have lead weights on his ankes? What does the idiom mean?

I assume you mean ankles. I've never heard of this as a stock phrase, but it could mean that someone moved slowly, as though they had lead weights on their legs. At the same time, when i was a boy in school, people sometimes put weights around their ankles when they ran to build up their leg muscels.

We can't answer these questions unless you provide a reasonable amount of context. If you will quote the passage in which you read this, you have a better chance of getting a reasonable answer.

I used to move people around all the time at AT&T, and later at GM, to see who could swim and who had lead weights on their ankles. I’d take a person from marketing and put her into an operational job, or swap out a person in communications and put him in a technical job. Or pluck somebody out of the management line three or four levels down and put her into a senior position.

Thank you very much Setanta. It should be ankles. I am reading a new book written by Ed Whitacre.

In this context, it means who "will sink" meaning they will fail in their new position.

Many thanks, engineer! I got it. It carries a figurative meaning here. Similarly, "swim" here means capable of handling the new job. Am I right?

Thanks for providing the context, Nancy. Engineer has helped you out as a result.

I should say thank you Setanta.

Naw . . . it's no big deal. Your thanks to Engineer were appropriate.

You've got it.

Is this a dialectal thing or a hypercorrection?