You may be the head honcho in your business, but does that make you a leader? There’s a big difference between running your company and leading your company. And not all leaders are created equal. In fact, there are different levels of leadership. John Maxwell does a fantastic job of identifying and explaining this in his outstanding book, The Five Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential. Here’s a quick overview of those five levels, as Maxwell sees them.
Level 1—Position: At this level, leadership is all about rights. People follow you because they have to. Because of your position or title you have the right to a certain amount of authority.
Level 2—Permission: This second level of leadership is all about relationships. This is where people follow you because they want to. You basically earn peoples’ permission to lead them. But if you don’t like people, you’ll never lead at this level.
Level 3—Production: This kind of leadership is focused on results. This is the point at which people follow you because of what you have done for the organization. Making things happen is what separates real leaders from the wannabes.
Level 4—People Development: At this level, leadership is about reproduction. People are following you—not just because of what you do for the company, but because of what you have done for them personally. When you help others grow in their leadership skills you extend your influence and impact.
Level 5—Pinnacle: This ultimate level of leadership is all about respect. At this level people follow you because of who you are and what you represent.
John Maxwell is a proven leader—and a leader of leaders. If you’re serious about 
developing as a leader, I highly recommend that you pick up this book. And if you really want to get down to brass tacks and hone your leadership skills, give me a call or shoot me an email. I’m a certified, founding member Maxwell coach. I’d be delighted to help you take your leadership to the next level.
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