The 5 Levels of Leadership

"Everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less." - John Maxwell

In September of 2012, I had the pleasure of listening to author and leadership coach John Maxwell speak at a Keller Williams national convention called Mega Camp. The following are my notes from listening to him speak to the group.

The Law of the LID 

Your leadership ability right now determines your ability to impact others ...you can learn to raise your leadership lid anytime you choose to.  

Raise your lid, you raise your potential and you will raise the success of your relationships and your business. Just as you increase your influence, you will increase your leadership. Leadership is not a position or a title. The question isn't if you can lead or influence, the question is how many can you influence.

Law of Process

Leaders learn to lead daily, but can't learn to lead in a day. It's a journey and it takes time.

Don't just buy a leadership book. Read it, live it. It's the words inside that will change your life, not the title.

Everyone communicates but few connect.

As you increase your leadership ability you will attract better leaders to your world.

The Five Levels of Leadership

1. Position - People follow you because they have to. probably because you're positioned above them. We all start there. It's a great place to start, but its not a great place to stay. however 60% of all leaders stay there. Leadership is a verb not a noun. The position does not make you a leader. At this level it is our chance to define ourselves as a leader. More growth in your leadership at level one with the right amount of spirit. its your opportunity to Define yourself and develop your influence.

2. Permission - you’re developing relationships. now People follow you because they want to. At level 2 it is all about attitude. You have to get along with people. They will go along with you as long as they can get along with you. Relationships are the foundation of leadership. Leadership is all about connecting with people and building relationships. Connecting is key to leadership. You're not in the real estate business you're In the people business On level two .... Great leaders are good at listening. They learn and lead. They’re good observers. The greatest indication of a person’s intention is what they do not say. They serve well. Being a servant leader takes maturity. “I'm here to add value I will supply the effort through my connection with you.” It's not lonely at the top....if you're alone at the top it's because no one is following you You're not a leader. It's a level two that you get energy out of the relationship. Energy and commitment is what makes you successful and that's how you will get great stuff out of others

3. Production - people follow you because of what you have done for the organization. This is where you gain credibility to lead. Success makes you worthy of someone following you. When you follow someone it's because you believe they can take you farther than you can go on your own. We teach what we know, we reproduce what we are. Lead by example. Too many leaders are like travel agents ....sending people where they've never been. A tour guide leader can take you where they've been and show you the way. Leadership is highly visible. People do what people see. Level three leaders create momentum by being the example. Moral lifts. Momentum is a leaders best friend. Level three leaders live by example and create momentum and attract better people to the organization. Producers attract other producers.

4. People development - level 4 will change your life People will follow you because of what you've done. You have changed their life. When they talk about you they acknowledge that their life has been forever changed, gotten better in your leadership. You raise people up. At level three you will add, but at level four you will multiply. Level four leaders recruit well, position people well, and they equip people well. Level four leaders build and develop other leaders. Don't send your ducks to eagle school. And don't send your eagles to duck school either. You have to know what a leader looks like in order to recruit them. Leaders are not waiting for you to recruit them. They already have a job. The reason we miss opportunities is because we don't know what they look like when they come towards us. At level number 4, a leader doesn't just recruit well, they position well. Not only find the good people but can put them in the right places. The highest compliment you can get as a leader is that you helped others. At level four they are good at training other people. They train well and train simply.

5. Pinnacle - people follow you because of who you are and what you represent. Don't worry about getting to level five. You don't do it on your own anyway. Do levels two, three and four well enough and long enough the people around you will move you to level five

You need to know what level you're on with your people. You need to lead them based upon that level. you can't take people where they need to go until you figure out where they are. You don't need to lead them a long way, lead them a short way. People need to understand the road map.

What are you doing to develop yourself? What are you doing to develop someone else?