager through rating themselves on 5 Leadership Practices and 5 Management Practices, calculate scores, flag areas needing attention, and optionally gather 360-degree feedback from direct reports.

**Not for:** Evaluating whether someone is a fit for their seat (use `ceos-people`), defining organizational structure (use `ceos-accountability`), or running quarterly conversations (use `ceos-quarterly`). LMA assesses *whether* you're practicing leadership and management habits, not *whether* you're the right person for the role.

When to Use

• "Run LMA assessment" or "LMA checklist" or "LMA for [person]"
• "How am I doing as a manager?" or "how am I doing as a leader?"
• "Leadership assessment" or "management assessment"
• "Am I creating accountability?" or "am I holding my team accountable?"
• "LMA review" or "show LMA scores" or "team LMA summary"
• "360 feedback for [person]" or "get feedback from my team"
• "Run LMA" or "leadership and management check"

Context

Finding the CEOS Repository

Search upward from the current directory for the `.ceos` marker file. This file marks the root of the CEOS repository.

If `.ceos` is not found, stop and tell the user: "Not in a CEOS repository. Clone your CEOS repo and run setup.sh first."

**Sync before use:** Once you find the CEOS root, run `git -C <ceos_root> pull --ff-only --quiet 2>/dev/null` to get the latest data from teammates. If it fails (conflict or offline), continue silently with local data.

Key Files

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | `data/lma/` | LMA assessment files (one per person) | | `templates/lma-assessment.md` | Template for new LMA assessments | | `data/accountability.md` | Source of management relationships and seat info (read-only — use ceos-accountability to modify) | | `data/people/` | People Analyzer evaluations (read-only — reference for context) | | `data/clarity/` | Clarity Break records (read-only — informs Leadership Practice #5) | | `data/meetings/l10/` | L10 meeting notes (read-only — informs Management Practice #3) | | `data/conversations/` | Quarterly conversation records (read-only — informs Management Practice #4) |

LMA File Format

Each person has a markdown file at `data/lma/firstname-lastname.md` with YAML frontmatter:

person: "Brad Feld"
seat: "Visionary"
date: "2026-02-15"
status: active            # active | reviewed | stale
leadership_score: 4.2
management_score: 3.8
overall_score: 4.0
leadership_practices:
  clear_direction: 5
  necessary_tools: 4
  letting_go: 4
  greater_good: 5
  clarity_breaks: 3
management_practices:
  clear_expectations: 4
  communicating_well: 4
  meeting_pulse: 3
  quarterly_conversations: 4
  rewarding_recognizing: 4
feedback: []
last_assessed: "2026-02-15"

**File naming:** `firstname-lastname.md` — lowercase, hyphenated. Person-centric (survives role changes).

Status Values

| Status | Meaning | When | |--------|---------|------| | `active` | Current assessment, may need development actions | After initial assessment or re-assessment | | `reviewed` | Assessment reviewed, development plan updated | After a Review session | | `stale` | Assessment is > 120 days old | Flagged automatically by Review mode |

The 10 Practices

Leadership Practices

| # | Practice | Description | Data Source | |---|----------|-------------|-------------| | 1 | Giving clear direction | Setting vision, priorities, and expectations so people know where they're going | Self-assessment | | 2 | Providing the necessary tools | Ensuring people have what they need — training, resources, systems, authority | Self-assessment | | 3 | Letting go of the vine | Empowering others instead of micromanaging; trusting the team to execute | Self-assessment | | 4 | Acting with the greater good in mind | Making decisions for the organization's benefit, not personal interest | Self-assessment | | 5 | Taking Clarity Breaks | Stepping away to think strategically — "work ON the business, not IN it" | `data/clarity/` frequency |

Management Practices

| # | Practice | Description | Data Source | |---|----------|-------------|-------------| | 1 | Keeping expectations clear | Each direct report knows their seat, roles, Rocks, and measurables | Self-assessment | | 2 | Communicating well | Open, honest, two-way communication with the team | Self-assessment | | 3 | Maintaining the right meeting pulse | Running consistent, productive weekly meetings (L10s) | `data/meetings/l10/` regularity | | 4 | Having quarterly conversations | Formal quarterly check-ins with each direct report | `data/conversations/` frequency | | 5 | Rewarding and recognizing | Acknowledging great work and addressing underperformance | Self-assessment |

Rating Scale

| Rating | Meaning | |--------|---------| | 1 | Never / Not at all | | 2 | Rarely | | 3 | Sometimes | | 4 | Usually | | 5 | Consistently |

Scores below 3 indicate a practice that needs focused development.

Process

Mode: Assess

Use when running an LMA self-assessment for a specific person. Recommended quarterly — ideally before Quarterly Planning sessions.

Step 1: Identify the Person

Ask for the person's name. Check if `data/lma/firstname-lastname.md` already exists.

• **Exists:** Read the file, show previous scores: "You have an existing LMA assessment from [date] (Leadership: [X], Management: [Y], Overall: [Z]). Re-assess (start fresh scores) or update (revise notes only)?"
• **New person:** Will create from `templates/lma-assessment.md`

Step 2: Pull Contex