The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential (29 page)

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 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.

W
hen writing about Level 1, I told you that as you climbed the 5 Levels of Leadership, the upsides would continue to increase while the downsides would decrease. However, Level 5 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.

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-ten 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 mind-set. 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.

Level 5 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, “The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the convictions and the will to carry on.” 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 Bossidy, former CEO of AlliedSignal, understood this when he asked,

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.

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, 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. 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 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 visited 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 Nobel recipients was Albert Einstein. He once said,

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. 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, return
. People at the start of the journey who are given a position of leadership are faced with a 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. 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 the 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 5 and experience its upsides.

E
ach level of leadership has a downside. 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 to keep them 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:

It’s ironic, but one of the greatest dangers for Pinnacle leaders at the top is similar to a downside for Position leaders at the bottom: thinking they’ve arrived. If you came into leadership with a destination mind-set, and you carried it with you as you’ve moved your
way up through the 5 Levels of Leadership, 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 mind-set, beware!

In his book
How the Mighty Fall,
Jim Collins wrote that those who fall often have an entitlement mind-set, bolstered by arrogance. He wrote that for such leaders, “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.”

A leader’s decisions always make 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
their property. 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 who reach the top of their field 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 mind-set you must bring to every day of your leadership. If you’re through learning, you’re through.

Few things are more ridiculous than leaders who take themselves too seriously and begin to believe they are God’s gift to others. Yet it happens continually. History is filled with stories of people who got carried away with their 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 other ships in beauty and size. He decided on the measurements and armament of the ship, even though he had no naval expertise, and gave them to the shipbuilders. The following words were written about this venture. “Nothing can be more impressive and more dedicated to glorifying to his royal majesty than for his ship to bear the most magnificent decoration that has ever been held on the ocean.”

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 10, 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 heeled 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’s in trouble. When people excel to 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 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.