Archive for the ‘Articles: Business Culture’ Category

5 Levels of Leadership

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

5 Levels of Leadership
Author: Robert W Wells
Published: October 13, 2009
For more articles: www.robertwells.com

Every day I meet with business owners and leaders of all types and stature. When coaching my clients, I always refer back to the “5 levels of leadership” and the term “level 5 leader”. I thought it would be helpful to list these levels for my readers and clients. In the article below, I created unique names for the five levels of leadership based on my own personal experiences as an entrepreneur. I also created a summary for each level of leadership. It is my life-long mission to raise up level five leaders in organizations across the world.

As a reference – I included the leadership level names as derived from two of my biggest influences, John Maxwell (will be in blue) and Jim Collins (will be in green). John Maxwell writes about these levels in his books, Five Levels of Leadership and Developing the Leader Within You. In contrast to Mr. Maxwell’s levels 1 thru 4, Jim Collins does not describe leaders under level 5. He focuses on the 5 sub-levels within the attributes of a “level 5 leader”. See his book Good to Great for more detail on this.

The 5 levels of leadership.

Level One Leader – The ‘Stated’ Authority Figure (Position)
Think of a military drill sergeant. It doesn’t matter if that drill sergeant has a PhD or an MBA, when he or she talks, the cadets listen. The drill sergeant has inherent authority over others because of his or her stated authority. In business, this leader’s influence will not extend beyond their title. People follow this leader because they are required to… or else! People rarely take what a level one leader says seriously unless it is associated with their circle of authority. The longer a leader stays at this level will result in low morale, turnover, job dissatisfaction and people will often overlook a level one leader for guidance.

Level Two – The Visionary (Permission)
A level two leader embraces relationships. This leader has stated authority but rarely uses it. People follow this leader by choice, not title and people follow beyond this leader’s stated authority. This type of leader is all about selling the vision and often does not embrace true leadership qualities. John Maxwell warns us that staying at this level for too long will result in highly motivated people becoming restless. Eventually, if a leader stays at this level too long, people may seek other opportunities for better leadership and career growth.

Level Three – The Captain (Production)
A level three leader has produced results. This leader has stated authority, embraces relationships and has actually produced results. People follow this leader because of his or her contributions to the organization as a whole or by what they have done as a leader elsewhere. Challenges are easier to overcome because this leader naturally generates momentum. A leader can lead at this level for a long period of time and will produce results and progress the organization. Eventually, if a leader stays at this level for too long, other aspiring leaders within the organization may seek other opportunities for better leadership and career growth.

Level Four – The Teacher (People Development)
A level four leader knows its not all about them. This leader has stated authority, embraces relationships, has produced results and is mentoring others.  People follow this leader because he or she develops people to a higher potential. This leaders commitment to developing leaders ensures sustainable growth within the organization and empowers the people he or she is influencing. When an organization is blessed with a team of Level Four leaders, it will experience long term, sustainable growth.

Level Five – The Shepherd (Personhood) (Level 5 Executive)
A level five leader has what can be described in one word… RESPECT! This leader has stated authority, embraces relationships, has produced results, is mentoring others and spends most of his/her time mentoring others. People follow this leader out of reverent and genuine respect. People follow because of who the leader is and what he or she represents. Very few people become level five leaders. It takes years and years of deep commitment to develop into a level five leader.

(A level Five leader “Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” - Jim Collins)

Hierarchy of the sub-levels of a “level 5″ leader (as described by Jim Collins)
(4 -> Effective Leader)
(3 -> Competent Manager)
(2 -> Contributing Team Member)
(1 -> Highly Capable Individual)

I encourage leaders to assess what level of leader they are today and set a goal for the level they want to achieve in 3 to 5 years from now. Thank you for reading my thoughts on the 5 Levels of Leadership. I wish for you success in your business adventures.

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Expectations: The Key to Present and Future Relationships

Monday, September 7th, 2009

Expectations: The Key to Present and Future Relationships
Author: Robert W Wells
Published: September 07, 2009
For more articles: www.robertwells.com

The Key to Your Future

Let me take a moment to paint a picture for you. You have been working with a trusted colleague for over a year now. These days, you feel slightly disappointed by your colleagues’ behavior. You had high hopes for what you envisioned they would accomplish. You feel let down by their lack of zeal and motivation. Unconsciously, you start to act differently around them. Then one day, your colleague finally asks you, “What’s wrong?”. You really don’t know what to say because you never communicated your high expectations of them.

Picture number two… You are married…  You come home from a long strenuous day at work. Meetings all day and you even skipped lunch. You settle into your evening with your spouse and you notice the stack of unpaid bills is still sitting in the same spot. You become slightly upset and maybe even a little indifferent toward your spouse. The conversation goes something like this. “Honey, why are the bills still sitting in the same spot?”. Your spouse says, “Was I supposed to pay them today?”.

You can avoid major conflicts in your biz and family by Setting, Reviewing and Re-Setting expectations. These two scenarios describe a very common pitfall in business and at home. We all have hidden EXPECTATIONS of others. We don’t often communicate these expectations “out loud” which is why we are so often disappointed in others’ actions.

First, SET Reasonable Expectations. We all can get a little crazy when it comes to setting expectations for someone else. Try to have a little empathy and be realistic about the expectations you set. Do not set expectations that are unachievable. This is a recipe for disaster! Stay within  strength zones and maybe stretch them slightly. Remember to write down the expectations of both parties.

Second, on a regular basis, sit down and discuss (communicate) the expectations with the other person. Be proactive and loving. When you have expectations that both parties agreed to in writing, the conversation is pretty easy.  In business, I like to encourage my clients to create Performance Expectations and set up bi-annual Performance Review sessions. This stimulates a culture of productivity and accountability.  Take the time to review expectations. Simply go over what you discussed earlier and determine if expectations have been met.

If expectations have been met, Celebrate! When someone meets or exceeds expectations, it is a great achievement. It does not matter how big or small the expectation is. Take a moment to show your appreciation for this achievement.

If expectations were not met, don’t panic, don’t get upset. Take a moment to reflect on why the expectation was not met. Was it because the bar was set to high? Was it because the expectation was unrealistic, or was it because the other person simply did not meet the needs of the expectation. Once you discover the root cause of a failed expectation, you have the data to determine your next course of action.

Third, If the expectations have not been met and you understand the reason why, REVISE your expectations. Do not set the same expectations and assume they will be met. Revise the expectations and make them reasonable and achievable. Expectations are good and can be used to catapult the relationships in your business and personal life to another level.

“I’m a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”   Thomas Jefferson

I don’t believe in luck but I love this quote from one of our Nation’s Founding Fathers. My interpretation of the quote is… we need to expect results when we spend focused time (working) on achieving results. I encourage you to explore the power of expectations. Spend focused time on Setting, Reviewing and Revising expectations with colleagues and family today.

Thank you for reading my thoughts on Expectations: The Key to Present and Future Relationships. I wish for you success in your business and more importantly in your personal and family life.

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Lessons Learned From My Children, Part 1

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Part 1, Lessons Learned From My Children
Author: Robert W Wells

Let me start by saying that I Love My Kids! My daughter is 2 1/2 and my son is 5 weeks young. Never in a hundred years did I think I would learn from them. My wife is a real blessing. I seriously don’t know how women can stay up all night feeding a baby and function at all the next day. I woke up three times during the night and slept about 3 hours total.

So, my story begins… this morning, as I walked up the stairs, peering through my slightly open eyes, I heard my daughter calling out from her crib, “dadddddy! Aria’s awake now! Daddddy!”. Obviously, she had a lot more sleep than me last night… ok, I confess, make that every night!

I picked her up out of her crib and she is more chipper than ever. She say’s “daddy, read book to Aria!”. At this point, I think I could possibly read a book (to myself) but not out loud. That’s waaay to much effort! I start reading to her and my eyes start to close. She proceeds to exclaim with authority, “daddy, open your eyes!” I open one eye and she says, “daddy, open BOTH eyes”, and she begins to peel open my other eye with her fingers. Her tenacity and passion is contagious so I start to wake up. My day as husband, father and business owner begins.

In the last 2 1/2 years as a father, I have learned some valuable lessons.

First, Passion and Excitement are Contagious! When my daughter gets excited about something, her passion for what she is doing is addictive & contagious. So contagious in fact, that even people around us who appear to be in sour moods, CHEER UP! Wow, I thought to myself… this is something I would love to bottle up and use in my businesses.

Now, Imagine bringing the Passion and Excitement of a child to the stakeholders and employees in your business. Try infusing Passion and Excitement into your meetings and conversations. Watch the dynamics of your culture change. Imagine the things you could accomplish!

Second, Diligence produces significant results. I have found the more time we spend with our kids, the more we mold and shape them. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) Don’t let society mold your kids, YOU mold them. Believe me, there have been plenty of times I had a meeting, a deadline or some other business activity that was urgent, but I made a conscience decision to prioritize my time for my children.

Here’s an example… My daughter loves to read, I mean she really loves to read. This love started very early. We rarely watch TV and are very selective of what our children watch. With that said, using books as our form of entertainment, we started teaching our daughter to read early. Now, at 2 1/2, she wants us to read her books all day long. We can tell that the books and our time with her have had a sizable impact on her intellectually. She can talk in sign language, uses reasoning to solve problems, counts to 20, says the whole alphabet, knows the days of the week and can string together full sentences and sing full songs… at 2 1/2 years young. Amazing! Of course, we didn’t make her into this superstar, God did!!! But, we have to take some credit. So, I am a firm believer that our Diligence & Time with her has produced significant results.

Now, Imagine pouring the same Diligence and Time into your business. Better yet, Imagine your employees pouring the same Diligence into your business. Spend some time putting together goals and objectives for your team. Have the team strive for specific goals. Tie a tangible reward to the accomplishment of these goals and watch your business change. Imagine the things you could accomplish!

To be continued in Part 2, Lessons Learned From My Children…

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