The ladder to Level 5 leadership

Becoming a Level 5 leader is not easy.
Once you attain it, you must renew it each day.
Jim Collins says in "Good to Great":
Level 5 leaders weren’t born that way.
They climbed the same ladder that’s available to you.
To become such a leader, here are the five rungs.
Level 1 — Highly Capable Individual.
Make productive contributions to your team
Use your talent, knowledge, skill and work habits.
You are the kind of person leaders want on their teams.
You can be taught to climb the leadership ladder.
Level 2 - Contributing Team Member.
Work effectively with others in achieving goals.
Contribute your capability to the team’s objectives.
Level 3 — Competent Manager.
Be a good trainer who has learned to organize people.
Manage resources effectively to achieve team goals.
Level 4 — Effective Executive.
Cast a compelling vision for your team.
Encourage everyone’s commitment to clear goals.
Stimulate high performance standards.
Level 5 — The Ultimate Leader.
Build enduring greatness with humility and a will to excel.
Give credit for achievement to others.
Take responsibility when anything goes wrong.
Be a realist and face all obstacles head on.
Believe that you and your team will prevail.
Tomorrow we’re going to take the day off.
It’s our great nation’s 232nd birthday.
Next week we’ll show you a Level 5 leader.
For more on leadership, click here.

Lead people, manage things

Four simple words — yet what a concept.
I recall first hearing those four words together.
It was during a session at the Poynter Institute in Florida.
Flying home, those four words kept replaying in my mind.
I knew then that I had to write a book on leadership.
There’s a distinction between leadership and management.
Both are necessary for any team with a common mission.
Good leaders lead by example. They are role models.
They convey a vision, a mission and a purpose.
They teach, coach and inspire others to greater achievement.
They instinctively know what to do when stuff hits the fan.
Managers work on the specifics. They check the numbers.
They make sure things go smoothly and as projected.
The good ones manage things. They don’t manage people.
No one, but no one, wants to be managed.
Leaders spell out what to do. Managers get it done.
Leaders get the right players in the right seats on the bus.
That’s Jim Collins’ analogy in "Good to Great".
Managers count heads and watch the road for hazards.
As the late Peter Drucker observed:
Management is doing things right.
Leadership is doing the right things.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about Alexander the Great’s example.
For more on leadership, click here.