Archive for 5 Levels of Leadership
Level Up, Week 7: The Pinnacle
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Week 7 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership. This week we’re studying Level 5, The Pinnacle.
The difficulty with teaching this level is that Level 5 leaders are just not very common. Until now, you’ve spent your time nudging group members to reach for the level being discussed. But to reach Level 5, a leader needs to be developing leaders – and not just leaders but Level 4 leaders – for many years. Most people leading groups won’t have a Level 5 leader in them.
You can still discuss this level, though, by meeting your people where they are. What you need to focus on is how well they are developing leaders right now, and getting them to commit to the process as a way of life.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Portrait of a Level 5 Leader, pages 271-286 (We will discuss this reading assignment and the overall impact of this study in NEXT WEEK’s post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide)
1. (Icebreaker) tell about a time when you met a celebrity who was important to you.
2. Have you ever known a Level 5 leader? What was that person like?
3. What’s the difference between helping others with personal development versus helping them with leadership development?
4. What have you found to be the best way to teach another person to lead?
5. Describe a crucible moment in your leadership journey. What lesson did you learn from it?
6. How would you go about teaching that lesson to another person?
7. Of all the people you work with, who has the greatest leadership potential?
8. What experiences, resources, and people can you share with those potential leades to help them become better leaders?
9. Do you think there’s plenty of room at the top for addition leaders, or do you believe that space is always limited? Why? How does that impact the way you develop other leaders?
10. What efforts have you made to create an inner circle to help you grow and keep yourself grounded?
11. The chapter says to plan for your succession. Are you currently training someone to replace you? If so, how? If not, what must you do to make that happen?
ASSIGNMENT
Take responsibility for creating a leadership development environment. Dedicate significant amounts of your time and talent to it. Recognize and reward leadership accomplishments. And make it your responsibility to mentor your top leaders. This is a commitment required not just for a season, but for a lifetime if you want to someday reach Level 5.
Level Up, Week 6: People Development
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Week 6 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership. This week we’re studying Level 4, People Development.
As I wrote in the chapter, people development enables a leader to lead larger. In other words, when you have leaders working with you, they accomplish much more than non-leaders do. However, developing people to become leaders takes a lot of time, effort and resources. That’s why most people don’t do it. Your challenge this week is to help the people in your group to understand the return on the investment, so that they will commit to putting in the effort and sustaining it during the delay between investment and return. Busyness, short-sightedness and insecurity are often the greatest barriers to people-development. Help the people in your group to recognize and overcome these.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Level 5: Pinnacle, pages 229-270 (We will discuss this reading assignment in NEXT WEEK’s post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide)
1. (Icebreaker) Describe the first time you tried to teach someone how to do something, where the results were either comical or disastrous.
2. Tell about the person from whom you’ve learned the most in your entire life and how it changed you.
3. What happens in an organization when people are not equipped or developed?
4. Describe the difference between equipping and developing. Which do you think is easier to do? Why?
5. What criteria have you used in the past for selecting someone to develop or equip? Has it usually been motivated by strategy, or urgency?
6. What percentage of your time do you currently spend teaching, training and developing others?
7. Flash forward – What would your team, department or organization look like and be able to accomplish if you made people-development a lifestyle?
8. The chapter lists several reasons why most leaders don’t develop others, including self-centeredness, ego, desire for control, lack of trust, short-sightedness. Which of those do you find to be the greatest barrier for you personally? Why?
9. How much time are you willing to give every week to developing people? When will you begin?
ASSIGNMENT
Pick the top 20% of people with potential in your sphere of influence. Think about what those individuals need to be equipped, developed, and empowered to succeed. Begin spending time with them every week to help them grow and develop.
Level Up, Week 5: Production
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Week 5 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership. This week we’re studying Level 3, Production.
This is the week when the task-oriented members of your group will probably understand the topic intuitively and wonder how anyone could miss the value of production. And the people-oriented individuals might be tempted to devalue production as not relational enough.
The truth is that leaders need both aspects of leadership if they’re going to advance and grow. Production needs to be emphasized this week, because it’s the foundation of teamwork and gives a leader credibility. People have more reasons to follow because the team gets things done and succeeds– more than just a connection to the leader. Leadership without results ultimately doesn’t keep followers motivated. But if you have a vision that you’ve articulated and are modeling, your followers will embrace it and continue the journey with you.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Level 4: People Development, pages 179-228 (We will discuss this reading assignment in NEXT WEEK’s post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide)
1. (Icebreaker) Tell about something you made or created during your formative years that you were especially proud of.
2. What’s the difference between a producer and a production-level leader?
3. How do you balance remaining productive and leading others at the same time?
4. What’s the benefit of having earned permission on Level 2 before pressing to get work done on Level 3?
5. Why do you think the book says that leadership production is the foundation for team-building?
6. When you get into production mode, do you find yourself neglecting Level 2 Permission? If so, how do you change that?
7. Which of your talents, skills and strengths provide the greatest contribution to the team on Level 3? Would others on your team agree with your assessment? Why or why not?
8. When it comes to modeling, how do the leader’s actions impact the team, either positively or negatively?
9. In what kinds of leadership situations is it worth risking relationships in order to achieve productivity? What are your criteria for making those judgments.
10. Now that you have read about Permission and Productivity, in which area do you most need to grow? What will you do differently to become a more effective leader?
ASSIGNMENT
Think about the vision, mission, or objectives of the department or organization that you lead. Define that as clearly as you can. Then take some time to evaluate each person on your team and the talents, skills, strengths that they could contribute to that vision.
(If you do not currently lead anyone in the workplace, then apply this to your family or volunteer situation.)
Create a strategy for how all those different skill sets could work together to achieve the vision. Keep in mind how the individual personality traits or life experiences of the people involve could hinder or enhance their ability to contribute. Your goal as the leader of your team is to know what needs to be accomplished, know the individual contributors, put everyone in the best place to succeed, and help them overcome personal as well as professional obstacles to succeed. (No, it’s not easy. But that’s why not everyone wants to lead.)
With that game plan in hand, start working toward implementing it.
Level Up, Week 4: Permission
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Week 4 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership! This week we’ll be diving into Level 2: Permission.
Are you naturally people-oriented or task-oriented? You’ll discover that everyone in your group naturally defaults to one or the other. They’ll assign the highest value to either getting things done or building relationships.
Those who are people-oriented will wonder why you’re even discussing this level, because it will seem as natural to them as breathing. Most of what’s described in the chapter they do intuitively. (Their difficulty will likely come at Level 3.)
The task-oriented people may see permission as “soft.” They may even think that the 5 levels were listed in the wrong order, and production should come ahead of permission. Your goal is to get everyone on the same page, understanding that if you build relationships first, it makes production easier and helps you develop teamwork. If leaders do that, then when pressure comes, fewer things blow up because they already know everyone’s personalities and how they work together.
READING ASSIGNMENT:
Level 3: Production, pages 131-178
(We will discuss this reading assignment in NEXT WEEK’S post.
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide):
1. (Icebreaker) If you were given a free day totally for yourself, how would you spend it?
2. What’s the difference between leadership that asks permission to lead and leadership that assumes the right to lead?
3. What is most frustrating to you about working with people? What’s most rewarding?
4. Are you naturally task-oriented or people-oriented? How do you think that impacts your attitude toward Level 2 Permission?
5. The book says that permission leadership appears too soft for some people. Where do you stand on this?
6. Why do you think I say that openness is required for permission leadership to be effective? Do you find it difficult or easy to be open with the people you lead?
7. In the past, how have you handled the care and candor issue? Which do you find to be naturally easier? Expressing candor or caring?
8. What things can a leader do to gain permission from followers?
9. What do you need to change to make your leadership more personal and relational with the people you influence?
ASSIGNMENT:
Take time in the next week to get to know each individual that you lead more personally. Or course, you need to respect people’s privacy and be appropriate. But your goal is to get a better sense of who the person is, what is important to him/her, and what motivates him/her.
NOTE:
For the sake of simplicity, we have not threaded the comments this week. Please feel free to start your own comment thread. You can answer as many of the 9 questions as you wish, either in one or separate comments.
Level Up, Week 3: Position
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to Week 3 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership! This week we are studying Level 1: Position. The thing about position is, those who don’t have one, think that’s what they need to lead. But those who do have a position understand how little power it actually gives them in the long run. When you have no leadership experience, position seems like the only way to lead. True, it does often provide opportunity. But if a leader doesn’t grow in the levels of leadership, then position becomes a limitation.
As you facilitate discussion, keep in mind the various points of view that might be present in your group. Some might have never led. Some might have had a position that resulted in a bad leadership experience. Others might be in a new position and see it as an opportunity. Still others might have been leading at Level 1 for a long time, and be unaware of its limitations. Your goal is to help every member of the group see the possibilities of growing in leadership beyond position.
READING ASSIGNMENT:
Level 2: Position, pages 83-129
(We will discuss this reading assignment in NEXT WEEK’S post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide):
1. (Icebreaker) What was your favorite game as a child (excluding sports and video games)? Examples include: board games, card games, playground games, and party games. Why did you enjoy that game so much? What type of game did you least like to play and why?
2. Think about your first leadership position. At the time did you see it more as opportunity or obligation? How did it turn out?
3. Why do you think the book says that turnover is high for positional leaders?
4. What does it mean for you when the book says, “Leave your position and move toward your people”? Why is that important?
5. Can you think of an example of an excellent leader you’ve worked with who never used position to lead? Talk about that person. What made him or her excellent?
6. Up to now, how much have you relied on position for leadership in your career?
7. What would you need to change to lead without using your position?
ASSIGNMENT:
This week’s assignment has two parts. First, identify a leadership model to learn from. Make a list of leaders who model the kind leadership that you aspire to. Study that person, writing down the characteristics that make them a good leader. If a biography has been written about them, read it and take notes. If not, find out what you can about them through news and online resources. Studying a model is a great way to start growing as a leader.
The second part is to find a leadership coach, which I also suggest on page 80 of The 5 Levels of Leadership. This week, think about leaders you know and admire who are two or more career steps ahead of you in leadership. Try to get one of them to agree to sit down with you once every month or two and answer leadership questions.
REMINDER:
In the comments section, the questions are threaded so you can answer each individually if you’d like. (This makes it easier for others to find them and contribute to the discussion.) But please feel free to answer all questions in one comment if that serves you better.
