5 Levels of Leadership

By: John C. Maxwell

I read this book “5 Levels of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell. I found the book to be insightful and gave a good framework to the thought.

Leadership is hard to define and like every subjective term, it is difficult to come up with a single definition. I have seen a spectrum of leaders and their styles which inspired me to be a better person.

There are five levels of leadership in which people move up the level serially — A few faster than others.

Level 1 - Positional People follow the leader as “they have to” due to position or title. There is no influence in this layer.

Level 2 - Permission The leader can communicate effectively and is also known for the relationships they build with their followers (partners) instead of being bossy. People follow them as they want to.

Level 3 - Production Productivity drives every company. Leaders of this level understand the company’s vision and the role they play. They create the right amalgamation of people and vision to deliver the results through their team.

Level 4 - People Development Apart from the delivery of output, the leader is also focused on making better leaders. This needs faith in people. Leadership is not about titles or positions but about one life influencing another for betterment.

Level 5 - The Pinnacle The influence spans beyond their organization. They are natural leaders with the ability to build other leaders who can carry on their legacy even after leaving the company.

Leadership is #influence — No more, no less. So if you genuinely care about the people and their growth, they trust and follow you. It is important to earn that trust over time. So introspect, stay humble, listen to your trusted mentors and keep learning every day.

One of the indicators of good leadership according to me is, how many times you see the people who worked in the past are eager to work with them again in the future.

What are other indicators for good #leadership? Feel free to DM or reply to the thread.