Life in an organization which only has Level 1 leaders is very different than life under Level 5 leaders. As John Maxwell observes, the only reason people follow Level 1 leaders is they “have to” because of the specific title and position they hold (1998).
People can spend many years in a supervisory or administrative role without going beyond Level 1 leadership. They simply have 20 years of the same first year 20 times. There is no real growth. That’s not good for the mission, team, culture, customers, and those individuals.
People don’t listen to or follow Level 1 leaders because they want to, like them, see them produce, see them develop people, or for who they are and what they represent. They are required to and that’s all there is to that person’s leadership. On the other hand, Level 5 leaders attract and retain the devotion of those they lead because of who they are and the vision and values they represent (Maxwell, 1998).
The key is continuously growing leaders so they can lead at the highest level. The promotion or title does not make one a leader (Maxwell, 1998). Learning to lead and practicing what we know works does result in effective leadership.
My diagnosis is America across many organizations suffers from far too many Level 1 leaders and far too few Level 5 leaders. The good news is this can be solved with a much greater focus on leadership development.
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