This video is part of an audiobook series featuring the five levels of leadership, proven steps to maximize your potential, written in 2011 by John C. Maxwell.
For more audiobooks, please visit my YouTube channel, find me on Spotify, or check out my website for downloads.Level five, the pinnacle, the highest leadership accomplishment is developing other leaders to level four.
Rare 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, it also requires both a higher degree of skill and some amount of natural leadership ability.
It also takes a lot to be able to develop other leaders so that they reach level 4, and that is 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. Most leaders who reach the pinnacle do so later in their careers.
But the pinnacle level is not a resting place for leaders to stop and view their success.It is a reproducing place from which they make the greatest impact of their lives.
That's why leaders who reach the pinnacle should make the most out of it while they can.
With gratitude and humility, they should lift up as many leaders as they can, tackle as many great challenges as possible, and extend their influence to make a positive difference beyond their own organization and industry.
the upside of the pinnacle.Your influence has expanded beyond your reach and your time.
When writing about level one, I told you that as you climbed to the five levels of leadership, the upsides would continue to increase while the downsides would decrease.However, level five doesn't fit that pattern.
On the pinnacle, I see only three major upsides, but though they are few, each carries a tremendous weight and huge impact. Number 1 – Pinnacle Leadership Creates a Level 5 Organization Many organizations seem to struggle to maintain their existence.
Others work hard to inch their way toward growth or increased profitability.Meanwhile, a few organizations rise above the rest and seem to function at an extraordinarily high level. What's their secret?Leadership.
Great organizations have great leaders, and the best organizations that function at the highest capacity, level 5 organizations, become what they are because they are led by level 5 leaders.
General Electric has been held up as a business model for decades.Year after year, it is cited by Fortune Magazine as a top 10 organization for leadership. Why?
Because for many years it was led by Jack Welch, a level 5 leader, and his emphasis was on developing other leaders to become level 4 leaders, leaders who produce other leaders.
Because level 5 leaders empower many people to lead larger, they lift the leadership lid for everyone in the organization.
Because they produce lots of leaders and continue to do so over the long haul of their careers, their organizations develop an abundance mindset. People in the organization receive lots of opportunities, and they expect to continue getting them.
With the development of each leader and the pursuit of every opportunity, the organization continues to get stronger.And in time, leadership becomes part of their DNA.
And even when one leader steps down or retires, there are many leaders ready and able to take their place because level 5 organizations have a pipeline of leaders being produced.
Because level 5 leaders have worked their way up through each level to arrive at the pinnacle position, they understand and practice leadership at a high level.
They have experienced a transformation of sorts with each transition from one level to another, and as a result, they have insight that helps them to recognize where other leaders are in the process, and to help those leaders navigate the various changes required to move up to the next level.
Number two, pinnacle leadership creates a legacy within the organization.Level five leaders want to do more than just run an organization well.They want to do more than succeed.They want to create a legacy.
Journalist Walter Lippmann was right when he said, quote, the final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him and other men the convictions and the will to carry on, end quote.
If you reach the pinnacle of leadership, you have an opportunity to make an impact beyond your tenure, and possibly beyond your own lifetime.You do that by developing a generation of leaders who will develop the next generation of leaders.
Level 5 leaders are measured by the caliber of leaders they develop, not the caliber of their own leadership.Their approach to leadership changes accordingly.
Larry Bossady, former CEO of Allied Signal, understood this when he asked, quote, How am I doing as a leader?The answer is how the people you lead are doing.Do they learn?Do they manage conflict?Do they initiate change?
You won't remember when you retire what you did in the first quarter of 1994.What you'll remember is how many people you developed, end quote.
Not only that, you'll remember how well you developed them and how effectively they were able to carry on after you were no longer leading.
In level 5 organizations, when the top leader steps down, there are usually many leaders ready to rise up and take the reins.And the organization experiences continuity unfamiliar to organizations with lesser leaders.
Upside number three, pinnacle leadership provides an extended platform for learning.In America, we believe everyone has the right to speak, but even in a free society, you have to earn the right to be heard.
Level 5 leaders have paid their dues and earned that right, and because they lead well and develop others to do likewise, their influence extends beyond their reach.
People outside of their direct sphere of influence hear about them and seek them out for advice.Level 5 leaders are able to cross lines out of their industry or area of expertise to speak with authority.
People respect them for who they are and what they represent.That gives them a greater platform and extended influence.
They often have a chance to make a broader impact on society or to advance the cause of leadership, to redefine it, and pour themselves into the next generation of leaders.Think of the great leaders of government, business, education, and faith.
Their influence far exceeds the organizations they led.Nelson Mandela's authority has few boundaries, and everyone respects him.Jack Welch no longer leads General Electric, but his leadership advice is sought internationally.
For decades, presidents of the United States have sought the counsel of Billy Graham.Their influence is extensive, and their reputations are legendary.With this extended influence comes a responsibility to steward it with integrity.
Level 5 leaders understand that the highest position of leadership is not a place to be served by others, but a place to serve others.It is not a place to receive, but a place to give.
Margaret and I recently saw evidence of such stewardship when we were visiting the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.Our guide told us stories of great men and women who have made our world a better place to live.
One of the recipients was Albert Einstein, and he once said, quote, Strange is our situation here upon Earth.Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to divine a purpose.
From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know—that man is here for the sake of other men.
Above all, for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends, and also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.
Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received."End quote.
Einstein's reputation went far beyond the halls of academia and the field of physics.His influence has continued long after death.
That is what happens with leaders and thinkers of his caliber, and that's what happens with leaders who make it to the pinnacle.The leadership journey has the potential to take individuals through a lifelong process in three phases.
learn, earn, and return.People at the start of the journey who are given a position of leadership are faced with the decision.
Are they going to learn now to lead better, or are they going to rely on their position, guard their turf, and play king of the hill to maintain what they've got?
Those who choose to learn enter the learning phase and start to slowly climb up the levels of leadership.Typically, when they reach the production level, They begin to receive recognition and the rewards of leadership.
That's when most leaders enter the earning phase, and many are content to stay there.They climb the ladder in the organization, they have the respect of their peers, and they earn a good living.
Only those leaders who decide to give back to others and develop leaders enter the returning phase.
Leaders who dedicate themselves to developing more leaders and pour themselves into the task, giving their best energies and resources to raise up other leaders, are the only ones who have a chance to move up to the pinnacle.
No matter where you are in your own leadership journey, I encourage you to learn all you can and keep learning.And when you reach the earning phase, don't stop there.Don't lead others solely for your own benefit.
Start giving to others and teaching them to lead so that you can enter the returning phase.Do that long enough and well enough and you give yourself an opportunity to reach level five and experience its upsides.
The Downside of the Pinnacle You may start to believe that it's all about you.Each level of leadership has a downside, and this level is no exception.But here's the good news.
Fewer leaders become victims of the downside at the pinnacle level than at any other.Why? Because it's difficult to reach the pinnacle without a great measure of maturity.
Every lesson leaders learn at the previous levels becomes a curb that helps them to keep from getting off course.However, here is the bad news.Those who are susceptible to the downside on the pinnacle fall dramatically.
They can derail everything they've worked for up to this point.Here are the three negative things you need to look out for if you reach the pinnacle.Number one, being on the pinnacle can make you think that you've arrived.
It's ironic, but one of the greatest dangers for pinnacle leaders at the top is similar to the downside for a position leader at the bottom.They think they've arrived.
If you came into leadership with the destination mindset, and you carried it with you as you moved your way up through the five levels, you may think that the pinnacle is a place to rest, smell the roses, and make the most of your privileges.
If that's your mindset, beware.In his book, How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins wrote that those who fall often have an entitlement mindset bolstered by arrogance.
He wrote that for such leaders, quote, success is viewed as deserved rather than fortuitous, fleeting, or even hard-earned in the face of daunting odds.
People begin to believe that success will continue almost no matter what the organization decides to do or not to do, end quote. A leader's decisions always have an impact, for better or worse.
Leaders who have reached the top of their profession or the top of their organization cannot take anything for granted.No matter how good they've been in the past, they still need to strategize, weigh decisions, plan, and execute at a high level.
Momentum can overcome a lot of problems, but even great momentum cannot continually compensate for negligence, arrogance, or stupidity. nor should they treat the organization as their personal property, even if it is.
Every organization for which people work is a trust.If you're the leader, you cannot make decisions with only you and your personal interests in mind.To whomsoever much is given, much will be required.
People reach the top of their field and are always in danger of thinking they have nothing left to learn.If that happens to you, it's the beginning of the end.To be effective, leaders must always be learners.You can never arrive.
You can only strive to get better.That is the mindset you must bring to every day of your leadership.If you're through learning, you're through. Downside number two, being on the pinnacle can lead you to believe your own press.
Few things are more ridiculous than leaders who take themselves too seriously and begin to believe that they are God's gift to others.Yet it happens continually.
History is filled with stories of people who got carried away with the power and position. One such leader was King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
He was known as a brilliant military commander, and during his reign, he elevated Sweden from a minor to a major power in Europe and ushered in what's known as the Golden Age of Sweden.
But like many strong leaders, he started to believe that anything he desired to do would automatically succeed. As the king fought in the Thirty Years' War, he desired to rule the Baltic Sea.
To do so, he was determined to build a ship that towered over the others in beauty and size.He decided on the measurements and armament of the ship, even though he had no naval experience, and just gave the orders to the shipbuilders.
The following words were written about this venture, quote, nothing can be more impressive and more dedicated to glorifying his royal majesty than for his ship to bear the most magnificent decoration that has ever been held on the ocean, end quote.
The ship was called the Vasa, named after the monarch's royal house.As the war raged on, the king became impatient for its launch.Tests were made to check its stability, but the monarch would not tolerate a delay.So on August 10th,
of 1628, Vasa was launched on its maiden voyage.Thousands watched as the ship slowly left the harbor in Stockholm, but as soon as the ship was exposed to a gust of wind, it began to sway.
It keeled over, took on water, and sank a few hundred feet from shore, less than a mile from where it began.Clearly, the king's confidence wasn't enough to keep his dream afloat. Any time a leader begins to believe his own press, he is in trouble.
When people excel at a high level in their profession, a type of mythology grows up around them.They become larger than life in other people's minds.A lot of the time, it's hype.No level 5 leaders are as good as the people give them credit for.
And no leaders, no matter how long or how well they've led, are above the laws of leadership.The laws are like gravity.They apply to you whether or not you believe in them.
If you become a level 5 leader, never forget that like everyone else, you started at the bottom as a positional leader.You had to work to build relationships.You had to prove your productivity.
And investing in the lives of others came about only with effort.Be confident, but also be humble.If you've become successful, it's only because a lot of other people helped you all along the way. Number 3.
Being on the pinnacle can make you lose focus.When leaders reach level 5, the number of opportunities they receive becomes extraordinary.Everyone wants to hear what such leaders have to say.
But many of these leaders are really little more than distractions.They won't help the leader's organization or cause. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins tells a story that illustrates how this can happen.
The example he gives is of former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca.
Collins writes, quote, Lee Iacocca, for example, saved Chrysler from the brink of catastrophe, performing one of the most celebrated, and deservedly so, turnarounds in American business history.
Chrysler rose to the height of 2.9 times the market, at a point about halfway through its tenure. Then, however, he diverted his attention to making himself one of the most celebrated CEOs in American business history.
Investor's Business Daily and The Wall Street Journal chronicled how Iacocca appeared regularly to talk shows like The Today Show and Larry King Live, personally starred in over 80 commercials, entertained the idea of running for the President of the United States,
Like he quoted at one point saying, running Chrysler has been a bigger job than running the country.I could handle the national economy in six months.And he widely promoted his autobiography.
The book Iacocca sold 7 million copies and elevated him to rock star status.Iacocca's personal stock soared, but in the second half of his tenure, Chrysler's stock fell 31% behind the general market, end quote.
If leaders who reach the pinnacle want to make the most of their time there, they must remain focused on their vision and purpose and continue leading at the highest level.I'm sorry to admit that I've occasionally lost focus in my own leadership.
It happened to me at EQIP several years ago. During the first eight years of the company's existence, we focused on training one million leaders internationally.We called it the Million Leaders Mandate.
It consumed our attention, and we put all our resources to work making it happen.When we reached our goal, we celebrated.I gave each staff member, leadership trainer, and major donor a ring in appreciation for their help.But then, we lost focus.
We continued to train leaders, but experienced a letdown. I wasn't focused on a new goal, and neither was the team.That was a big mistake, and it meant that we didn't use the momentum we had built to keep moving forward at our previous pace.
The good news is that the leaders of Equip huddled together, identified our next big mountain, and refocused our energies once again to make the climb.
No matter where you are in your leadership journey, never forget that what got you where you are won't get you to the next level.Each step forward requires focus and a willingness to keep learning, adapting, strategizing, and working.
You don't stay on top without focus, humility, and hard work. Best behaviors on level 5.How to use the pinnacle as a platform to do something greater than yourself.
Leadership should always be about others, not about the leader, and that's true at every level.And it's especially important on level 5, because having people follow out of deep respect is the height of leadership.
Pinnacle leaders have a lot of horsepower, and they need to make good use of it while they're on top to do more than help themselves.Here are my suggestions. 1.Make room for others at the top.
One of the most important things any level 5 leader can do is make room at the top for other leaders.Most leaders make it their goal to cultivate followers, but gathering followers doesn't create room for other leaders.
As a pinnacle leader, you must create that room, and that begins on level 4 when you start developing leaders.
If you do that continually, and promote good leaders whenever you can, you create a cycle of positive change in the organization that creates room for leaders.That may seem counterintuitive, wouldn't having more leaders create less room?
The answer is no, and here's why.When you develop a leader who develops other leaders, you create more room at the top because you increase the size and power of the entire organization.
Every time you develop good leaders and help find a place for them to lead and make an impact, they gather more people to them. As a result, the organization grows, along with its potential, and it needs more good leaders.
This process creates a cycle of expansion and a kind of momentum toward the top for other leaders that helps to propel the organization forward.Developing leaders from the pinnacle level requires great skill and intentionality.
It is not easy to develop leaders.It's even more difficult to develop leaders who will devote themselves to helping other leaders instead of just leading.
As I studied leaders who had only followers versus leaders who had developed leaders, I began to notice some subtle but clear differences.Here are the characteristics of a level 5 leader who develops leaders.
The leader's desire, being succeeded instead of being needed.Early in my leadership career, I loved it when people needed me, and it was music to my ears when they told me so.I loved hearing things such as, we couldn't make it without you.
What would we do if you were gone?You're the only leader that really understands us.And sadly, I believed them.The reality is that no one is indispensable.Worse, allowing others to become dependent does little more than satisfy a leader's ego.
It is a very limiting leadership style that has a very short lifespan.The first step in developing leaders is to have a desire to develop people so that they can succeed without you.Leadership author and former FedEx executive Fred Manske Jr.
observed, quote, the ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and ability, end quote.On the pinnacle level, that should always be your goal.
The leaders focus, working on people's strengths instead of weaknesses.Some leaders take a counseling approach to developing people.
By that I mean they focus on what the person is doing poorly or wrong, and they focus their attention on helping them make corrections in those areas.In fact, when I began my career, I spent a lot of time counseling people.
But to my great frustration, I saw little improvement in the people I worked with. To be fair, I really wasn't a good counselor.But I also had a eureka moment when I figured out the main reason we weren't making progress.
I was focused on people's weaknesses, and that's no way to develop people.If you want to develop people, you must help them discover and build upon their strengths.That's where people have the most potential to grow.
Helping to develop their strengths is the only way to help leaders become world class.The leader's attitude.Giving away power instead of hoarding it. Did you play follow the leader as a kid?
The goal of the game was to hold on to your place in the front of the line as long as possible.The kids who won were the most aggressive at trying to do something no one else could imitate.
As a level 5 leader, you need to be as aggressive about giving away power to other leaders as you were at hoarding it when you were a kid. That requires an abundance attitude where your mindset is, let's lead together.
You must become a world-class empowerer.
As Lynn McFarland asserted in the book, 21st Century Leadership, Dialogue with the Top 100 Leaders, she said, quote, the empowerment leadership model shifts away from position power to people power, where all people are given leadership roles so they can contribute to their fullest capacity, end quote.
The Leader's Perspective—Seeing Potential Leaders as They Could Be Instead of As They Are One of the keys to developing leaders at any level is seeing people not as they are or as others see them, but as they could be.
Having a hand in closing the gap between how someone is and the fulfillment of their potential is what motivates level 5 leaders to raise up other leaders to level 4. Seeing what is takes very little talent.
Seeing what could be and then helping to make it a reality takes vision, imagination, skill, and commitment.And that is what a pinnacle leader brings to the table.The leader's impact.Knowing it takes a level 5 leader to develop a level 4 leader.
Leading and developing leaders is not easy.Leaders with high potential will only follow leaders who are ahead of them, in ability, experience, or both.Someone who is a 9 in leadership won't follow a 5.
For that reason, pinnacle leaders cannot delegate the leadership development process of potential leaders to others who are less talented than those being monitored.It simply doesn't work.
If there are potential level 4 or level 5 leaders in your organization, in your level 5 leader, you must dedicate the time and effort to mentoring them.Otherwise, they will go elsewhere to find a level 5 leader who is willing to do it.
The best potential leaders will not remain in the organization unless you go to them where they are, extend your hand, and help them to climb up to your level. Number two, continually mentor potential level five leaders.
I've been teaching and writing on the subject of leadership for three and a half decades, and in that time I've had the privilege of working with a lot of organizations.
Each of them has been unique with questions, needs, and conditions unlike any other. However, all of them have one thing in common.They need more and better leaders.
Not once has anyone in an organization said, we have too many leaders and the ones we have are better than we want.Could you help us get rid of some? Recently, I attended an interview between my friend Bill Hybels and former GE CEO Jack Welch.
Bill was asking Welch about questions about succession, a subject we'll address in a moment.Welch said that a few years before he exited General Electric, he made a list of potential successors.
The list included three categories, leaders on the inside track, leaders with potential, and long shots, and he named several people. As he spoke, I began to wonder how he was able to choose from the inside track leaders.
But before I could go very far in my thinking, Welch amazed me by mentioning that his true successor had come from the long shot category.And that got me thinking about the importance of mentoring.So I came to these conclusions.
One, you have to have a lot of good leaders to select the best.And two, you must give all your attention to potential level five leaders because you may be surprised by who finishes the strongest.
No matter what your leadership potential may be, you should strive to work your way up to level 4 so that you can invest in others.But if you reach level 5, you have a much greater responsibility.
No one other than a level 5 leader can raise up other level 5 leaders.If you make it to the pinnacle, give your best potential leaders your best and never stop mentoring them. Number three, create an inner circle that will keep you grounded.
When leaders reach level four, their inner circle makes them better.The law of the inner circle says that those closest to leaders determine their potential.Inner circle members help leaders take their organization to a higher level.
That's still true on level five, but the inner circle must also fulfill another function.It must keep the leader grounded. As I've already explained, it's very easy for leaders to begin believing their own press on level 5.
A good inner circle can help leaders on the pinnacle level to avoid that pitfall.
Jim Collins, in How the Mighty Fall, writes about the erosion of healthy team dynamics that can occur in highly successful organizations, saying, quote, there is a marked decline in the quality and amount of dialogue and debate.
There is a shift toward either consensus or dictatorial management, rather than a process of argument and disagreement, followed by unified commitment to execute decisions, end quote.
When those things occur, the leader and the organization are headed for trouble. On level 5, a good inner circle will allow leaders to be themselves, but inner circle members will also tell them the truth about themselves.
These things keep the journey enjoyable, they prevent loneliness, and keep leaders from developing hubris.And here's the good news, the people in your inner circle can become your favorite people, almost like family.
Number four, do things for the organization that only level five leaders can do.Being on level five allows a leader to see and do things that cannot be done from any other place in leadership.Some of the things are obvious.
If you are the top leader in your organization, you need to guide it.
You need to be a good model to everyone in the organization by valuing people, continuing to grow, practicing the golden rule, being authentic, exhibiting good values, and living out the right priorities.
Other things may be less obvious and very specific to your situation and organization.You may be able to create a groundbreaking product or service.You may be able to champion a value or cause that no one else could do so effectively.
You may be able to help people improve their lives.You may be able to impact your community in a unique way.You may have relationships with people who can help you to do something important.
All the work you've done and all the influence you've gained over the years just might be in your hands so that you can do something bigger with it.You have to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to the possibilities.
The success you have hasn't been given to you for only yourself.Level 5 leaders have a platform to lead and persuade.Whenever possible, use it to pass on those things that have helped you.Leadership is influence.Leverage it to add value to others.
Number five, plan for succession.In the mid-1980s, I had the privilege of spending a few days with management expert Peter Drucker.A group of leaders got a chance to sit with him, listen, take notes, and ask questions.
I learned many wonderful things from Drucker, but there was one question he asked that challenged me more than anything else.During the session, he asked each of us, who is going to replace you?
Prior to that time, I had never asked myself that question.When Drucker asked it, I had no answer, but I walked away from my time with him determined to live in such a way that I would be able to answer it.
And from that day forward, I dedicated myself to developing the top leaders in my sphere of influence and helping them to be ready to lead on as high a level as possible.Leading a successor is the last great gift a leader can give an organization.
Leadership transition difficulties are far too common, and like the passing of the baton in a relay race, a leadership transition must be planned and executed well.
Success is dependent upon the leader with the baton handing it off to the next leader when both of them are running at maximum speed.
Writer Lauren Wolfe says, quote, The ultimate test for a leader is not whether he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether he or she teaches others to be leaders and build an organization that can sustain its success even when he or she is not around, end quote.
True leaders put ego aside and strive to create successors who go beyond them, and they plan to hand off the baton of leadership in stride when they are still running at their peak.
If a leader has already begun to slow down, a baton is being handed off too late.No leader should hurt the organization's momentum by staying too long just for his or her own gratification.
The number one problem in organizations led by level 5 leaders is that they stay too long.So if you're a level 5 leader who runs an organization, plan your succession and leave before you feel that you have to. Number six, leave a positive legacy.
Someone once asked Billy Graham what the most surprising thing about life was, and he replied, the brevity of it.Now that I've entered my 60s, I would have to agree with him.
When you're young, you can't wait to get somewhere, to achieve success, to climb the ladder, to make an impact.If you have a type A personality, you move fast and try to conquer as much ground as you can.
But as you age, you realize there's much more to life than success.You want to make a difference, and if you think about it early enough, you have the opportunity to leave a positive legacy.That's what I desire to do, and I hope that you do as well.
One of the keys to arriving at the end of our lives without regret is doing the work of creating a lasting legacy.If you are a level five leader, I want to encourage you to use the influence you have now to create a better world.How?
First, recognize that what you do daily over time becomes your legacy.
Whether it's spending quality time with your family every day, saving money and investing every month, speaking kind and encouraging words to others each day, these actions result in a legacy of positive impact.
Second, decide now what you want your legacy to be.How do you want to be remembered?What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?Do you have a vision for the positive impact you want to leave behind you?
Do you know what you can invest in potential leaders who will want to help you build it? Finally, understand that a legacy is the sum of your whole life, not just snippets.If you have failed, that's okay.
Has your life taken a path that is less than ideal?Put it behind you.Set off in the right direction and begin to change the way you live starting today.Fulfill your mission and vision for your life.Do it now before it is too late to change.
Don't let yourself get to the final days of your life wondering what could have been.Decide today what your life will be and then take action each and every day to live your dreams and leave your legacy.The Laws of Leadership at the Pinnacle Level.
As you consider the different aspects of Level 5, be aware of how the following laws of leadership come into play. The Law of Respect People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves.
When I wrote the overview of the five levels of leadership in the first chapter of this book, I used the word respect to describe Level 5.
On the pinnacle, leaders have led so well for so long that they become larger than life, and people are influenced by their reputation even before there is any direct contact between leaders and their followers.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, quote, every great institution is the length and shadow of a single man, end quote.That sentiment is a good description of Level 5 leaders.Their presence makes an impact.It's true that leaders gain respect on every level.
They earn it by showing worthiness for the chance to lead on Level 1, developing relationships on Level 2, creating a productive team on Level 3, and developing people on Level 4. But on level 5, the respect they've earned begins to compound.
Everyone wants to follow a true level 5 leader.The Law of Intuition.Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. Everybody is intuitive.We all have strong intuition in the areas of our giftedness.
What level 5 leaders possess in abundance is leadership intuition, and as a result, they see everything with a leadership bias.Good leaders tend to trust what Emerson called the blessed impulse.
That's the hunch that informs you that something is right.Level 5 leaders learn to trust those instincts and act upon them. Of all the laws of leadership that I teach, the law of intuition is the most difficult.Why?
Because most people have a difficult time teaching in the areas where they are intuitive.Intuition is the ability to experience immediate insight without rational thought.
If you can perform leadership tasks knowing they're right but not having examined them with rational thought, it's difficult to explain why you did what you did.
The more naturally gifted you are in leadership, the stronger your leadership intuition is likely to be.Learn to trust it, and if your gifting in leadership isn't high, don't lose hope.
While it's true that your leadership intuition will never be as high as that of a natural leader, you can still develop leadership intuition based on leadership experience and reflective thinking on your failures and successes.
The Law of Timing When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go.Closely related to the law of intuition is the law of timing, because timing is largely instinctive.
Knowing what to do can be relatively easy for an effective leader at level 3. Knowing the right timing can be much more difficult.Why?There are so many intangible factors.
Often, a hunch is all we have to rely on to make a timing decision, and that can be difficult to explain.People are apt to listen to hard facts and respect the point of view of the person who expresses them.
Intuition doesn't carry as much weight, unless you have a proven track record of right assessments to back it up. Leaders on Level 5 have so much experience and credibility that others listen to their hunches when it comes to timing.
If you are not yet on Level 5, then be aware that others may not trust your advice when it comes to timing.
But don't despair, listen to your intuition, take note of when it's right or wrong, and develop a track record that will bring you the credibility you desire. The Law of Legacy.A leader's lasting value is measured by succession.
I've already discussed the importance of legacy on level 5, so I don't need to say a lot here.Allow me to leave you with this thought.The goal in life is not to live forever.The goal in life is to create something that does.
The best way to do that as a level 5 leader is to invest what you have in the lives of others. The Law of Explosive Growth To add growth, lead followers.To multiply, lead leaders.
Every time you develop a potential leader to level 4, you change your organization for the better and increase its potential.Why?Because when you develop a follower, you gain a follower.
When you develop a leader, you gain a leader and all their followers.When you develop a level 4 leader, you gain a leader who creates other leaders, and you gain all the leaders and the followers that they lead.
That is why level 5 leaders are so powerful and why their organizations have unlimited potential. Help others move up to levels four and five.Create crucible moments for the leaders you develop.
At this point in previous sections of the book, I discussed the beliefs that would help you to move up to the next level of leadership.However, when you're on the pinnacle level, there is no higher place in leadership.
So what am I going to do in this section?I'm going to teach you how to help others to move up to the higher levels of leadership. Once you reach level five, your focus shouldn't be on advancing yourself anyway.
It should be on helping others move up as high as they can go.What is the secret of learning to lead?Leading.That's like saying that you learn to drive a car by driving a car, or that you learn to cook by cooking.All are true.
As novelist Mark Twain once said dryly, quote, I know a man who grabbed a cat by the tail and learned 40% more about cats than the man who hadn't, end quote.
This may sound like a catch-22, like the old lament that you can't get a job without first having experience, yet you can't get experience without first having a job.And that is where you come in.
As a mentor, you can give the inexperienced leaders leadership experiences that make them better. A little experience goes a lot further than a lot of theory.
You've probably heard the saying, quote, when a man with money meets a person with experience, the person with experience gets all the money and the person with the money gets the experience, end quote.
As an experienced leader, you can identify potential leaders, you can figure out what kinds of experiences they need, and you can help to provide them in a controlled environment where the failures and fumbles won't completely take them out of the game of leadership.
Can you identify the experiences that taught you invaluable leadership lessons and shaped you as a person and leader?I certainly can.These are crucible moments.
When I was writing the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I was surprised to discover that I could remember a specific experience for each law that cemented it in my leadership consciousness.
For example, the Law of Victory had become a reality to me in 1970 when I led my organization to reach a goal that nearly everyone believed was impossible.
The law of the inner circle became clear to me on my 40th birthday when I had to admit to myself that I was not as successful as I had hoped to be, and if I was going to accomplish all that I desired to, I needed to develop an inner circle of other leaders to work alongside me.
The key incidents in your life, crucible moments, have shaped you.They've created breakthroughs for you.And the leadership experiences you've had, both good and bad, have made you the leader you are today.
The same will be true for those you lead and develop.Why not help others experience as many positive breakthroughs as possible while they are under your care?
I recently read an article by Robert J. Thomas in the MIT Sloan Management Review that confirms my observations on leadership development.
Thomas argues that organizations that do a good job developing leaders use crucible experiences as a kind of super-concentrated form of leadership development.He writes, quote, crucibles can occur on and off the job.
Some take the form of reversal, a death in the family, a divorce, or the loss of a job. Others involve a suspension, an in-between period that people go through while in graduate school, boot camp, or unemployment, even jail.
A third form is the crucible of new territory, in which the individual is thrust into a new social role or asked to take on an overseas assignment in an unfamiliar country."
Thomas goes on to describe two very dissimilar organizations that orchestrate and manage crucible experiences to help their leaders develop and grow, the Mormon Church and the Hells Angels.Thomas asserts, quote,
Yet, neither suffers from a weak leadership pool.Each group uses a particular activity as a crucible experience for leadership development.
For the Mormon Church, the most visible crucible is the missionary experience—a test of faith, identity, and leadership talent that also serves as the principal growth engine for Church membership.
For the Hells Angels, it takes the form of the motorcycle run, an event remarkable in its functional similarity to that of a missionary tour of duty.
A brief analysis of these organizationally instigated crucibles shows how they contribute to experience-based leader development."
Thomas goes on to point out, less dramatically, that Toyota, Boeing, General Electric, and MIT also take an experiential approach to leadership development.
If you want to make the most of your influence on Level 5, then you need to create crucible moments that will enable your best leaders to reach their leadership potential.Here is how I suggest you go about doing it. 1.Identify and create the crucial leadership lessons they must learn.
Begin by identifying the essential qualities and skills that any good leader must possess.
This will be your blueprint for introducing key experiences and testing potential leaders as they become ready.Here is a list I developed after my 40th birthday when I realized I needed to dedicate myself to developing my inner circle of leaders.
Integrity, Vision, Influence, Passion, Servanthood, Confidence, Problem Solving, Communication, Creativity, Teamwork, Attitude, and Self-Discipline.
Once I had settled on the list, I began to look for opportunities to put leaders in situations where they could learn experience-based lessons in those areas.For example, whenever there was a problem in the organization, I didn't solve it myself.
Instead, I sent one of the leaders I was developing to try to figure it out. Afterward, we'd discuss how he or she solved the problem and what he or she learned.
To help their communication, when leaders were ready, I'd give them an opportunity to speak to various groups, to the leaders, or to the entire organization.
Afterward, we'd talk about what went wrong, and what went right, and what they could do the next time to improve.
If I wanted to help them develop their influence and improve their teamwork, I'd ask them to recruit a team of volunteers for an event or a program and work with that team to follow through.You get the idea.
When you lead an organization, you can't be focused on just fulfilling the vision or getting the work done.
Every challenge, problem, opportunity, or initiative is a chance for you to pair potential leaders to a leadership development experience that will change who they are.Try to think in those terms every day.
Number two, look for unexpected crucible moments that they can learn from.People don't learn things just because we want them to.Level five leaders understand that teachable moments often come as the result of levers in their lives.
Change occurs in people's lives when they hurt enough that they have to, when they overcome pain and adversity, when they learn enough that they want to, with education and experience, or they receive enough that they are able to, with support and equipping.
Wise leaders look for moments that fall into these three categories.Some can be created, but many simply occur.
Good leaders help the people they are mentoring to learn from them and make the most of them by explaining the experience and asking the right questions.
For example, when people describe a loss in their life, I do more than just sympathize with them.I ask them to tell me what they've learned from it.That's the only way in life to turn a loss into a gain.
The greater the loss, the greater the potential lesson and crucible opportunity for leadership development.All of us experience far more than we understand.
Your job as a Level 5 leader is to help the high-level people you're developing to make sense out of what they experience and find value within it. 3.Use your own crucible moments as guidelines to teach others.
Every leader needs to draw upon his or her own crucible experiences and breakthroughs as material to help the next generation of leaders to lead.To do that, you must have examined those experiences and identified the lessons you've learned from them.
is very likely that the experiences and lessons that allowed you to break through the leadership lids in your life will help others break through theirs.
My recommendation is that you set aside time with a pen and paper or computer to identify your own crucible moments, then figure out how they might be able to help the people you are developing.
Here are the categories I used to analyze my leadership crucible experiences. groundbreakers.These are experiences that encourage people to start developing a leadership quality or discipline.
For example, in 1972, when someone challenged me to articulate a concrete personal development plan that I was using to grow, and I couldn't, I made a commitment to adopt a personal growth plan and follow it daily. icebreakers.
These experiences help leaders to move forward after a period of stagnation.
For example, in 1980, I made the difficult decision to leave the organization I had been with for my entire career to work in a different one that I believed would afford me more opportunities to reach my potential. cloud breakers.
These experiences lift leaders higher, allowing them to see things as they could be.As a pastor of a small church, I began to visit large churches and interview the leaders.
This gave me insight into a much larger world outside of my own limited experience. Tiebreakers.These experiences allow people to make a decision that will determine their leadership direction.
In 1995, I left an organization that I had led successfully so that I could start and lead a company of my own that had unlimited potential. heartbreakers.These experiences cause leaders to stop and evaluate where they are and what they are doing.
I had a heart attack in 1998.It changed my entire perspective on life, family, work, and leadership.I turned my attention to my health and I planned how I would purposely live my days. record-breakers.
These experiences are exhilarating, as they allow leaders to break through their leadership lids.
When EQIP reached its million-liter goal, which had seemed nearly impossible when we set it, I realized that the team and I were capable of more than we imagined if we worked together.
The purpose of reflecting on and listing your leadership breakthroughs is to share them with other potential leaders.Why do coaches have past successful players come back to the team and tell stories of past victories?
Why do companies elevate past leaders who built the organization, making them legends that live beyond their years of service? Why does the Church remember heroes of the faith?Why do we study great leaders from history?
For that matter, why do you think I share so many of my own stories?Leaders do these things because they hope that the stories will inspire another generation of leaders to reach its potential.
I want to encourage you to identify your breakthrough experiences and tell them as stories to the leaders you desire to develop.
At the same time, I have to warn you, some people will call you arrogant or egocentric when you tell them, but don't let that deter you.I know of no better way to communicate important truths to others.
People have been using stories to teach life's lessons for as long as human beings have been walking the earth.Tell yours and help the next generation to take its place as leaders.
Number four, expose them to other people and organizations that will impact them.One of the best ways I found to instill leadership qualities and skills into my developing leaders was to ask them to interview good leaders.
Asking questions and looking for ways to develop a certain quality is a wonderful way for a person to grow. First, they have to keep their eyes open for good leaders in well-led organizations, which begins to develop a leadership awareness in them.
Second, they have to take the initiative, and sometimes be persuasive, to get the interview.Third, they have to prepare for the interview, which causes them to go deeper in their thinking about leadership.
Fourth, the experience of the interview itself puts them in another leader's world and exposes them to another culture that helps them to grow.
And finally, analyzing the interview and talking about it with the person who gave them the assignment helps to make the lessons concrete, especially if they are required to implement and teach what they've learned.
Many a time, after I asked my developing leaders to do an interview, they came back and said, I thought that this leadership quality was strong in my life until I witnessed it in their life.I have a long way to go. I learned the lessons.
I learned the value of experiences with great leaders and well-led organizations from my father, Melvin Maxwell.He introduced me to Norman Vincent Peale when I was in 7th grade.Dr. Peale was an excellent communicator with a positive attitude.
He made a strong impression on me to maintain a positive attitude. Dad also introduced me to E. Stanley Jones when I was in high school.This giant of the Christian faith was a missionary, a writer, and the founder of a renewal movement.
These and other experiences at the initiative of my father marked my life as a very young person. I've tried to emulate this in a similar way, both with my family and leaders in my organizations.
For example, when my son Joel was 16, my wife and I arranged for him to meet Mother Teresa in India.Joel's most prized possession is a picture of the two of them together.
And during the 1990s, when my church needed to expand its vision to be challenged to grow, I took a hundred of the leaders to South Korea to visit what was then the largest church in the world, and it entirely changed their perspective.
Leaders on Level 5 have access to leadership, organizations, opportunities, and experiences that your emerging leaders don't.Make the most of them for their benefit.
Even if you are not yet on the pinnacle level, you still have access that your leaders don't.Share it.
You can give your leaders experiences that will impact them for the rest of their lives and that may continue to create leadership ripples in future generations.Don't squander the opportunity.
As a pinnacle leader, you never know how great the impact will be each time you develop a level 4 leader.Consider this.In ancient Greece, there was a leader named Socrates.No doubt you've heard of him.
You may be surprised to know that even though he was an important philosopher, one who is still influential today, Socrates never wrote anything. However, one of the people he mentored did, and that was Plato.
Unlike his mentor, Plato founded his own academy where he taught and mentored other leaders and thinkers.One of those young leaders was a man named Aristotle, perhaps the most influential today of all the thinkers and philosophers of ancient Greece.
When Aristotle was a young man, he was approached by Philip of Macedonia, who was looking for a tutor for his son, who was thirteen.That boy was Alexander, who became one of the greatest generals and rulers in the history of the Western world.
We know him today as Alexander the Great.Experts disagree about how long Aristotle mentored young Alexander, some saying as little as a year and others as long as eight.
But it seems clear that the student of Plato had a profound impact on his young charge.It's said that Alexander once asked Aristotle, how many is one?The question was very simple, yet the boy was no fool.So Aristotle wondered how he should respond.
Should his answer be philosophical, mathematical, theological, dramaturgical? The teacher replied, I'll give you an answer tomorrow.And then the next day, Aristotle wrote him an answer saying one can be a great many.
In other words, one can make a huge impact, especially when that one is a leader.But in Alexander's case, one did make a great impact.Before age 30, Alexander had conquered the known Western world.
Every time you develop a leader, you make a difference in the world.
And if you develop leaders who take what they've learned and use it to develop other leaders, there's no telling what kind of an impact you'll have or how long that impact will last.
Guide to Being Your Best at Level 5 As you reflect on the upsides, downsides, best behaviors, and beliefs related to the pinnacle level of leadership, use the following guidelines to help you grow as a leader and develop others to become Level 4 leaders.
1.Remain humble and teachable.The greatest potential internal danger of working your way up to level 5 is thinking you've arrived and you have all the answers.That can lead to an arrogance that has the potential to derail you and your organization.
The best way to guard against that is to remain teachable.When you develop and maintain that attitude, do three things.First, write a credo for learning that you will follow every day.
It should describe the attitude and actions you will embrace to remain teachable. Second, find one or more people who are ahead of you in leadership that you can meet with periodically to learn from.
Third, dedicate yourself to a hobby, task, or physical activity that you deem worth your time but will also challenge you greatly and humble you.
These three activities should help you to remember that you haven't arrived and that you still have much to learn. Number two, maintain your core focus.
If you've made it to the pinnacle level of leadership, you possess a primary skill set, a sweet spot, or a strength zone that got you there.Don't allow yourself to be distracted from using it.
Identify that core strength and write out a plan for making the most of it in the coming years. Number three, create the right inner circle to keep you grounded.
All successful leaders need an inner circle of people who will work alongside them to achieve the vision, help them enjoy the journey, and keep them grounded.Who are the people who will fulfill these roles in your life?
Identify them and invite them into your life and leadership.My inner circle has become one of my greatest joys in life.Here is what I ask them to do. Love me unconditionally.Respect me according to my values.Watch my back.Compliment my weaknesses.
Continue to grow.Fulfill their responsibilities with excellence.Be honest with me.Tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.Help carry the weight and not be extra weight.Work together as a team.
Add value to me and enjoy the journey with me. The people in my inner circle give me these things and in return I give them my loyalty, love, and protection.I reward them financially.I develop them in leadership.
I give them opportunities and I share my blessings. Number four, do what only you can do.There are always a handful of things that only the top leaders can do for their organization, department, or team.What are yours?
Have you dedicated time to thinking that through?If not, do so now and make sure that you make them your high priority. Number five, create a supercharged leadership development environment.
One of the most important factors in creating a level five organization is developing and maintaining an environment where leaders are constantly being developed.If you lead an organization, you must take responsibility for creating it.
Strategize ways to create that environment and promote leadership development at every level of the organization. Be sure to release your best leaders to spend time developing others.It must not be an extra.
It must be part of their core responsibilities. Number six, make room at the top.Take a look at your organizational chart.Are there openings available for talented leaders who desire to move up?
Take a look at the leaders who are near the top of the chart.Of what caliber are they?How long have they been with the organization?How long are they likely to stay?
Are they so firmly entrenched that the talented leaders below them in the organization have little hope of advancing?
If there are no openings and the leaders you have aren't going anywhere, then there is no room at the top for other potential leaders.How can you create some?
What new challenges can you give your existing top leaders to open up their current positions to others?What kinds of expansion or types of initiatives could your organization tackle that would require additional leaders?
If you don't create room at the top for developing leaders, you will waste much of your potential horsepower and you will eventually start to lose your up-and-coming talent. Number seven, develop your top leaders.
Level five leaders need to dedicate themselves to developing the top leaders within their organization.Anyone who has the potential to lead as well as you do, or even better, should be on your radar for one-on-one mentoring.
Begin with the best of the best.If you're not setting aside time every week to work with these leaders, begin doing so today.And make sure you use the crucible moments to develop them by doing the following.
Identify the lessons all good leaders need to learn.Find ways to teach each of those lessons.Teach from your own crucible moments.Expose them to people who will positively impact them.And capitalize on unexpected crucible moments.
Number eight, as I already mentioned, Peter Drucker is the person who got me thinking about succession in my organization.Prior to his asking about it, I honestly hadn't given it much thought.What about you?
Have you thought about who would be able to step into your position if you were no longer in it?If you have developed a lot of level four leaders, then begin focusing on the few who have the best potential to succeed you.
If you haven't been developing high caliber leaders, then start there.Begin to help your level three leaders move up to level four. Number nine, plan your legacy.
It's been said that Alfred Nobel read his own obituary, which had been mistakenly published in the newspaper, and that prompted him to change his focus from manufacturing explosives to rewarding scientists and statesmen who advanced to the cause of peace and development.
He recognized that he wanted to create a positive legacy during his time on Earth. What legacy do you want to leave?What will be the end result of your leadership efforts and career?Don't wait for someone else to determine what your life stood for.
Identify it while you're still able to affect it and start doing whatever you must to try to fulfill your legacy. 10.Use your leadership success as a platform for something greater.
If you are a pinnacle leader, then people respect you outside of your organization and industry, and you have a reputation that gives you a high degree of credibility.How will you use it?
What opportunities do you have to contribute to causes greater than your own?Give that some thought, and then leverage your ability for the benefit of others outside of your direct sphere of influence. And that's the end of this video.
Find more of my books out loud on YouTube or Spotify and join the book club to keep up with new literature.Thanks again for listening.
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