Leadership Levels

Leadership guru John C. Maxwell mentions five levels of leadership in his book “How Successful People Lead.”.

• Position: People follow you because they have to
• Permission: People follow you because they want to 
• Production: People follow you because of what you have done for the organization
• People Development: People follow you because of what you have done for them
• Pinnacle: People follow you because of who you are and what you represent.

Here are some important points to remember about the above-mentioned levels of leadership:

• You can move up but can never leave the previous level behind
• You are not on the same level with every other person
• The higher you go, the easier it is to lead others
• The higher you go, the more time and commitment are required to win a level
• Moving up occurs slowly, but going down can happen quickly
• The higher you go, the greater the return or productivity
• Moving farther up always requires further growth (intentional growth and leadership experience)
• Not climbing the levels limits you and your people
• When you change positions or organizations, you seldom remain at the same level. You have to earn the levels again.
• You can’t climb the levels alone.