Bridging the Gap: How Good Leaders Transform Into Great Ones

"Good leaders always make things happen. They get results. They can make a significant impact on any organisation". This statement is from the book by John C. Maxwell, ‘The 5 Levels of Leadership’.

The organisation can be any size, from a sole trader to a corporation. Getting results takes leadership, and when we understand and know what results are to be achieved, in other words, goals are being set, then all that is required is good leadership to achieve them.

In his book 'Good to Great', Jim Collins states that "good is the enemy of great”. So now that brings us to another level of leadership. Great leadership is about getting great results. We can be good at something, but what if we were great at it? What impact will great leadership have on the set goals and results achieved?

"People do not decide their futures; they decide their habits, and their habits decide their future". F.M Alexander

So, what does it take to be a great leader who is an adult and takes responsibility to be the best they can be? It takes habits . F.M. Alexander said it best when he said, "People do not decide their futures; they decide their habits, and their habits decide their future".

Here are three reasons why it is critical to continually build business leadership capabilities and competencies that move a leader from good to great.

Seeking great drives a focus on achieving value for your clients.

Choosing a strategy and backing it up with a plan to execute is the most challenging thing for a business leader. When you can create strong habits around how you do this, being great will follow.

Being great is measurable.

When you effectively execute a great plan to deliver your strategy, having metrics measuring success matters. When you measure results, you can manage results.

Great is being your best now, not just in the future.

Your future will be created based on how great you are now. As time passes and you build strong habits around being great, you will become more so.

These thoughts suggest the stages of growth that we go through to become adults. A model called the 'Adult Growth Model' that The Coaching Institute developed explains this well because it highlights that we go through 4 stages of growth to become adults. In this context, I refer to an adult as fully grown and mature. I define this because some 'adults' who are fifty can still be in the early stages of growth and possibly never grow up. Many wish we did not have to grow up, but that’s life!

The Adult Growth Model provides insight into what stage you are now to decide how you can or need to shift your thinking and behaviour to go from good to great. Think about it, when is the best time to plant a tree? 20 years ago. When is the second-best time? Right now. Are you ready to challenge yourself to go from good to great as an adult leader?

In different areas of our lives, we go through various stages of development, which match the growth phases as children. As we go through these stages, we move from dependence to interdependence. This is also aligned with Stephen R. Coveys' model in his classic book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, where he outlines how the seven habits take us from dependence to interdependence. Interdependence is experienced once we do not need rescuing, are not rebelling or rejecting feedback, and can deliver results for ourselves and others. For anyone wanting to diagnose where they are in the stages of development, the adult growth model is a great framework to reflect where they are, what’s about to happen next, where they're maybe stuck, why they’re stuck—and how to get unstuck.

The first level is Reliance.

When a child is born, it entirely depends on its caregivers for what it needs. This is a functional part of life. We can’t be born independent, so reliance is essential to our developmental stage. If we are not supported at this stage, it could influence being dysfunctional as an adult. As a child at this stage, we are a long way from being grown up; however, at the age of two or three, there is a shift, and the questions start, and limits are tested.

From Reliance to Rebellion.

Moving to the rebellion stage is a healthy separation psychologically and can be both functional and dysfunctional. We go from thinking about 'we', being reliant on others, to 'I', where we want to be separate. Sometimes separation isn’t encouraged within families, so there could be a tendency to stay in rebellion, even when they are fifty. This is evident in how they dress, relate to others, or their attitude, which can be helpful in some ways.

Learn to move from Rebellion to Results.

In 'The 5 Levels of Leadership’, this is what Maxwell refers to as a level 3 leader. Level 3 leaders are focused on producing results, and he highlights that production qualifies and separates true leaders from people who merely occupy leadership positions. At the results stage, we are prepared to learn from others, open to feedback, and willing to change, adapt, and do what it takes to get the best outcome for the organisation and others on the team. Achieving results builds credibility, and interdependence can be experienced at this level.

Results enable us to move to Realisation.

Realisation is the developmental stage of awareness of what has happened to us. This stage allows you to stand on the balcony and watch the dancers on the floor rather than be a dancer on the floor and caught up in the excitement of dancing. A person at the realisation stage is aware of the journey they have been on and can watch and learn with enthusiasm. At this level, they can say yes and work out how to prevent the fears from stopping them. At this stage, interdependence occurs.

We can be at the psychological stages at any age and regress because of what is happening outside us. So, moving away from what we don’t want can propel us to what we do want—building solid habits that support you to be great as a leader is a way of moving towards what you want. Having a strategy and a plan for execution is a tool to achieve results; however, the fundamental enabler is the habits you decide to embrace as a leader to create your desired future. This approach will move you from a good to a great leader.

If you would like to learn more about how habits support you in achieving your goals, join us at our next free Leadership Training

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