Humility and Fierce Resolve
It was about 10 years ago when I read the book authored by Jim Collins – Good to Great (Collins, 2001). In it, he described how companies which had gone through the most dynamic changes went on to outperform market expectations over the next decades were all helmed by Level 5 leaders. He listed down which companies these were and who the leaders helming those companies were at that point in time. One leader particularly stood out to me, Darwin E. Smith (1926 – 1995), he was the CEO of Kimberly-Clark from 1971 to 1991. Coming from humble beginnings with an eccentric character (Sirkin, 2023), his story of how he had transformed a paper mill company into a personal care company in order for it to survive the decades to come inspired me greatly mainly due to the fact that I could relate his personal traits as to mine.
Based on feedback received on a 360 degree survey conducted in 2017 from around 50 subordinates, 15 peers and 2 upline leaders, it suggests that I have a strong professional will and resolve in carrying out my duties but shy away from calling out achievements and taking credit when it is due, from an upper management perspective, visibility is important and it may serve as a determent to move on to bigger roles.
However, it is in my nature to step away from the spotlight and personally it has not served as a determent on my career progression. I have come to believe that visibility is a myth for one’s career progression as when your professional will and resolve is greater, no matter the attention, outcomes you create will always speak louder than words. Hence, why Smith is a type of leader I aspire to be, a Level-5 leader with humility but with a fierce resolve.
Fusing Styles which Fits
Over the last 10 years, I took on a step by step approach on building my leadership skills learning what Jim Collin’s had documented of the companies and leaders he researched on and adopting John Maxwell’s wisdom (Maxwell, 2016), absorbing what fits best and discarding what didn’t. With a little spark of fusion from these 2 frameworks, it had lead me to Servant Leadership fusing the basis of my humility into serving others to achieve eminence on their own accord. It felt like a calling for me to serve others professionally and found that it had brought me great joy and a sense of purpose. It had prepared me to adopt, be agile and apply multiple leadership styles that works well on the very purpose of serving others which is has now become my guideline and principle to lead others in the years to come.
We will try to understand the perspective of my meaning on Fusing Leadership Styles for the Greater Good, how did Jim Collins’s “Good to Great” research and John Maxwell’s Wisdom had lead me to Servant Leadership. When the wisdom from these 2 researchers are woven together, they actually provide invaluable insights, as each one contributing a unique perspective that, when combined together, form a vision of what it means to be an exemplary leader.
When Jim Collins introduced the concept of Level 5 Leadership, it describes a blend of humility and unwavering will of a Level 5 Leader whose ambitions are not particularly for themselves but in fact for the organization. Simultaneously, John Maxwell’s leadership principles, emphasizes that influence and the development of others is the essence of effective leadership.
Let’s delve into each level to understand the perspectives better.
Pyramid Image taken as reference from Harvard Business Review.
Level 1: Positional Leadership and the Maxwell Influence
Maxwell’s principles suggests that it starts at the foundational level when leadership is about authority given by that position. It serves as the entry point of having a formal role that places one in a “leadership” position. However, Maxwell emphasizes that true leadership is not just about the formal role or title but about the influence you bring to that role and Collin’s model, suggests that Level 1 leadership primarily focusses on the individual’s characteristics and qualities.
Level 2: Permission Leadership and the Humble Beginning
On the next level, Maxwell’s Permission Leadership aligns with Collins’ Level 2 leadership. It suggests that, the individual at this level has the ability to build trust, relationships and rapport with team members which emphasizes the importance of team-building.
Level 3: Production Leadership and Growing to Greatness
Maxwell’s Production Leadership corresponds to Collins’ Level 3 leadership. This level suggests that to achieve results, a leader’s focus should be on productivity and driving outcomes. It’s about making things happen, creating a spark to motivating and guiding others towards success.
Level 4: People Development and the Shift to Selflessness
As we ascend further, Maxwell’s People Development and Collins’ Level 4 leadership converge their emphasis on nurturing others. It involves developing individuals into competent, empowered leaders and enabling them to grow along side the organization.
Level 5: Pinnacle Leadership and the Culmination of Excellence
Collins’ Level 5 Leadership finds its counterpart in Maxwell’s pinnacle of leadership, it focuses on legacy and enduring impact for decades to come. It is the combination of unwavering will and humility marked by a pursuit of organizational greatness coupled with an egoless humble demeanor. It’s about lasting impact and leaving behind a legacy that outlives the leader it self.
This fusion of Collin’s Level Level 5 Leadership and Maxwell’s principles creates a paradigm where leadership is not about authority or control but about service, inspiration, and holistic growth. It’s a vision that prioritizes people, fosters a culture of empowerment, and leaves an enduring legacy of compassionate, influential, and effective leadership.
Servant Leadership: A Noble Compass
To me, the fusion of these two frameworks had created a powerful vision of what I think leadership should be in my own accord. It begun with me understanding that essentially effective leadership is not just a mere positional authority but in fact, comes with it the influence and the ability to inspire loyalty and motivation with a lasting impact on individuals and the organizations I served. It requires a commitment to my own personal growth, helping develop others, above all, an unwavering dedication to bring out about the greater good of the organization and it’s purpose. This lead to the birth of my guiding principle and purpose of leadership, Servant Leadership, putting people at the heart of organization growth.
At its core, servant leadership focuses on serving others first, putting people at the center of an organization. This Leadership Model was popularized by Robert K. Greenleaf (What Is Servant Leadership? – Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, n.d.), emphasizes on empathy, collaboration and ehtical use of power.
It gives me a perspective that when someone I lead is succesful at what they are doing, it suggests that I have done my duty and served them well in finding emminence to the work they do. However, if that person fails, then essentially I have failed to provide that individual with the right tools, guidance and knowledge to be succesful, I failed to serve them. It has become a set of principles which I follow which is intrinsically woven into my DNA where every approach I take to any situation is guided by those principles.
It will be my aspiration to lead with a servant’s heart, to listen intently, to empathize deeply, and to serve passionately. By intertwining servant leadership with the wisdom of Collins and Maxwell, I aim to cultivate an environment where every individual feels valued, empowered, and driven to achieve personal emminence and collective greatness. I hope the leadership values and principles I have shared gives you some meaning and perspective of what drives me as Leader my self.
Thank you for reading and wishing you best of luck on your own personal journey to Leadership.
References
What is Servant Leadership? – Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. (n.d.). Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. https://www.greenleaf.org/what-is-servant-leadership/
Cable, D. (2023, March 21). How Humble Leadership Really Works. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/04/how-humble-leadership-really-works
Collins, J. (2001, October 16). Good to Great. HarperBusiness.
Collins, J. (2023, April 4). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2005/07/level-5-leadership-the-triumph-of-humility-and-fierce-resolve
Sirkin, H. L. (2023, June 14). The Hard Side of Change Management. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2005/10/the-hard-side-of-change-management
Fowler, S. (2014, November 26). What Maslow’s Hierarchy Won’t Tell You About Motivation. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/11/what-maslows-hierarchy-wont-tell-you-about-motivation
Maxwell, J. (2016, August 30). The 5 Levels of Leadership – John Maxwell. John Maxwell. https://www.johnmaxwell.com/blog/the-5-levels-of-leadership1/
Meghani, K. (2020, August 12). How to make crisis-led change stick – CMI. CMI. https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-and-insights/blog/make-crisis-led-change-stick/
Jim Collins – Concepts – Level 5 Leadership. (n.d.). https://www.jimcollins.com/concepts/level-five-leadership.html