Tools & Resources: The Leader Presence Audit
A behavioral check for the 30–90 days after significant change.
Presence is not a feeling. It is a pattern — and patterns can be audited.
This tool is for leaders who have recently navigated a layoff, restructuring, merger, or any change that cost people something real. It is not a performance review. It is not a self-assessment of intention.
It is a set of behavioral questions, because behavior is what registers.
HOW TO USE THIS TOOL
— when you want to understand how you are actually landing, not how you intend to land
— when trust feels thin and you are not sure why
— when you suspect there is a gap between the leader you are being and the leader the moment requires
— when 30, 60, or 90 days have passed since a significant announcement and the atmosphere has not shifted
Set aside 15 minutes. Answer what is actually true, not what you wish were true.
PART ONE: PRESENCE
In the last two weeks, how many times did you answer a direct question directly — without redirecting, softening, or deferring to a future update?
Write a number. Do not estimate generously.
When someone asked something uncomfortable, what did you do?
☐ Answered it in the room, as asked
☐ Acknowledged it and committed to a follow-up — and followed up
☐ Acknowledged it and committed to a follow-up — and did not follow up
☐ Redirected to a broader point
☐ Did not register it as uncomfortable at the time
Where are you not going?
Name the rooms, conversations, or people you have been avoiding — whether or not you have named it that way to yourself.
PART TWO: ACCURACY
How have you described what happened?
Write the sentence or phrase you have used most often when referring to the recent change.
Now read it back. Does it name what was lost — people, trust, momentum, certainty — or does it describe the decision and its rationale?
☐ It names what was lost
☐ It describes the decision
☐ It does both
☐ It does neither
What have you not said out loud that is true?
One sentence is enough.
PART THREE: STEADINESS
What has your energy communicated in the last 30 days?
Check what applies — not what you intended, but what people have likely read.
☐ That things are under control
☐ That things are uncertain but navigable
☐ That things are fine (when they are not)
☐ That you are working hard to project confidence
☐ That you are genuinely oriented
☐ That you are not sure, and are not hiding that
When the room goes flat or tense, what do you do?
☐ Stay in it
☐ Move past it
☐ Address it directly
☐ Fill it with information
☐ Fill it with energy
☐ I am not sure — I do not always notice
What are you doing to manage your own anxiety about this period — and is it visible to others?
PART FOUR: THE GAP
The most useful question in this audit is not any individual item. It is this:
What is the difference between the story you are telling about how this period is going and the story the people around you would tell?
Name it as specifically as you can.
That gap — however wide or narrow — is where the work is.
ONE ACTION
Do not solve everything. Choose one.
— Is there a question I have been avoiding answering that I could answer this week?
— Is there a room I have been avoiding entering that I could enter this week?
— Is there something true that I have not yet said out loud that someone in my organization needs to hear?
One action, this week:
Presence accumulates through small consistent acts. This audit is not a destination. It is a recalibration point. Return to it at 30, 60, and 90 days.
Arcana Communications ~ Where meaning meets change.
© 2025 Arcana Communications. All rights reserved. Not for distribution, reproduction, or resale without permission.
