How Successful People Lead Part 11

Getting work done can be important and rewarding. And leading others and having them help you achieve a vision can be wonderful. But developing others is even more wonderful. And it should be your goal as a leader.

Improvement of individual leaders' lives is the highest goal of leadership development. When you help other people become leaders, you change their lives. You change the way they see the world. You change their capacity. You increase their potential. You change the way they interact with others. If they become good leaders, you help them improve not only their lives but also the lives of everyone they touch. I believe that is how you change the world for the better.

I described in Level 3 how the Pareto principle can be used to increase productivity. That same principle can be used when developing leaders. As a Level 4 leader, you should focus 80 percent of your attention on developing the best 20 percent of the leaders you have. That focus will bring you the highest return. A handful of leaders will give an organization a far greater return than hundreds of followers.

Focusing your development on the top 20 percent also sets you up for success on Level 5 because the leaders with the most potential, and who give you the highest rate of return on your investment, also have the greatest likelihood of turning around and raising up other leaders, which is the emphasis on Level 5.

2. To Develop Leaders, You Must Create

a Leadership Culture

Even if you place great emphasis on developing leaders and practice the 8020 rule, you will not be able to move up to Level 5 unless you also create a leadership culture. If you want to start creating a culture that cultivates Level 5 leaders, then do the following: Champion Leadership-Define and model good leadership.

Teach Leadership-Train leaders on a regular, frequent, consistent basis.

Practice Leadership-Help emerging leaders to plan and execute, fail and succeed.

Coach Leadership-Review new leaders' performance and correct their errors.

Reward Leadership-Reward good leadership with pay, resources, and recognition.

If you make the purpose of your organization to champion, teach, practice, coach, and reward leadership, then people will want to become good leaders. They will strive to help others become good leaders. And the potential of the organization to fulfill its vision will explode.

3. Developing Leaders Is a Life Commitment,

Not a Job Commitment

Level 4 leaders develop people. Level 5 leaders consistently develop leaders over a lifetime, and the leaders they raise up also develop leaders. It becomes a lifestyle they practice everywhere and at all times, not a program they implement or a task they occasionally practice. Mentoring is a mantle that they wear willingly, and they strive to add value to others. They value it because they have transitioned from chasing a position of success to pursuing a role of significance.

We live in a very needy world. If you often ask yourself, How do we meet so many needs? then please realize that the greatest needs will never be met until we equip leaders who can work to meet those needs. That is one of the reasons I train leaders. I believe it is a cause worthy of a lifetime commitment. I hope you will accept the challenge to develop people and raise up leaders. If you do, you won't regret it.

Level 5

THE PINNACLE.

The Highest Leadership Accomplishment Is

Developing Other Leaders to Level 4

Rare is the leader who reaches Level 5-the Pinnacle. Not only is leadership at this level a culmination of leading well on the other four levels, it also requires both a high degree of skill and some amount of natural leadership ability. It takes a lot to be able to develop other leaders so that they reach Level 4; that's what Level 5 leaders do. The individuals who reach Level 5 lead so well for so long that they create a legacy of leadership in the organization they serve.

Pinnacle leaders stand out from everyone else. They are a cut above, and they seem to bring success with them wherever they go. Leadership at this high level lifts the entire organization and creates an environment that benefits everyone in it, contributing to their success. Level 5 leaders often possess an influence that transcends the organizations and the industries they work in.

Most leaders who reach the Pinnacle do so later in their careers. But the Pinnacle level is not a resting place from which leaders should stop and view their success. It is a reproducing place from which they can make the greatest impact of their lives. That's why leaders who reach the Pinnacle should make the most of it while they can. With grat.i.tude and humility, they should lift up as many leaders as they can, tackle as many great challenges as possible, and extend their influence to make a positive difference beyond their own organizations and industries.

The Upside of the Pinnacle

Your Influence Has Expanded beyond Your

Reach and Your Time

When writing about Level 1, I told you that as you climbed the 5 Levels of Leadership, the upsides would continue to increase while the downsides would decrease. However, Level 5 doesn't fit that pattern. On the Pinnacle, I see only three major upsides. But though they are few, each carries a tremendous weight and huge impact.

1. Pinnacle Leadership Creates a Level 5

Organization

Many organizations seem to struggle to maintain their existence. Others work hard to inch their way toward growth or increased profitability. Meanwhile, a few organizations rise above the rest and seem to function at an extraordinarily high level. What's their secret? Leadership. Great organizations have great leaders, and the best organizations, which function at the highest capacity-Level 5 organizations-become what they are because they are led by Level 5 leaders.

Because Level 5 leaders empower many people to lead larger, they lift the leadership lid for everyone in the organization. Because they produce lots of leaders and continue to do so over the long haul of their careers, their organizations develop an abundance mind-set. People in the organization receive lots of opportunities, and they expect to continue getting them. With the development of each leader and the pursuit of every opportunity, the organization continues to get stronger. And in time, leadership becomes part of their DNA. And even when one leader steps down or retires, there are many leaders ready and able to take their place because Level 5 organizations have a pipeline of leaders being produced.

Because Level 5 leaders have worked their way up through each level to arrive at the Pinnacle position, they understand and practice leadership at a high level. They have experienced a transformation of sorts with each transition from one level to another, and as a result they have insight that helps them to recognize where other leaders are in the process and to help those leaders navigate the various changes required to move up to the next level.

2. Pinnacle Leadership Creates a Legacy

within the Organization

Level 5 leaders want to do more than just run an organization well. They want to do more than succeed. They want to create a legacy. If you reach the Pinnacle level, you have an opportunity to make an impact beyond your tenure and possibly beyond your own lifetime. You do that by developing a generation of leaders who will develop the next generation of leaders.

Level 5 leaders are measured by the caliber of leaders they develop, not the caliber of their own leadership. Their approach to leadership changes accordingly. In Level 5 organizations, when the top leader steps down, there are usually many leaders ready to rise up and take the reins. And the organization experiences a continuity unfamiliar to organizations with lesser leaders.

3. Pinnacle Leadership Provides an Extended

Platform for Leading

In America, we believe everyone has the right to speak. But even in a free society, you have to earn the right to be heard. Level 5 leaders have paid their dues and earned that right. And because they lead well and develop others to do likewise, their influence extends beyond their reach. People outside of their direct sphere of influence hear about them and seek them out for advice. Level 5 leaders are able to cross lines out of their industry or area of expertise to speak with authority. People respect them for who they are and what they represent. That gives them a greater platform and extended influence. They often have a chance to make a broader impact on society or to advance the cause of leadership, redefine it, and pour themselves into the next generation of leaders.

With this extended influence comes a responsibility to steward it with integrity. Level 5 leaders understand that the highest position of leadership is not a place to be served by others but to serve others. It is not a place to receive, but a place to give.

The Downside of the Pinnacle

You May Start to Believe It's All about You

Each level of leadership has its downside. This level is no exception. But here's the good news: fewer leaders become victims of the downside at the Pinnacle level than at any other. Why? Because it's difficult to reach the Pinnacle without a great measure of maturity. Every lesson leaders learn at the previous levels becomes a curb that helps to keep them from getting off course. However, here is the bad news. Those who are susceptible to the downside on the Pinnacle fall dramatically. They can derail everything they've worked for up to this point.

Here are the three negative things you need to look out for if you reach the Pinnacle.

1. Being on the Pinnacle Can Make You Think

You've Arrived

It's ironic, but one of the greatest dangers for Pinnacle leaders at the top is similar to a danger for Position leaders at the bottom: thinking they've arrived. If you came into leadership with a destination mind-set, and you carried it with you as you've moved your way up through the 5 Levels of Leadership, you may think that the Pinnacle is a place to rest, smell the roses, and make the most of your privileges. If that's your mind-set, beware!

Leaders who have reached the top of their profession or the top of their organization cannot take anything for granted. No matter how good they've been in the past, they still need to strategize, weigh decisions, plan, and execute at a high level. Momentum can overcome a lot of problems, but even great momentum cannot continually compensate for negligence, arrogance, or stupidity.

Pinnacle leaders also should not treat the organization as their personal property-even if it is their property. Every organization for which people work is a trust. If you're the leader, you cannot make decisions with only you and your personal interests in mind. To whomever much is given, much will be required.

People who reach the top of their field are always in danger of thinking they have nothing left to learn. If that happens to you, it's the beginning of the end. To be effective, leaders must always be learners. You can never arrive-you can only strive to get better. That is the mind-set you must bring to every day of your leadership. If you're through learning, you're through.

The best way to develop and maintain a teachable att.i.tude is to do three things: Write a credo for learning that you will follow every day; it should describe the att.i.tude and actions you will embrace to remain teachable.

Find one or more people who are ahead of you in leadership that you can meet with periodically to learn from.