FEBRUARY 2 • TRUE LEADERSHIP
The Five Levels of Leadership
…and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Exodus 18:21b
Management author Jim Collins, in his wonderful book Good to Great, coined the phrase Level 5 Leadership. John C. Maxwell, leadership guru, penned an exceptional book by a similar title, The 5 Levels of Leadership. John’s book uses different titles and concepts than Jim’s book for each level so they are not one-to-one concepts. But I did want to give credit where credit is due. I have gleaned much from both authors but for our purposes, I will be referring to John’s work on the 5 Levels of Leadership — mostly because I was trained on that material while on the John Maxwell team. This is not an exhaustive treatise on the book because John has already done a great work. Both should be one of the many books you read on leadership.
Because it defines well how to grow as a leader, I will refer to it often. The following is a general definition of the 5 Levels —
Level 1: Positional Leader. The lowest form of leadership/influence, they are put over us at work, in school, and government. We work for them because we have to, though they don’t have true influence over us — power or control, yes, but not real influence. This is the starting point.
Level 2: Permission Leader, has gained our permission to lead us by building relationships with us; we see that they care; they build trust.
Level 3: Production Leader, gains influence by the accomplishments they have made. Their accomplishments benefit us as well. We are gaining respect for this leader as they train us to accomplish more/better.
Level 4: People Leader, invest their time, energy, money, and thinking into others. They care about you, desire your good, want to see you grow and achieve, and train you so you can eventually lead others well.
Level 5: Pinnacle Leader. They transcend industry and society. They give of themselves so much and care for people and mankind as a whole so much they gain unswerving influence from the masses. They grow other leaders to grow other leaders to grow other leaders…
Where are you on this list? Have you skipped any levels?
Pray: Lord, show me where I am as a leader and open my eyes, ears, and heart to grow to be a Level 5 Leader.
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