In a business sense, this measures new behavior which will ultimately drive Lag Measure success. Tracking lead measurements allows for controlling in-the-moment behavior in order to drive success to the ultimate goal.
For example: in a bakery whose ultimate goal is overall customer satisfaction, the number of free samples given out today is a Lead Measure. Overall customer satisfaction won’t be known until some time in the future when the lag measurement is done, but it has already been shown that these free samples contribute towards it.
See also: Lag Measure