Level Five Leadership

“Level 5 Leadership”, this term was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great” and it is all about achieving "Greatness" as a leader. This article will explain what we mean by Level 5 Leadership and what the characteristics of a Level 5 leader are. What it takes to achieve greatness as a leader, and what are the steps and strategies that one can use to move up to this top level of leadership.

What is Level 5 Leadership?

Level 5 Leadership is a term that was coined by Jim Collins in his book “Good to Great: Why Some Company’s Make the Leap and Other Don’t”. As Collins says in his book, "We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the types of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one." What he seems to have found is what The Economist calls, "The Cult of the Faceless Boss." Truly great leaders have a specific blend of skills along-with certain characteristics that are harder to define. In his own words "The good-to-great executives were all cut from the same cloth. It didn't matter whether the company was a consumer or industrial, in crisis or steady-state, offered services or products. It didn't matter when the transition took place or how big the company. All the good-to-great companies had Level 5 leadership at the time of the transition. Furthermore, the absence of Level 5 leadership showed up as a consistent pattern in the comparison companies..."

Collins observed a set of "personality attributes" which identifies who they are rather than what they know and all exhibited extreme personal humility with an intense professional will.

The personality attributes that he found were:

1. Level 5 leaders are all very bright people who know their business. They are self-confident enough to set up their successors for success.

2. They are intelligent with business and domain knowledge to effectively manage their companies.

3. Level 5 leaders have humility. They are humble and modest.

4. Level 5 leaders seek success so that their team and organization can thrive.

5. Level 5 leaders share credit for success with the entire team or organization and happily accept blame for mistakes. They give credit to others for their success and take full responsibility for poor results. They "attribute much of their success to 'good luck' rather than personal greatness."

6. Level 5 leaders ask for help when they need it.

7. Level 5 Leaders are incredibly disciplined in their work. They have "unwavering resolve."

8. Level 5 Leaders succeed with their teams and spend quality time to find the right set of people. They develop their people to help them reach their full potential (get the right people on the bus).

9. Level 5 Leaders are passionate about their job, about what they do. They display "workmanlike diligence - more plow horse than show horse."

Collin’s Five Levels of Leadership:

Level 5 is the highest level in a hierarchy of leadership capabilities. Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high levels of success but not enough to elevate organizations from mediocrity to sustained excellence. “Good-to-Great” transformations are not possible without Level 5 leadership. Let's look at each of the five levels in more detail:

Level 1: Highly Capable Individual

The leader at this level makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits. At this level, the leader possesses useful levels of knowledge; and has the talent and skills needed to do a good job.

Level 2: Contributing Team Member

At Level 2, the leader contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting. The leader uses his knowledge and skills to help the team succeed. The leader has the ability to work effectively, productively, and successfully with other people in the group.

Level 3: Competent Manager

At Level3, the leader organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. The leader has the ability to organize a group effectively to achieve specific goals and objectives.

Level 4: Effective Leader

At Level 4, the leader catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high-performance standards. This is the category where most successful leaders fall into. Here, the leader has the ability to stimulate a department or organization to meet performance objectives and achieve a vision. Level 4 leaders have their own visions of what the business needs to do to succeed. They decide on a direction and then get people to implement their vision.

Level 5: Great Leader

This level sits on top of a hierarchy of capabilities and the four other layers lie beneath it. Each one is appropriate in its own right, but none with the power of Level 5. We do not need to move sequentially through each level of the hierarchy to reach the top but to be a fully-fledged Level 5; we need the capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the special characteristics of level 5. At Level 5, the leader has all of the abilities needed for the other four levels, plus they have the unique blend of humility and will that's required for true greatness. Leader at this level builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.