THE FOUR LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP
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The Four Levels of Leadership Leadership is not learned through study, but through doing it. There are no shortcuts on how to learn how to lead, and there are many pitfalls and mistakes to be made, regardless of your intention and ambition to be a successful and effective leader. Because leadership success is detected through the success of your team, it’s relatively easy, for a self-aware person, to gauge their leadership abilities. I know when I started out as a leader, the feedback to me about my abilities was less than inspiring. In fact, I wondered if I would ever achieve minimal competence. My first successful hire was pure luck. Then, through trial and painful error, I began to build the skills that worked. Reading about leadership provided insights, but it was only through application that I was able to establish what worked and what didn’t work. It was hit and miss, and painful at the time, but I just don’t know any other way, except to have a mentor in the organisation who can guide you. As it was my own business, I had to go it alone. What I noticed, in hindsight, was that I was moving through levels of leadership as my proficiency improved. I’m not suggesting for a moment I am a flawless leader, but the results in the team indicate I’ve improved somewhat from those early days! The four levels of leadership are what I have also observed in others when I have coached in organisations. I have done over 1,000 hours of coaching of leaders, and it was my niche and expertise for three years. These insights and observations also provide the structure to the model I have developed over the past eight years.
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LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP CHART
Optimal Leadership Action Leadership Dictator Leadership Reactive Leadership
Level One: Reactive Leadership LEADER
Low confidence Low competence Low trust Low accountability High ‘hope’ Avoidance of crucial conversations Attempts to be ‘friends’ or goes the opposite way, and distances themselves
TEAM
Low confidence Low competence Low trust Low performance Low delivery on KPI’s Lack of respect for the leader Feels insecure because of relationship
Reactive leadership is where the new, inexperienced leader hopes people will
do what they should, doesn’t see how they are the cause of the confusion in the team and is constantly frustrated by the lack of results. The leader ‘hopes’ the team does the ‘right thing’. It’s the ‘hit and miss’ portion of leadership development, and with strong mentoring, can be a very short time frame.
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Level Two: Dictator Leadership
LEADER Low confidence Competence improving Low trust Accountability is being demanded High disappointment with team members ‘Tough’ conversations involve blame of the team or the leader’s leader Distances themselves from the team, who they think are the ‘cause’ of their results, or lack of them Low self-awareness of how they have created the results they’re getting
TEAM
Low confidence Low competence Low trust Accountability to resisted or ignored Low delivery on KPI’s Fear of the leader Team tries to find their own way and develops bad habits Team stops using systems and structure
Once the leader gives up on ‘hope’ ever being an effective strategy, the leader generally moves into the ‘dictator’ phase of leadership. In this phase the leader becomes distant from the team, distrusts them, thinks they’re incompetent, unless they do well, in which case, the leader takes the credit. The leader has low trust because they have failed in the first phase and don’t see how to get the team being effective, and it seems that if the leader just ‘does it themselves’ the job will at least get done. The low trust causes lower performance, tension and momentum is lost unless there is a back up manager mentoring the team and keeping them on track.
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Level Three: Action Leadership
LEADER High confidence High competence Trust improving High accountability High reliance on personal results Pushes team Crucial conversations misfire unless the leader is aware of their own frustration with the team Doesn't know how to get team to perform unless they themselves perform
TEAM Confidence growing as long as results are there Competence as long as leader performs Trust in what they see, not in what is possible Performance improving High reliance on the leader’s performance Team delivers as long as leader delivers Team does not always feel understood or appreciated Misses training, mentoring and guidance that would prove them with the confidence and competence they need to improve
BEFORE OPTIMAL LEADERSHIP, YOU NEED TO MASTER ‘ACTION’ LEADERSHIP.
Action leadership is where you have a team, you need guidance for day to day results and development of the team, and strategic thinking is not part of your agenda.
Action leadership means you need to be able to do the task to expect others to do it. You haven’t yet developed the ability to inspire action in others without demonstrating competence yourself.
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Level Four: Optimal Leadership
LEADER
High confidence High competence High trust High accountability High reliance on working through team Crucial conversations had when needed to assist team members to improve Inspires team Leader believes in their team Leader sees how to develop team Leader speaks plainly so the team know where they stand
TEAM High confidence High competence High trust High accountability High reliance on own abilities Team inspired to improve Crucial conversations appreciated and integrated into day to day operations Team believes in themselves Team always know where they’re at regarding their abilities and progress Team appreciates guidance
‘Optimal’ leadership is leadership where you need minimal guidance on a day to day level.
You may have a CEO who provides guidance for strategic direction, but most of your time is spent getting on with the job you do well, and reporting and managing ‘up’ to the CEO so they know you’re tracking on target.
Optimal leadership is the goal for all leaders who are ambitious to demonstrate their growth, contribution and abilities.
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SHARON PEARSON Disruptive Leadership Module 5 Four Levels of Leadership Edition 1 | Version 2 | December 16 Published by The Coaching Institute Copyright 2016 Š The Coaching Institute All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. In some instances, people or companies portrayed in this book are illustrative examples based on the author’s experiences, but they are not intended to represent a particular person or organisation.
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