John Maxwell, who has written many books on leadership and who teaches courses in it, talks about “The Five Levels of Leadership.” (NOTE: If you want to watch Maxwell’s entire 27-minute presentation, you can view it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI ). In it, he describes the “Five Levels” as a pyramid whereby all of us start at the bottom and work our way up, level by level, until we (at least some of us) reach the pinnacle. He calls Level One, the “Position Level” because the person who holds a leadership position at this level holds it only because the org chart says so. At this level, people will do what they’re told to do because they must . . . if they want to keep their jobs and collect a paycheck. But the authority figure in this environment will get the minimum effort from his or her people. They will do what they have to do in order to protect their jobs and collect a paycheck, but no more.
If you suspect that you, or some of your managers, are stuck in Position Level leadership and would like to change, please continue reading below.
“You can manage things, but people need to be led.” – Peter Drucker
Pretty smart guy that Peter Drucker. He understood what many people do not . . . that leading and managing are two totally different activities. A great manager is not necessarily a great leader, nor is a great leader necessarily a great manager. Good managers are organized, task-oriented, able to juggle a lot of details, and are driven by schedules and deadlines. As Drucker teaches, managing is about things. Buildings and equipment can be managed. Inventory can be managed. Cash can be managed. But people? Not so much. Good leaders are visionary, big picture people who are capable of inspiring and challenging the people around them, and painting a picture of exciting possibilities ahead. It’s not that people can’t lead and manage, but it’s a rare person who can be great at both. So are you leading your people, or are you trying to manage them?
In its current issue, Time magazine profiles “The 100 Most Influential People in the World.” Sadly, I’m not one of them. Neither are you. But one who did make the list is Christine Lagarde. She has led the International Monetary Fund since 2011 and also serves as Finance Minister in her native France. As the first woman in both roles, she has shown extraordinary leadership at a time when the world was still recovering from recession and the European Union was trying to hold itself together. Time quotes her as saying, “Leadership is about encouraging people. It’s about stimulating them. It’s about enabling them to achieve what they can achieve . . . and to do that with purpose.” While that may not be a precise definition of leadership, it’s a great definition of what leaders do.
There is an inflection point for all would-be leaders. They can stay at the John Maxwell’s Position Level, leaders in name only because the org chart says so, or they can begin working on their leadership skills, developing their own leadership style, and move beyond Level One toward the sort of leadership envisioned by Christine Lagarde. The objective, according to Richard Teerlink, former CEO of Harley-Davidson, “is a group of people working toward a common goal because they want to, not because they have to.”
Think of your own leadership style as well as the leadership styles of other authority figures within your organization. Are any of you practicing Position Level leadership and getting less-than-optimal performance? Or have you moved up a few levels to a point that people are performing at “want to” levels rather than “have to” levels?
If you need help elevating the level of leadership within your organization, call me. I’ll be happy to talk to you about it.
Rock Solid Business Development
Phone: (847) 665-9134
andy@rocksolidbizdevelopment.com
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