I was talking with my son last night about a business he’d worked in
that was, “the best business” he’d ever seen.  What made it the best? 
“People worked together.  Nobody slacked.  The boss didn’t act like the
king.  Everyone was friendly to each other.  Everyone helped the
customers and the company.  There was no negativity — just a “can-do”
attitude on everyone’s part.  It was fun to go to work.”

We talked about how it is the leader who creates that environment. 
I asked him, “Tell me how, if you were to buy (or start) a company
today, you would build that exact same business environment.”  He began
by telling me what he liked, why he liked it, etc.  “No,” I said.  I
want a step-by-step plan of how you would re-create that environment.” 
We never really did get there.

I think the way to be ready to lead is to lead in your mind.  What
does the perfect business environment / culture look like to you?  If
you were in charge today, what would you do day-by-day and hour-by-hour
to make your business look like that?  Often, when you finally get your
chance to lead, there’s no time to think about what you’d do.  The time
for thinking has passed and it’s time for making things happen.  If I
asked you today how you would make it happen, could you tell me?