Organizations that are “built to last” are guided by “Level 5 Executives,” argued Jim Collins in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t.

This style of leadership requires both personal humility and personal will, a combination not favored in the current US national leadership.

Collins proposed a developmental leadership hierarchy including:

• Level 1:  Highly Capable Individual, who applies knowledge, skills, abilities, and commitment to achieve team goal,
• Level 2:  Contributing Team Member, who contributes to team goal achievement through effective collaboration,
• Level 3:  Capable Manager, who sets plans and organizes others to achieve goals,
• Level 4:  Effective Executive, who inspires others to act toward the shared vision,
• Level 5:  Level 5 Executive combines personal will to achieve the organizational improvement goal, tempered with personal humility.

Drawing on developmental psychology theories by Jean Piaget as well as Harvard’s Lawrence Kohlberg, and Robert Kegan, Florida International University’s former President, Modesto A. Maidique proposed a six-level Purpose-Driven Model of Leadership, 

Leadership is service to others, organizations, and ideals, and follows a related developmental path:

• Level One: Sociopath, who serves no one, exhibits low empathy, and destroys value and undermines others.
  Well-known examples are Muammar Gaddafi, Adolf Hitler, and Saddam Hussein.

• Level Two: Opportunist, who serves himself or herself, often at others’ expense by focusing on “What’s in it for me?”
  Examples include Bernie Madoff and Jeffrey Skilling.
• Level Three: Chameleon, who “flip-flop” and cater to as many people as possible.
  Examples include Senator John Kerry, former Florida governor Charlie Crist, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

• • Level Four: Achiever, who often achieves business goals through energetic focus.
    

    Peter Drucker

    Peter Drucker characterized this leader as “monomaniac with a mission,” driving toward a goal without fully considering the broader mission.
    Examples include former H-P CEO Mark Hurd.

  • Level Five: Builder, who seeks to build an institution, not just to achieve a goal.
    Examples include IBM’s Tom Watson Jr., GM’s Alfred P. Sloan, and Harpo’s Oprah Winfrey.
    They have a clear vision, energize others, manage for the long term, and not swayed by short-term profit or stock market valuations.
• Level Six: Transcendent, who focus on broader social benefit beyond their personal affiliations.
  
  Examples include Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Dalai Lama.

These frameworks provide a structure to evaluate the words and actions of current political and business leaders, and suggest potential leadership vulnerabilities.

-*What level of leader do you observe in the highest levels of your work organization?
-*What practices are you implementing to develop your next level of leadership skill

©Kathryn Welds