Level Up

If you study leadership at all, nothing in today’s post should be new info to you. Regardless, it’s extremely important. I want to talk about John Maxwell’s five levels of leadership. It’s important to understand the five levels, to know where you’re at, and to work to level up.

Level 1 – Position – If you’re a level 1 leader, people follow you because they have to. You are the manager, or the boss, and they don’t have a choice. You’re above them on the hierarchy and this is why they follow you. This is the most basic leadership level. If you’re at a level 1 right now, that’s fine, but you should be working relentlessly to level up.

Level 2 – Permission – At level 2, people have granted you permission to lead them. They have made the decision that they want your leadership. In my opinion, this is where leadership truly begins. At level one, you’re simply managing by title. Once you’ve hit level 2, you’ve earned some degree of influence and people are consciously accepting your leadership.

Level 3 – Production – At level 3, people are following you based off of your results. You’ve proven yourself and your value to the business and people have taken notice and began to follow you based on your success.

Level 4 – People Development – This is where you’re starting to become a strong leader. At level 4 people are following you because of what you can do for them. You’re developing other leaders and reproducing your past success in others. This is true leadership. Developing others and making changes in their lives.

Level 5 – Pinnacle Leadership – Level 5 is true leadership mastery. This is where people are following you because they respect who you are and what you represent. It’s not just about your past accomplishments, or what you can do for a person. It’s a reflection of who you are and the fact that people recognize it and respect it highly. Level 5 leadership comes from years of developing yourself and others.

So what level are you currently operating at? What do you need to do to level up? I encourage you to take a step back and assess where you’re at and see what you need to do in order to grow. If you’re not sure, ask the people on your team. Ask your peers and your leadership above you. Then you just need to GRIND to level up!