The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential (22 page)

When you’re working to gain relational credibility on Level 2, the positive results are often intangibles, such as morale and trust. In contrast, the results of good leadership are highly tangible at Level 3. People see better organization, increased productivity, and higher profitability. The result is that they see your strengths and understand what you can do. Your credibility is established. People respect that, and they follow not only because you treat people well, but because of what you do for the team and organization.

In general, people attract others similar to themselves. Birds of a feather flock together. Often I ask leaders to list the three or four characteristics they most desire in their team members. After they have decided on them, I ask a question: “Do you possess those same characteristics?” Why? Because if we don’t exhibit them, we won’t attract them. We tend not to attract who we want. We attract who we are.

When you reach Level 3 and create a highly productive team, you begin to attract other producers. The great thing about this is that it helps you to make the productive team you’ve developed even more productive. Introducing additional highly productive people to the team raises the bar and makes everyone more productive. And if there are people on the team who won’t or can’t produce, others will be lined up at your door willing to take their place.

Leaders are usually highly visible to the people they lead, especially if they lead by going first. As a result, their actions are always noticed. If you’re a producer, that’s a good thing. Nothing motivates people in a positive way more than seeing a positive leadership model. When people see results from their leaders, they know results are expected from them. And whenever results are an expectation, greater productivity happens. Good leaders on Level 3 know that they are showing the way by going the way because people do what people see.

If you were going to play basketball and you could choose anyone in the world to be on the same team with you, who would you pick? How about if you were playing football? Or if you were going into business? Or starting a nonprofit? Chances are the people you listed are the top leaders in their fields. Why would you want them on your team? Because your odds of winning go through the roof when you’re teamed with a leader who has a track record for finding ways to win.

The best leaders on Level 3 find ways to win. They always do. They produce! And they do so day in and day out, regardless of the odds, obstacles, or circumstances. If you are one of those people who consistently produces, then everyone will want to be on your team. That makes leading that much better.

Leadership is easier at Level 3 than Level 2. Why? Level 3 is where momentum kicks in. Good results create momentum. Having momentum gives you greater results. Greater results create even more momentum. Production creates a positive cycle that can continue to roll on and on. With momentum, an organization can overcome problems, negativism, past issues, pettiness, and upcoming obstacles.

If you find yourself on Level 3 gaining momentum, it’s not time to have a rest or back off. It’s time to press on. Never take momentum for granted. Keep giving your all. As Jim Collins might say, keep the fly-wheel moving.

According to a well-known seller of daily planners, only a third of American workers plan their daily schedules, and fewer than 10 percent of people complete what they do plan. That’s not very encouraging.

Most leaders feel a great deal of pressure to get a lot of work done. Productive leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. It’s very easy for people to work hard all day every day, and never get done the important things that make themselves and their teams productive. What’s the key? Prioritizing. Level 3 leaders do the right things the right way at the right time for the right reasons. They know that an organization where anything goes eventually becomes a company where nothing goes. They plan and act accordingly.

Radio broadcaster Paul Harvey remarked, “You can tell you’re on the road to success; it’s uphill all the way.” Climbing to the higher levels of leadership isn’t easy. It takes effort. It also requires sacrifices. You won’t be able to win one level using the skills you used to win the last one. You’ll have to give up some privileges and resources to move up. You’ll have to give up doing some of the things you love that don’t give a great enough return on your time. And some people you’d love to take with you to the top will refuse to go.

Leaders learn to let go of everything but the essentials as they climb. No leader who made it to the top ever said, “It was easier than I thought and took less time.” As you work to
climb higher, prepare yourself for the sacrifices you’ll have to make to become a better leader.

Most leaders have a vision for where they’re going and how their team can accomplish something they believe in. Do you have a vision? How do you know whether your team members will buy into it? By knowing whether they already buy into you!

People buy into the leader, then the vision. That buy-in comes from two things: the relationship you have with them and the results you demonstrated in front of them. They want to know you care about them, and they want to know you can produce. They learn both of those things from watching you and seeing your example. When they enjoy you as a person and perceive you as a producer, then they have what they need to buy in.

L
eadership is an exciting journey. The most talented and dedicated leaders feel the pull to go higher. They hear a call to continually grow and help others do the same. Their beliefs give them the incentive to climb, but their behaviors are what actually take them to the next level.

If you want to go to that next level, then embrace the following ideas while still on Level 3:

Leading a productive team is quite an accomplishment. Achieving goals can be very rewarding. But there are higher levels of leadership than just getting work done effectively and adding to the bottom line. What’s better than excellence at your work and high productivity from your team? Developing people so that they can lead with you. Great leaders measure themselves by what they get done through others. That requires developing people in a leadership culture. That is the focus of leaders on Level 4.

For many years I was satisfied to be a Level 3 leader. To be honest, when I first learned to be a productive leader on Level 3, I thought I
had arrived at the highest level of leadership. I enjoyed producing and developing my team. But then I felt the pull to go higher. I realized that I could do more. I could develop people to become excellent leaders in their own right. If I did, not only would I increase the capacity of the organization and lighten my personal leadership load, but I would also add value to people in a way that would really benefit them. That soon became my focus—and my greatest joy.

If you have reached Level 3 with your team members and you lead a productive team, congratulations. You’ve achieved more than most people ever do. But don’t settle for Production. Seek the higher levels where you can help change people’s lives.

Most of what an organization possesses goes down in value. Facilities deteriorate. Equipment becomes out of date. Supplies get used up. What asset has the greatest potential for actually going up in value? People! But only if they are valued, challenged, and developed by someone capable of investing in them and helping them grow. Otherwise, they are like money put on deposit without interest. Their potential is high, but they aren’t actually growing.

People don’t appreciate automatically or grow accidentally. Growth occurs only when it’s intentional. Where does growth happen on the 5 Levels of Leadership? On Level 4. It is on this level that leaders engage in People Development. If you want to go to the next level in your leadership, think beyond Production and start thinking in terms of how you can help the individuals on your team to improve themselves and tap into their potential.

How do you make an organization better? Invest in the people who work in it. Companies get better when their people get better. That’s why investing in people always gives a greater return to an organization.

Everything rises and falls on leadership. The more leaders an organization has, the greater its horsepower. The better leaders an organization has, the greater its potential. You cannot overinvest in people. Every time you increase the ability of a person in the organization, you increase the ability to fulfill the vision. Everything gets better when good leaders are leading the organization and creating a positive, productive work environment.

If you want a pleasant work environment, win Level 2. If you want a productive work environment, win Level 3. If you want a
growing
work environment, win Level 4.

When I was in my late thirties, I found myself trying to accomplish a large vision that required more of me than I was capable of giving on my own. The only solution I could see was to train and develop other people to help carry the load. But then something wonderful happened. What started as a necessity soon became the greatest source of fulfillment in my life.

Few things in life are better than seeing people reach their potential. If you help people become bigger and better on the inside, eventually they will become greater on the outside. People are like trees: give
them what they need to grow on a continual basis for long enough, and they will grow from the inside out. And they will bear fruit.

If you invest in people, they will never be the same again. And neither will you. It is impossible to help others without helping yourself.

A
s you reflect on the upsides, downsides, best behaviors, and beliefs related to the Production level of leadership, use the following guidelines to help you grow as a leader:

1. Be the Team Member You Want on Your Team:
   Some leaders make the same mistake as some parents. They expect people to do as they say, not as they do. But here’s the problem: people do what people see. If you want dedicated, thoughtful, productive people on your team, you must model those characteristics. Take time to list all the qualities you desire in your team members. Then compare your own personal qualities to those on the list. Wherever you don’t measure up, next to the characteristic write an action statement describing what you must do to possess the trait you’d like to see. For example, if you want people to be dedicated, then write, “I will not give up solving a problem or doing a task until it is completed,” or “I will arrive early and stay late to set an example for the team.”
   

2. Translate Personal Productivity into Leadership:
   Just because you have a history of being a productive individual doesn’t necessarily mean you are a Production level leader.
   How can you tell the difference? The evidence can be found in your impact on the rest of the team. Are other members of the team improving or producing more as a result of your presence? If not, why not? Think about the things you could do to help others become better, both individually and as a team. Turn your focus outward from your own production and begin helping others to become high producers.
   

3. Understand Everyone’s Productivity Niche:
   One of the hallmarks of successful Level 3 leaders is knowing not only where they add the greatest value to the team, but where everyone else adds value, too. Take some time to define each team member’s area of contribution (including your own), and figure out how they all work together to make the team most effective.
   

4. Cast Vision Continually:
   When was the last time you cast vision to your team? Unless it was today, you’re probably overdue. Team members need you to describe the vision and define its success. Take time to carefully craft your communication, and deliver it creatively as often as possible.
   

5. Build Your Team:
   As team members come to understand the vision and begin to learn their strengths and roles, they can be formed into a productive team. That can be accomplished by creating a growth and performance environment. Plan to meet with your team daily (or at least weekly) to give feedback on performance. Do not penalize risk taking. Praise people’s effort, help them learn from their failures, and reward their successes.
   

6. Use Momentum to Solve Problems:
   What’s the most effective way to solve problems? Using momentum. How does a leader create momentum? By helping the team get wins under its belt. If you’re not thinking in terms of helping your team win, then you aren’t thinking like a Level 3 leader. Find small challenges for individual team members to take on in order to
   experience individual wins. Then look for obtainable challenges for people to win together as a team. The greater the number of wins there are both individually and corporately, the more you can increase the difficulty of the challenges. And the more momentum you can gain.
   

7. Discern How Team Members Affect Momentum:
   Every team has momentum makers, takers, and breakers. As the leader of the team, your job is to know who is who and to lead the team in a way that maximizes the makers, motivates the takers, and minimizes the breakers. Begin by categorizing everyone on the team:
   

   • Momentum Makers (Producers who make things happen):
   

   • Momentum Takers (People who go along for the ride):
   

   • Momentum Breakers (People who cause problems and hurt morale):
   

   Put the majority of time and energy into the momentum makers and place them strategically in the organization so that they make the greatest impact. And enlist their aid to help lead the momentum takers as you motivate them. Meanwhile, have candid conversations with the momentum breakers. Give them a chance to change their attitude and become productive members of the team. However, if they fail to rise up to the challenge, get them off of the team. If that is impossible, then isolate them from the rest of the team to minimize the damage they can do.
   

8. Practice the Pareto Principle:
   If you want your productivity to be at the highest possible level, then work according to the 80/20 rule. First, focus on your overall efforts. Set aside a block of time to make a list of all of your responsibilities. Then put
   them in order of importance according to the impact they make for the good of the organization. You need to make sure the lion’s share of your time and effort is focused on the areas at the top of the list. Second, practice the 80/20 rule on a daily basis. Every day list the tasks you must do. Then focus 80 percent of your time on the top 20 percent. Third, focus your team on the top 20 percent. On a regular basis (perhaps daily or weekly), review the team’s priorities with them and make sure 80 percent of the team’s efforts are focused on the top 20 percent in terms of importance.
   

9. Accept Your Role as Change Agent:
   Effective leaders on Level 3 take responsibility for making decisions and initiating changes needed for the team to succeed. If you are a leader, accept this responsibility. Be forever on the lookout for ways to improve the team and initiate them. Start today by setting aside an hour to think of five ways to change things for the better. And if things go wrong, take responsibility for that as well.
   

10. Don’t Neglect Level 2:
    There’s a lot to be done on Level 3. Because of that, many leaders lose sight of the human element in leadership. As you work on the Production level, don’t forget to stay relationally connected to your people. Get out among them and spend time with them. Put connecting times on your schedule, if needed. Do whatever it takes to keep from losing what you’ve gained on Level 2.