(transcript from Rene’s educational moment of Friday November 9)

A couple weeks ago I was talking about the first two levels of Leadership. I realized that I never completed the whole concept for you.

Level 1 of leadership is leadership by position. You are a leader, because the organization you work for placed you in that place. The people below you will do what you ask, but typically without passion.

Level 2 of Leadership is leadership because people WANT to follow you. Or in case you use this skill in a sales situation (since leadership is about influencing people), because they really like and trust you. You get there because you care for the people around you.

In level 3, you are a Productive leader. You get results. These are typically leaders that have learned to set goals, with plans and commitment to reach them. Now be careful, some leaders reach this level while skipping level 2. They will be productive because they do everything themselves. As a business coach, these are often the small business owners that I get as clients who are desperately trying to keep ‘all the balls in the air’, working many hours a week, and no longer growing beyond that point. They have not learned to trust their people. You might also recognize some leaders around you who never managed to leave level 2. They like their team too much and consequently are too nice to keep their team accountable.

Level 4 are those leaders who have learned to Leverage. They are consistently teaching the people around them, and thus they are the leaders where growth turns exponential. The leaders that never leave level 3, can only produce more by working harder. But it is only by being a leader at level 4 where you can grow production by ten times or more.

Level 5, an extreme rare level, is for those leaders that create and nurture other leaders.

Where are you as a leader? Do you think you are stuck at a certain level? The great news is that all these levels can be learned.