Level Five Leadership
“Level 5 Leadership”, this term was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” and it is all about achieving "Greatness" as a leader. This article will explain what we mean by Level 5 Leadership and what the characteristics of a Level 5 leader are. What it takes to achieve greatness as a leader, and what are the steps and strategies that one can use to move up to this top level of leadership.
What is Level 5 Leadership?
Level 5 Leadership is a term that was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great: Why Some Company’s Make the Leap and Other Don’t”. As Collins says in his book, "We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the types of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one." What he seems to have found is what The Economist calls, "The Cult of the Faceless Boss." Truly great leaders have a specific blend of skills along-with certain characteristics that are harder to define. In his own words "The good-to-great executives were all cut from the same cloth. It didn't matter whether the company was a consumer or industrial, in crisis or steady-state, offered services or products. It didn't matter when the transition took place or how big the company. All the good-to-great companies had Level 5 leadership at the time of the transition. Furthermore, the absence of Level 5 leadership showed up as a consistent pattern in the comparison companies..."
Collins observed a set of "personality attributes" which identifies who they are rather than what they know and all exhibited extreme personal humility with an intense professional will.
The personality attributes that he found were:
1. Level 5 leaders are all very bright people who know their business. They are self-confident enough to set up their successors for success.
2. They are intelligent with business and domain knowledge to effectively manage their companies.
3. Level 5 leaders have humility. They are humble and modest.
4. Level 5 leaders seek success so that their team and organization can thrive.
5. Level 5 leaders share credit for success with the entire team or organization and happily accept blame for mistakes. They give credit to others for their success and take full responsibility for poor results. They "attribute much of their success to 'good luck' rather than personal greatness."
6. Level 5 leaders ask for help when they need it.
7. Level 5 Leaders are incredibly disciplined in their work. They have "unwavering resolve."
8. Level 5 Leaders succeed with their teams and spend quality time to find the right set of people. They develop their people to help them reach their full potential (get the right people on the bus).
9. Level 5 Leaders are passionate about their job, about what they do. They display "workmanlike diligence - more plow horse than show horse."
Collin’s Five Levels of Leadership:
Level 5 is the highest level in a hierarchy of leadership capabilities. Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high levels of success but not enough to elevate organizations from mediocrity to sustained excellence. “Good-to-Great” transformations are not possible without Level 5 leadership. Let's look at each of the five levels in more detail:
Level 1: Highly Capable Individual
The leader at this level makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. At this level, the leader possesses useful levels of knowledge; and has the talent and skills needed to do a good job.
Level 2: Contributing Team Member
At Level 2, the leader contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting. The leader uses his knowledge and skills to help the team succeed. The leader has the ability to work effectively, productively, and successfully with other people in the group.
Level 3: Competent Manager
At Level3, the leader organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. The leader has the ability to organize a group effectively to achieve specific goals and objectives.
Level 4: Effective Leader
At Level 4, the leader catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high-performance standards. This is the category where most successful leaders fall into. Here, the leader has the ability to stimulate a department or organization to meet performance objectives and achieve a vision. Level 4 leaders have their own visions of what the business needs to do to succeed. They decide on a direction and then get people to implement their vision.
Level 5: Great Leader
This level sits on top of a hierarchy of capabilities and the four other layers lie beneath it. Each one is appropriate in its own right, but none with the power of Level 5. We do not need to move sequentially through each level of the hierarchy to reach the top but to be a fully-fledged Level 5; we need the capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the special characteristics of level 5. At Level 5, the leader has all of the abilities needed for the other four levels, plus they have the unique blend of humility and will that's required for true greatness. Leader at this level builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
What are the functions which a leader does to establish as a leader? What are the activities undertaken by them to become great leaders, rather revolutionary leaders? The most important tasks done by a leader in all situations are defining the vision, mission, and goals, leading the team, administrative functions, motivating followers, decision making and conflict resolution, and continuous development.
-
Narcissistic leadership is a leadership style in which the leader is only interested in him. Narcissists are good for companies that need people with vision and the courage to take them in new directions. Such leaders sometime might be highly successful, but is it a style to be followed. Learn the various types of narcissistic leadership and the characteristics of such leaders.
-
There are four major factors in leadership called Leader, Follower, Communication, and Situation. The success of the leader is dependent on how the leader is effectively able to communicate and motivate followers to perform desired tasks using the appropriate leadership style best suited for the given situation. Interdependencies and dynamics of these four factors of leadership must be considered by a leader to be effective.
-
Emergent leadership occurs when a group member is not appointed or elected as leader, but rather that person steps up as the leader over time within-group interactions. Have you ever faced challenges in getting accepted into your new role of position as a leader? Groups don't automatically accept a new "boss" as a leader. Emergent leadership is what you must do when taking over a new group. Learn more about emergent leadership.
-
Understanding of how individuals of different cultures interact with each other is very important. Not all individuals can adapt to the leadership styles expected in a different culture whether that culture is organizational or national. In a fast-paced business environment, developing a richer understanding and sensitivity to other cultures is a skill that leaders must possess. Learn to be effective in a cross-cultural setting.
-
Power is the ability to exercise influence or control over others. Leadership involves authority and it is very important for leaders to understand what type of power they're using. The 5 Types of Power in Leadership are Coercive power, expert power, legitimate power, referent power, and reward power. Authority is the right to command and extract obedience from others. It comes from the organization and it allows the leader to use power.
-
Authoritarian Leadership Style
Although generally considered as a traditional, outdated, and non-preferred style of leadership, the autocratic style still can be used effectively in certain situations. It is a leadership style characterized by individual absolute control over a group. If you work for an autocratic leader, your job is usually to do what you're told. Learn more about this style and situations where this could be an effective style to use and when to avoid this type of approach. Analyze the characteristics of this style to evaluate if your followers consider you an authoritarian leader!
-
A good leadership style is something that every effective leader must have in order to succeed, but identifying what that entails or does not entails might be difficult to understand. Most of the research on leadership focuses on the exemplary, best practices, and positive attributes of effective and successful leaders. This article talks about a new approach to learn leadership using lessons from bad leadership. That is the lessons to be learned by examining leaders who have not effectively exercised their power, authority, or influence.
-
Authentic leadership is an approach to leadership that emphasizes building the leader's legitimacy through honest relationships with followers which value their input and are built on an ethical foundation. The authentic leader acts upon his or her values and beliefs, and inspires others to do the same, is committed to know and develop oneself. Are you committed to developing yourself; know your motivations and the purpose of your leadership? Read this article to know more about authentic leadership style and discovering your authentic self.
-
Have you ever resonated that there seem to be as many different ways to lead people as there have been great leaders? When we recall the success of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon Bonaparte to Steve Jobs and Jack Welch, we also notice that they all used different approaches that were suitable to their specific situations and circumstances. Over the last century, researchers and psychologists have developed simple ways to describe the “Styles of leadership” and in this section, we will explore these commonly known leadership styles.
