I was recently conversing with one of the best leaders I know and it made me think about John Maxwell’s The Five Levels of Leadership. It’s an amazing book, especially for those who are just becoming leaders. I had the good fortune of being given the gift of this book very early in my leadership journey and I’ve given it to many people since then. If you’re unfamiliar with Maxwell’s Five Levels, here is a visual representation.
If you haven’t read it and want to know more about these levels, I highly suggest picking up a copy of the book. Without a doubt, there’s more wisdom in one chapter of that book than in the entirety of this blog series. That being said, I hope the next few words bring some value to you.
For the purposes of this post, there are two things you need to understand about The Five Levels of Leadership:
- They are sequential.
- Your Leadership Level varies from person to person.
Every single person reading this right now knows leaders on every single level. You know Level 1 Leaders – people who only have others following them because they have to. They’re either brand new leaders who haven’t had much time to grow or, far worse, they’re leaders in name only. They have the title, but they don’t have the heart or the spirit for leadership. You also know Level 2 Leaders – people who have taken the time to develop relationships with the people they lead. People don’t just follow them because of their title; they’re followed because they’ve developed enough respect and trust amongst their followers that they’re willing to “go with them.” Level 3 Leaders are easily seen because they get things done. They not only have the title and the respect of their followers, they have the metrics to prove they’re capable of making things happen.
I’m going to deviate (just a bit) from what Maxwell offers in his book: For most people, this, Level 3, is where the leadership journey stops. The final two levels, I believe, are altogether different from the first three because they have to do with developing other leaders. That’s a skill far more complex and demanding than production could ever be. Level 4 leaders don’t spend most of their time doing the work; they spend most of their time investing in people – the people doing the work. With their positive influence, they augment their followers’ personal and professional capabilities to create teams and organizations that thrive. That’s pretty amazing, right? I mean, how do you top that? What is a Level 5 leader, anyway?
It’s simple and breathtakingly difficult. Level 5 Leaders are Level 4 Leaders who invest so much into their followers that their legacy is the creation of many other Level 4 leaders across their lifetime. That’s why it’s called The Pinnacle. Very few achieve Level 5 leadership, but I would contend that we should all aspire to it.
As you consider which level you’re on, let me remind you: Unless you’ve reached The Pinnacle (and even if you have, in some cases) your Leadership Level varies from person to person. For instance, you might be a very solid Level 3 Leader, but you just received a transfer who knows nothing about you, your team, or the work you’ve done. On day one, all they know is that you’re their boss. To them, you’re Level 1 regardless of where you are with everyone else.
Given this, I invite you to spend some time reflecting on your leadership this week. If you’re struggling to identify which Level you’re generally on, a simple and powerful exercise is simply printing a roster of your team and writing a number from 1 to 5 next to each of their names. This exercise, by the way, is not just about identifying where you stand – it’s about taking an intentional step to grow as a leader.
If you’re an Assistant Principal in a new school this semester, chances are you’re going to be writing “1” next to just about every single name. And that’s fine. That’s right where you’re supposed to be. Just don’t hang out there. Recognize that leadership involves other people and begin investing in those relationships to build up both trust and goodwill.
If you’re a teacher reading this and you’re in the first five days of the semester with new students, it’s pretty important to recognize that you, too, need to put some work in to move up the ladder of Leadership Levels, especially if you want to get anything done. There aren’t too many students who are simply going to do what you ask because “you’re the teacher.”
Finally, if you’re an experienced leader, you probably have the most to gain from this exercise. Who are those “1’s” you need to begin investing in and, just as importantly, who are those “4’s” that you need to empower to lead alongside you?
I love what my company’s Founder, Flip, says about leadership: “A leader is someone who sets aside a personal agenda and embraces a greater agenda of serving others.” That’s really what the Five Levels of Leadership is all about, isn’t it?
Serving others is truly leadership’s highest and most enduring call.
#ChooseToBeGreat
Angelo
CHOOSE TO BE GREAT 