ARCIAGA, JANELLA 4LM

SEM 2 AUG 31, 2020

5 Levels of Leadership - John Maxwell

1.) What are the five levels of leadership?

The five levels of leadership consist of Position (Level One), Permission (Level
Two), Production (Level Three), People Development (Level Four) and lastly, Pinnacle
(Level Five). These different levels of leadership help current and future leaders to
understand and increase their skills and capabilities that will surely guide them on their
journey, decisions and experiences.

The first level is known as the lowest level as well as the entry level called
Position. In this level, people only follow you as their leader if they believe that they have
to. You gain leverage as a leader towards your followers but one should not heavily rely
on his or her position to capture influence among the people. This level allows leaders to
home their self-discipline and learn from themselves and their own priorities in order to
apply it better towards others.

The second level is Permission, which is solely based on the relationship of

leaders towards their followers. In this level, trust grows, the environment is more
positive and relationships are built to make a solid foundation between leaders and
followers. The way people act towards their leaders in this level is by treating them as
individuals who have a positive influence and genuine values. People and leaders
connect which leads to respect and the people allowing and giving the leader permission
to lead them.

The third level, Production, is all about leaders who build their influence among
the people through their credibility and track record. Leaders eventually cause great
change in this level considering that they manage to motivate the people to get things
done. Whether it may be improving the statistics of the business, increasing the profits,
achieving the goals and targets or developing concrete productivity. Everyone, and not
just the leader, moves forward and excels to greater heights in the end as long as
effective productivity remains.

The fourth level is labeled as People Development and the goal here is help
other leaders grow and develop their own skills and capabilities. This involves various
mentoring, investing in great potential of leadership and changing the lives of others to
become more than just members or followers. This doesn’t only benefit them as they
progress and learn but it also benefits the mentor because people will end up following
him or her for the guidance and help you’ve given and done for them. Also, the more
leaders there are within a certain organization that you lead, it will reflect upon you as a
good influence and more goals are completed in the process.
 The fifth and last yet most challenging level to attain is Pinnacle. The leaders in
this level dedicate great commitment to creating opportunities for other leaders within the
organization and they create a legacy as well which leads to a positive reputation. This
reputation will now be the reason people will follow leader; they follow him or her for
what they represent and for who they are as influential leaders of the
community/organization. Leaders who invest on their people eventually learn to invest
on themselves as well which benefit both the leader and the members as well as where
the organization will lead to in the future.

2.) What is the true test of leadership?

Titles and labeled positions are not what make a leader, but the ability to influence
people and inspire others is the greatest asset a leader should and can have. From the
words of John Maxwell, “To measure a leader, put a tape around his heat, not his head.”
This quote shows us that people follow leaders who lead with their heart and that a heart
of a leader measures the same as their passion and influence on people. Leaders who
have a strong drive for their passion to serve and devote themselves to not only the
growth of their own ability as leaders but the ability of others as well. Leaders must also
acquire genuine care and love for their people and followers in other for them to show to
the people his or her intentions for them to do more and become more.

3.) What is the difference between positional leadership and leadership by influence?

According to John Maxwell, a positional leadership is based on a leader’s title while

leadership by influence focuses on relationships with the people or followers. Positional
leaders don’t value their followers and they are centered on responsibilities and not
one’s rights. For these type of leaders, they solely rely on their status, job title or job
position to influence others to which people will only end up following because they have
to and because they only do what is required of them to by the leader. Above everything
else, their position among the people will always be more important than the work they
do, their contribution to the business or company, or value of their subordinates. They
often think negatively of their followers and people because they have a sense of
entitlement to which they use to expect people to serve them and not the other way
around. Meanwhile leaders who lead by influence, also known as relational leaders,
center their leadership on their relationship with their people through that they gain
influence. They enjoy working alongside the followers instead of ordering them to do
work for them, they encourage others to become leaders, they express gratitude and
they include others in important decision-making. Developing a relationship with the
people around them make the people follow them because they want to not because
they need to. This is because these type of leaders make people feel trust, care, value
and importance to the fact that they are not just mere followers in a big company but an
important asset as much as the leader is.