Decoding concept of Level 5 Leadership

Level 5 Leadership was a term developed in 2001 by Jim Collins from his famous research-oriented book, Good to Great. Level 5 leader is the one who finely accommodates personal humility with intensive professional desire. These people are self -motivated who resolve and are always working towards finding a possible solution.

 

 

Level 5 identifies the highest level and there is no need to follow the exact sequence from level 1-5 as it might not be possible to fill all levels of the pyramid. According to the author, level 5 cuts against the grain of conventional wisdom, especially the belief that we need larger than life saviours with big personalities to transform companies. Level 5 is just a perfect mix of humility and will which means being humble and fearless. To give an example, we have leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Ratan Tata and Dhirubhai Ambani. All these personalities have key traits of ambition first and foremost for the company and concern for its success rather than for own riches and personal renown. They want to see the company more successful in the next generation, comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know the roots of that success trace back to their efforts. These level 5 leaders reflect personality traits such as quiet, humble, modest, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, future-oriented and concerned.

Professional Will	Personal Humility
Creates outstanding results, focused and a catalyst	Modest, humble and never boastful
Ability to resolve whatever is necessary for business and long-run results	Quiet and calm, understands the situation and determined to inspire and motivate
Sets the standards achievable and challenging	Channels ambition at every level, sets up successors
Looks in the mirror not out of the window, never play the blame game	Appreciates and rewards others, inspire to achieve high and enjoys with people

In today’s turbulent and volatile business scenario, these leaders are required not just at the top level but at every level of management hierarchy as these leaders will be the ones who demonstrate the true traits of growth and success of an organisation in the long run.

About the author:

Dr Shilpa Wadhwa is an Assistant Professor at I Business Institute, Greater Noida. Dr Wadhwa is a PhD scholar in HR from Sharda University and has done Executive Programme from SJMSOM (IIT-B). She is a certified trainer from the Indian Society of Training and Development (ISTD) and Behavioral Competency from the School of Management Studies GGSIPU. She has a rich experience of over 10 years in teaching, research and industry.

 

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha