Leading By Serving
There is so much written on the topic of “Leadership” today that you can get lost in the Leadership section of Barnes and Noble. It seems anyone who has ever led anything, from toddlers in a country church VBS to a Fortune 500 Company, now is an expert on leadership. While I do believe there are great leaders all across this earth serving in both humble contexts and high profile contexts I do not believe just anyone who has led is automatically equipped to be an expert on the subject.
Let the above statements serve as the disclaimer for myself. I do lead but I am not an expert - far from it actually. However, I do enjoy learning from those who have displayed proficiency in the area of leadership or have at least studied the topic at great length.
Two men who fit the discription of both leader and learner are John Maxwell and Jim Collins. John Maxwell has written dozens of books on the topic of leadership and has proven his own leadership skills throughout a life-time of service leading within the church. Jim Collins has grown in fame during the past decade due to his research and writting (Built To Last, Good To Great) on the topic of business performance and leadership startegies within the business world.
During a recent conversation with friends on the topic of leadrship and the work of Collins and Maxwell I found it interesting that their findings are similar in ways but different as well.
In his book, Developing the Leader Within You, Maxwell identifies the Five Levels of Leadership as being Position, Permission, Production, People Developement, and Personhood. The People Developement Level (level 4) is described as “reproduction” when people follow you as a leader because of what you have done for them. The Personhood Level (level 5) is described as “respect” as people follow you as a leader because of who you are and what you represent. Maxwell claims that level 5 leadership is reserved for leaders who have spent years growing people and organizations with very few ever making it to this level.
Interestingly, Jim Collins also identifies the importanct of a Level 5 Leader in his book Good to Great. Collins uses the term Level 5 Executive and describes this leader as someone who builds “enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.”
In some ways I agree with both Maxwell and Collins. Like Maxwell, I also believe that respect of character is perhaps the most important trait of a Level 5 leader. However, my fear is that Maxwell’s description of the Level 5 leader is lacking in humility. While usually someone’s character is not respected if they do not pocess some level of humility we have all witnessed respect given to leaders only because of their longevity and what they represent as a “pillar” of consistancy within the organization. I guess my main issue is the lack of mention of humility and service. Maxwell’s Level 4 leader I feel fits more closely with Collins’ findings.
I appreciate Collins’ findings summed up in his equation…
HUMILIY + WILL = LEVEL 5 LEADERSHIP
This equation can of course be best observed in the person and leadership skill of Jesus Christ. We must not confuse humility with weakness. Jesus led with humility, He served those He loved and led and through His service displayed the traits of His “updsidedown Kingdom”. Jesus was not weak, He was (and is) confident in His role as the Son of the most high God and the Saviour sent to our sorry world. The early followers of Jesus no doubt followed Him because they discovered who He was and what He represented. However, few discovered who Jesus was and what He represented apart from His service. As Jesus served by healing, listening to, washing, praying for His people they discovered who He was and what He represented.
Maxwell and Collins would no doubt agree that Level 5 Leadership is both repsect and service, character and humility. I believe we can only serve as leaders when we know who we are and who we represent…
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