Level 5 Leadership: Taking Your Project from Good to Great

 

A Level 5 Leader (L5L) is an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will. The characteristics and success of these leaders were first identified by Jim Collins in 2001. They formed a central plank in his best-selling book Good to Great.

The discovery of Level 5 leadership derived from a research project that Collins began in 1996, when he set out to answer one question: Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how? The answer was the concept of a Level 5 Leader.

The L5L sits on top of a hierarchy of capabilities and is, according to Collins’ research, a necessary requirement for transforming an organization from good to great. Individuals do not need to proceed sequentially through each of the lower four levels of the hierarchy to reach the top, but to be a full-fledged L5L requires the capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the special characteristics of Level 5. The characteristics are:

• Level 5 Executive:Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
• Level 4 Effective Leader:Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.
• Level 3 Competent Manager:Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
• Level 2 Contributing Team Member:Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting.
• Level 1 Highly Capable Individual:Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits.

When Good to Great was published in 2001, the concept of Level 5 leadership was counterintuitive, even countercultural. People generally assumed that transforming companies from good to great required larger-than-life leaders with big personalities like Lee Iacocca and Jack Welch, who made headlines and became celebrities. And while Level 5 leadership is not the only requirement for transforming a good company into a great one—other factors include getting the right people “on the bus” (and the wrong people “off the bus”) and creating a culture of discipline—Collins’ research showed L5L to be essential. 

Thirteen years later, what’s this got to do with project management?

The answer is that rather than focusing on being the “project management hero,” project managers can apply the lessons of Level 5 Leadership to take a project from good to great!

Some of the key traits of an L5L are:

• Humility. Whenever your team members have success, make sure credit goes to them for their hard work. But as a leader, you need to take responsibility for your team’s efforts, particularly when things go wrong.
• Asks for help.Knowing when and how to ask for help lets you call upon the expertise of someone stronger in an area than you are. The result? The entire team or organization wins, not just you.
• Takes responsibilityfor the team’s mistakes or failings.
• Discipline.When you commit to a course of action, no matter how difficult, stick to your resolve. It’s always important to listen to differing opinions, but don’t let fear be your driving motivator when you make, or change, a decision.
• Takes the time to find the right people.And then helps them reach their full potential.
• Leads with passion.When you demonstrate to your team members that you love and believe in what you’re doing, they will too.

Becoming a L5L is not easy. But rather than being a hero fighting to make your project a success, shifting to Level 5 leadership allows you to be successful while benefiting your organization and team.