The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential (28 page)

If you want to start creating a Leadership Development culture that cultivates Level 5 leaders, then do the following:

If you make the purpose of your organization to champion, teach, practice, coach, and reward leadership, then people will want to become good leaders. They will strive to help others become good leaders. And the potential of the organization to fulfill its vision will explode.

Level 4 leaders develop people. Level 5 leaders consistently develop leaders over a lifetime, and the leaders they raise up also develop leaders. It becomes a lifestyle they practice everywhere and at all times, not a program they implement or a task they occasionally practice. Mentoring is a mantle that they wear willingly, and they strive to add value to others. They value it because they have transitioned from chasing a position of success to pursuing a role of significance.

We live in a very needy world. If you often ask yourself,
How do we meet so many needs?
then please realize that the greatest needs will never be met until we equip leaders who can work to meet those needs. That is one of the reasons I train leaders. I believe it is a cause worthy of a lifetime commitment. I hope you will accept the challenge to develop people and raise up leaders. If you do, you won’t regret it.

A
s you reflect on the upsides, downsides, best behaviors, and beliefs related to the People Development level of leadership, use the following guidelines to help you grow as a leader:

1.
Be Willing to Keep Growing Yourself:
Few things are worse than the teacher who is unteachable. As a leader, you will reproduce what you are. If you remain teachable, your people will remain teachable. If your mind is closed, so will be the minds of the people you mentor. How do you keep growing and have an open mind? First, maintain a teachable spirit, which says,
Everyone can teach me something. Everything can teach me something.
Second, keep yourself on a growth plan. It is impossible to help others intentionally grow if you are not intentionally growing. And here’s the good news: If you have already been investing in your personal development, guess what? You have already done much of the hard work. Just keep learning.

2.
Decide that People Are Worth the Effort:
Comedian and author David Sedaris said, “I haven’t got the slightest idea how to change people, but still I keep a long list of prospective candidates just in case I should ever figure it out.”
⁷
That’s not the way to approach People Development. You shouldn’t go into it because people cause trouble and you want them to change. You should go into it because people are worth it, and you’re willing to take the trouble to help them. If you haven’t already made that decision, then make it before you engage in the process.

3.
Work Through Your Insecurities:
Leaders who are afraid of looking bad or of being replaced rarely develop other leaders. If that description applies to you, then you need to process through those issues so that you can work your way up to the higher levels of leadership. Spend some time with people you trust and who know you well enough to talk through your issues. Ask for their help and accountability. Get the advice of a counseling professional, if needed. Do whatever it takes, because insecure leaders don’t develop people, and leaders who don’t develop people never become Level 4 leaders.

4.
Recruit the Best People You Can to Develop:
Most leaders spend their time and energy on the wrong people: the bottom 20 percent. The individuals who usually take up most of a leader’s time are the troublemakers, the complainers, and those who are struggling. These people often have the
least
potential to lead and take the organization forward. Level 4 leaders focus their best time and energy on the top 20 percent, the people who don’t
need
attention but would most profit from it. Take a look at all of the people in your sphere of influence. Who are the individuals with the greatest potential to lead and make an impact? These are the people to target for development.

5.
Commit to Spend the Time Needed to Develop Leaders:
People development takes a lot of time. To lead on Level 4, you may need to dedicate as much as half of your time to developing people if you want to properly invest in them. In order to do that, first build a support system to free yourself up; when you have to do everything yourself, you have little time to mentor others. Second, determine the amount of time you give someone based on his or her potential. A leader’s value is in the investment he makes in others, not in what he can do personally. That investment must be made wisely and should be a top priority.

6.
Create a Personal Development Process:
Benjamin Franklin observed, “The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.” The ability to see, discern, and analyze is essential to developing people. Level 4 leaders recognize the abilities in people and work fluidly with them. They are able to mentor people with different talents, temperaments, and styles. While average leaders try to lead everyone the same way, Level 4 leaders lead everyone differently. That takes creativity and confidence.

Having said that, I must add that Level 4 leaders also bring structure and stability to the development process. As you develop leaders, keep in mind the following guidelines:

7.
Never Work Alone:
One of the secrets of developing leaders on Level 4 is to have the people you are mentoring beside you as often as possible so that they can learn how you think and act in a variety of situations. Your goal at first is for them to observe as you model leadership. But as quickly as you can, give them responsibilities that you can monitor. And as soon as they’re ready, empower them to act on their own.

8.
Blend the Soft and Hard Sides of Development:
Level 4 leaders have to deal simultaneously with people issues and business issues, and they need to be able to do both effectively. That’s an art. As you work to develop people, maintain a relational approach, valuing them and adding value to them. At the same time, do what you must to achieve a good bottom line. Write out a philosophy that will help you to do both. If it helps, write out your priorities and put them in order of importance as a guide.

9.
Take Responsibility for Energizing Others:
While it’s true that the people you develop need to be self-motivated, it’s also true that leaders create energy and inspire others to achieve. As you work to develop people, strive to create an emotionally engaging process that encourages those you mentor to take risks and enjoy their experiences. Too many leaders disconnect. They have a been-there-done-that mentality that is alienating, not alluring. In contrast, if you have a been-there-love-that way of thinking, people will be attracted to you and want to do their best when they engage with you.

10.
Remain Approachable As a Leader, Role Model, and Coach:
An open door and open heart invite people to come into a leader’s life. That openness comes only when a leader initiates and takes responsibility for having it. I encourage you to take that responsibility, because when you do, you will develop a special connection with your people. Openness, humility, and transparency are always very attractive. These qualities give others permission to ask questions, take risks, and be themselves. And that takes leadership development to a whole new level.

R
are 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.