John Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership; an expose'

It seems no other subject has been written more about than that of leadership; yet it’s a proficiency that still seems to elude many.? John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership provides a yardstick against which we can all measure ourselves to determine the leadership level at which we operate. By identifying our current leadership level, we can take the necessary steps to strive for the next level, bringing enhanced capabilities to our organization. Everyone can benefit from such an assessment. This is especially important for managers of people who often mistake managing people for leading people.

In a nutshell:

01.Position: This is leadership based on rights conferred by the position or title. At this level, it’s an invitation to grow as a leader, not a place to set up camp. ?If you stay at this level and fail to grow, you become a lid on your team and on the organization. If dominated by level 1 leaders, the organization becomes a level 1 organization, performing below par.

Such organizations tend to lose their best people and attract average or below average people, compounding the subpar performance. ?It certainly gives weight to the adage: People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.

?Managers at this level can be stifling to direct reports seeking guidance on job related tasks or on professional development. While professional development remains the responsibility of the employee, a manager operating at level 1 only makes that task more difficult. Direct reports, therefore, can use these leadership level yardsticks to assess their own managers and use that as part of the feedback mechanism during performance reviews. A good manager, who is interested in growing, will be receptive to such feedback, providing a win-win-win situation for the manager, the direct report, and the organization.

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02.Permission: This is leadership based on people relationships; where influence is developed through the relationships formed. As research shows, leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. Here real leadership begins, breaking down organizational silos and connecting people across job descriptions and departments.

?When you connect with people, you gain the ability to identify with and relate to them in ways that increase your influence. This is where followers give their supervisors permission to lead them; the leader’s influence stemming from the credibility established through the relationships formed.

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03.Production: Leadership here is based on results achieved. Here leaders increase their influence and credibility with followers because of what the leader has done for the organization. The leader’s productivity sets the standard for the team. These leaders model results and the kind of behavior that motivates their teams to be highly productivity.

?In this environment, productive people attract other productive people, creating a positive feedback loop and multiplying the effect on the organization. The momentum thus gained produces results for the team greater than the sum of its parts, with individuals in the team compensating for each other’s weaknesses.

?The level of production generated here is propelled by a clear, compelling, and well defined vision that the leader brings to the table. ?Leaders here have a sense of where they are going and how to get there. Pioneers by default, they seek new and better ways of ?doing things. Always taking people somewhere, they strive to keep the people and the organization moving forward towards its vision.

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?04.People: Here you transition from a producer to a developer. Leadership here is based on empowering others to be producers and to become leaders in their own right. This is where you reproduce yourself in the people you lead, increasing the productivity of the organization. You multiply the productivity of the organization because every time you develop a leader, you add all the horsepower of that leader’s team; it’s a fast way to compound your time, effort, resource.

?While production qualifies and separates true leaders from people who merely occupy leadership positions, true leaders also understand that they get results, not by themselves, but through the team they coach and develop. ?Level 3, the production level, thus acts as a springboard to Level 4—People development.

?At this level your motive to be in a leadership role is not to gain power, a bigger paycheck or to feed an ego, but to help others fulfill their potential, and as a team, move the organization forward in fulfilling its vision. In doing so, great leaders are initiators. They move ?towards their people, not waiting for their people to come to them for what they need.

?The ability to develop people is often the differentiator between organizations competing for the same resources. An empowered workforce is the most difficult of assets for competitors to replicate. People are also the most appreciable assets in an organization. Unlike physical assets like plant and equipment that depreciate with use, people increase in value the more they are used to deliver meaningful results for the organization. A company grows when its people grow. ?

?In developing people, good leaders must also be willing to leave their comfort zone and be willing to take others beyond their comfort zone. They provide stretch assignments for these individuals, accepting the risks and accountability that come with such actions. ?Every challenge, problem, or initiative arising in your business is a chance to provide someone with a leadership development opportunity.

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05.Pinnacle: Here leaders transcend their position, their area of expertise, their organization, and even their industry, to extend their influence for an even broader impact. Here growth and productivity become exponential as the level 5 leader creates a pipeline of leaders in the organizations, developing generations of leaders that keep multiplying and producing.

?Here opportunities and training are provided to those who in turn create other leaders. An environment is thus created that promotes leadership development at every level of the organization.? As such, the organization is lifted to function at an extraordinarily high level.

The level 5 leader strives to make the most of organizations, opportunities, and experiences to which he has access, and shares those benefits with the ones he is developing. Less than 1% of leaders make it to this level, but a goal nonetheless worth striving towards.

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Putting it altogether: You will succeed in the journey through the 5 levels of leadership only if you dedicate yourself to continual development and strive ?to keep growing. Great leaders are always great learners. Leaders tend to be pioneers, innovators and experimenters, always striving to find new and better ways of doing things. ?The question for all of us: At what level of leadership do we currently reside, and to what level do we aspire? To get to that next? level, what are the specific steps will we take? The ball is now in our court.

?A final word from an acclaimed leader: You become a great leader “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more…”, John Quincy Adams, 6th President of the United States.