5 Levels of Leadership

–  review

Everybody’s a leader. It doesn’t matter if you are in kindergarten or retired – whatever position in life  — a mother, a father, a friend, a brother—you are a leader in some way, shape or form.

We should all be learning how to be better leaders.

There are several stages of leadership. You can’t just skip to the final stage of leadership; rather, you have to go through the stages, and if you know what the stages are and if you know that the levels exist, you can navigate through them and become a successful leader.

I like John Maxwell’s book The 5 Levels of Leadership because it begins with the premise that the purpose of leadership is to produce more leaders and to help each person move toward the highest level of leadership they can reach. Then he lists and explains the five levels of leadership that he has seen and experienced.

The 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 of what you have done for them personally.
5. Pinnacle – People follow because of who you are and what you represent.

Maxwell uses humor, in-depth insight, and examples as he describes each of these stages of leadership. He shows you how to master each level and rise up to the next to become a more influential, respected, and successful leader.

“No matter where you are in your leadership, remember, what got you to where you are can get you ahead of the next level.” John C. Maxwell

In this book, John Maxwell explains further by stating ten (10) insights to help people understand these leadership levels. The insights are:

1. You can move upper level but you must never leave the previous level behind.
2. You are not on the same level with every person. You may be at level two with your family at home but level 3 with your employees at work.
3. The higher you go, the easier it gets for you to lead.
4. The higher you go the more time and commitment is required to win a level. There is no easy way to get up.
5. Moving up the levels goes slowly but going down goes easily.
6. The higher you go the greater the returns.
7. Moving further always require further growth. Every risk at a higher level is a natural extension of what the leaders have by then developed.
8. Not climbing the levels limits you and your people. If your leadership is a 4 out of 10, you effectiveness would be nothing more than 4.
9. When you change positions or organizations, you seldom stay at the same level.
10. And finally, you cannot climb the level alone.

“The goal of life is not to live forever; the goal of life is to leave something that would live forever.”

John C. Maxwell