Book Review: The 5 Levels of Leadership

True leadership isn’t about having a certain job, title, or position. It is about investing in people, building relationships, and inspiring them. It is about achieving results and building a team, a team that produces. Helping people develop their own skills to become leaders themselves. True leaders who have skill and dedication can reach the pinnacle of leadership, extending their influence for the benefit of others, creating true leaders following behind.

John C. Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership are:
1- Position: People follow because they have to.
2- Permission: People follow because they want to.
3- Production: People follow because of what you have done for the organization.
4- People Development: People follow because what you have done for them personally.
5- Pinnacle: People follow because of who you are and you are represent.

To become a great leader, Max-well has given wonderful advice in his book. He begins the book with a leadership game plan, which includes an overview and insights into the 5 levels.

Insights into the 5 Levels:
He shares 10 insights that help the reader understand how the levels are related to one another:
1- You can move up a level but you never leave the previous one behind
2- You are not on the same level with every person
3- The higher you go, the easier it is to lead.
4- The higher you go, the more time and commitment is required to win a level
5- Moving up levels occurs slowly, but going down can happen quickly.
6- The higher you go, the greater the returns,
7- Moving father up always require further growth,
8- Not climbing the level limits, you and your people
9- When you change position or organization, you seldom stay at the same level
10- You can not climb the level alone.

LEVEL 1: POSITION
Leadership is more than just having a position. People follow you because they have to.
Position is the entry level of leadership. Every leader starts here. It is the foundation every leader build upon. “Positional leadership is based on the rights granted by the position and title. Nothing is wrong with having a leadership position. Everything is wrong with using position to get people to follow. Position is a poor substitute for influence”. Level 1 people may be bosses, but they are never leaders. They do not have the influence that is needed to lead. The people of Level 1 have subordinates, not team members and they rely heavily on rules, policies, and regulations to control their people. These “subordinates” will only do what is required of them and nothing more.

LEVEL 2: PERMISSION
The key to Level 2 is building relationships. Level 2 is also about developing influence with your people. Liking your people and treating them like individuals with value, influence is created. Trust is also developed. The environment also becomes much more positive than that with a Level 1 leader. Level 2 leaders are so concerned about preserving their position, but their concern is getting to know their people, figuring out how to get along with them, and finding out who their people are. As a result, the followers find out who their leaders are, and in turn this builds solid, lasting relationships. Leaders may be tempted to stop at Level 2, but there is more to leadership than just relationships! “You can like people without leading them but you cannot lead people well without liking them”.

LEVEL 3: PRODUCTION
There’s more to being a good leader than creating a pleasant and positive working environment. Good leaders get things done! They produce results. On Level 3, leaders gain influence and credibility. Positive things happen with a Level 3 leader: work gets done, goals are achieved, morale improves, profits go up, turnover goes down, and momentum kicks in! It is on Level 3 that leading and influencing others becomes fun.

LEVEL 4: PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
Level 4 leaders have the ability to empower others. “They use their position, relationships, and productivity to invest in their followers and develop them until those followers’ become leaders in their own right”. The result? Reproduction! Level 4 leaders reproduce themselves.

LEVEL 5: PINNACLE
Of course, Level 5 is the highest and most difficult level. Not many people achieve this level, and if they do, it’s because they are naturally gifted leaders. Most people can achieve Levels 1 through 4, but Level 5 requires a lot of effort, skill, intentionality, and a high level of talent. Level 5 leaders develop their people to become Level 4 leaders. Many leaders don’t make it to Level 5 because it requires them to develop followers rather than simply lead followers. Developing followers to lead on their own takes a lot of work and effort and is very difficult. “Developing leaders to the point where they are able and willing to develop other leaders is the most difficult leadership task of all”.
Level 5 leaders develop Level 5 organizations. Level 5 leaders create opportunities that other leaders don’t.
Their leadership gains a positive reputation, thus creating a great deal of respect.

Bio taken from: http://www.amazon.com/The-Levels-Leadership-Maximize-Potential/dp/159995365X

By Sophea Keo