Let’s talk about leadership. What level leader are you? There are 5 levels of leadership according to John Maxwell, the world’s renowned expert in leadership. He’s written over seventy books on the subject. It’s been his life’s work, so he understands leadership better than anyone else. He’s raised up leaders all over the world. These 5 levels of leadership are what people can attain to.
Position – The Lowest of the 5 Levels of Leadership
A lot of us are familiar with the Position level. Maybe in a job we had boss or in the military with someone who was a rank above. A positional leader is one that has a title and they’re able to get people to do things for them because of that title. The is the lowest level of the 5 levels of leadership and I’ve seen people abuse this through the years in my own personal experience. A positional leader thinks that because of their title, they’ve somehow earned the right to get someone’s respect or to get their cooperation. In reality, that person is only doing what they’re told to do because they have to. Normally a positional leader will get the least amount of production from that person.
Permission
The Permission level is a step above and is about the relationships. At this level, people follow you because they want to. This is where the network marketing leader should begin because, as you probably know, we have a volunteer army in network marketing. They see something in you and in your company that they want. That prospect is thinking, “This person can lead me to the promised land, they can help me get financial freedom.”
You are attracting people to you. They want to follow you. Unlike in a job, you can’t fire them. This is the level where I learned I had to get better as a person. I had to get better as a leader by growing, developing, and investing in myself. I had to become the person that I wanted to follow. That was a rude awakening in the beginning because I thought I was already there and I totally wasn’t. I started to peel back those layers and realize what I needed to do to get better to attract better people into my business.
Production
The Production level is the 3rd of the 5 levels of leadership and this is where people follow because of what you have done for the organization. Often, people say in network marketing “How do I motivate my team?” You don’t motivate your team. Motivation comes within them, but you CAN go inspire your team. You go do the work and show them that it can be done. You inspire them by showing them what is possible. The ones that are motivated are going to follow you because they see that they can do it too.
Being the Only Leader Can Be Dangerous
People Development
People development is the 4th of the 5 levels of leadership and this is where people follow because of what you have done for them. At this level you are empowering people. You are showing them the way and you are letting them step up and get the credit. This takes a lot of personal development sometimes because it takes a lot of maturity to let someone else share the “limelight” and get the credit. It’s amazing when you see that happening because it’s so much of a reward when you’re able to help someone develop and grow as a leader.
Pinnacle – The Top of the 5 Levels of Leadership
The Pinnacle level of leadership is the ultimate level you want to achieve if it’s even possible. This takes some natural talent. Also this is where people follow because of who you are and what you represent. This is where legacies are made. This is where leaders transcend their organizations. Some people never reach this level but it’s one to strive for. This is all about influence and impact. As John Maxwell has said, “Leadership is influence.” That’s it.
I hope you enjoyed these 5 levels of leadership.
Which one are you? Better yet, which one do you want to be?
Make sure and grab the book, The Five Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell to dive deeper into all these levels.
Did you enjoy this post? Did you get some value? Let me know by leaving me a comment below and
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Elizabeth Oliva’s Network Marketing Blog
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Email me: elizabeth@elizabetholiva.com
Talking about leaders: Todd Falcone – How to Earn 6 figures
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