Five Levels of Leadership

Posted on 13 January 2016 Updated on 13 January 2016

I am currently going through a Leadership Training based on  John Maxwell’s Five Levels of Leadership book.  It is a very comprehensive and easy to follow theory that helped me, and definitely can help you, understand who we are as leaders and where we are at with different people in the organization.

I am grateful for the constant evolution I am undergoing in the process of becoming an exceptional leader!

And here is a short summary of the five levels of leadership as described by John Maxwell himsef:

Level 1: Position —the entry level. People who make it only to Level 1 may be bosses, but they are never leaders. They have subordinates, not team members. They rely on rules, regulations, policies, and organization charts to control their people. Their people will only follow them because of their authority.

Level 2 – Permission –  first real step into leadership. Now, people do more than comply with orders, they actually start to follow. And they do so because they really want to.  The Why? Because the leader begins to influence people with relationship, not just position. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. “People go along with leaders they get along with”.

Level 3: Production  – production qualifies and separates true leaders from people who merely occupy leadership positions. Good leaders always make things happen. They get results. They can make a significant impact on an organization. Not only are they productive individually, but they also are able to help the team produce.  Some people never move up from Level 2 Permission to Level 3 Production. Why? They can’t seem to produce results. When that is the case, it’s usually because they lack the self-discipline, work ethic, organization, or skills to be productive. However, if you desire to go to higher levels of leadership, you simply have to produce.

Level 4: People Development  – the emphasis is on personal and corporate productivity. The ability to create a high-productivity team, department, or organization indicates a higher level of leadership ability than most others display. But to reach the upper levels of leadership that create elite organizations, leaders must transition from producers to developers. Why? Because people are any organization’s most appreciable asset. Good leaders on Level 4 invest their time, energy, money, and thinking into growing others as leaders. Leaders on the People Development level of leadership shift their focus from the production achieved by others to the development of their potential. And they put only 20 percent of their focus on their personal productivity while putting 80 percent of it on developing and leading others.

Level 5: The Pinnacle – rare is the leader who reaches Level 5—the Pinnacle. Not only is leadership at this level a culmination of leading well on the other four levels, but it also requires both a high degree of skill and some amount of natural leadership ability. It takes a lot to be able to develop other leaders so that they reach Level 4; that’s what Level 5 leaders do. The individuals who reach Level 5 lead so well for so long that they create a legacy of leadership in the organization they serve.

Pinnacle leaders stand out from everyone else. They are a cut above, and they seem to bring success with them wherever they go. Leadership at this high level lifts the entire organization and creates an environment that benefits everyone in it, contributing to their success. Level 5 leaders often possess an influence that transcends the organization and the industry the leader works in.