Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership

John Maxwell during the Sewell Leadership Event back in April of 2012 was teaching material from his new book the '5 levels of leadership.  From the conference, I actually took the opportunity to review the book and read its 280 plus pages.  While Maxwell is not brief, he does do a good job of organizing the information so that it can be easily reproduced and outlines.  Below is a general outline from his book with some key insights:

Five Levels of Leadership:

5 Pinnacle
4 People Development
3 Produciton
2 Permission
1 Position

Keys to Understanding the 5 Levels:

1) Leadership is a process.  No-one 'arrives' or is 'born'!
2) Leadership is a verb.  It is not sitting in a golden office.


Level 1 - Position:

Here people follow because they HAVE to.

KEYWORD:  Rights

This level will never give you what you need as a leader.  People following at this level do the very minimum to get by.  Low energy and low effort are prominent.

Level 2 - Permission:

People follow at this level because the WANT to.

The level of energy increases immensely, and the leadership style is based on relationships.  People don't go along with you if they can't GET ALONG with you.  It is the responsibility of the leader to connect with people, not vica versa.

KEY QUESTION:  How well do you know your people?

Leaders love people, and as a result, they listen to people.  If you a leader at the top all alone, your not a leader, your a hiker.  If you don't love people, you don't lead them.  A leader also serves and observes his people.  He knows about them, and maturely serves them.

Level 3 - Production:

People follow here because of what you have done for the organization.

KEYWORD:  Results.

This level leaders are reproducing who they are.  They are tour guide style leaders rather than the travel agent style.  People don't want to follow a failure, they want to follow someone successful.  Credibility as a leader starts with leading yourself well.

Key Points:
1) Lead by Example.
2) Generate momentum.
3) Attract better people.  - Law of Magnetism -- you attract who you are!

Level 4 - People Development:

KEYWORD: Reproduction

People follow at this level because of what you have done for them.  Most important investment you will ever make is into the people of your organization.

Key Questions:
1) What are you doing to develop yourself?
2) What are you doing to develop your people?

*If you wouldn't invest in yourself, why would someone else invest in you?

Summary Points:
-Recruiting becomes KEY
-Positioning becomes KEY - getting people into the right places in the organization
-Equipping (5 steps)
1) I DO IT.
2) I DO IT, YOUR WITH ME.
3) YOU DO IT, I'M WITH YOU.
4) YOU DO IT.
5) YOU DO IT, SOMEONES WITH YOU.

Level 5 - Pinnacle

KEYWORD: Respect

People follow you because of who you are and what you represent.

- As you climb the levels, people you share that level with decrease.  It is very difficult to become a level 5 leader with any particular individual.

-People respond to vision based on the level of leadership they are on.

-Great leaders take vision and apply it to the level of the leader!

-Cast vision individually because you are leading individuals.