Leadership should always be about others, not about the leader. That’s true at every level, and it’s especially important on Level 5, because having people follow out of deep respect is the height of leadership. Pinnacle leaders have a lot of horsepower, and they need to make good use of it while they’re on top to do more than help themselves. Here are my suggestions.
1. Make Room for Others at the Top
Most leaders make it their goal to cultivate followers. But gathering followers doesn’t create room for other leaders. As a Pinnacle leader, you must create that room and do so by developing leaders. If you do that continually and promote good leaders whenever you can, you create a cycle of positive change in the organization that creates room for leaders.
That may seem counterintuitive. Wouldn’t having more leaders create less room? No. And here’s why: when you develop a leader who develops other leaders, you create more room at the top because you increase the size and power of the entire organization. Every time you develop good leaders and help find a place for them to lead and make an impact, they gather more good people to them. As a result, the organization grows (along with its potential) and it needs more good leaders. This process creates a cycle of expansion and a kind of momentum toward the top for other leaders, which helps to propel the organization forward.
Take a look at your organizational chart. Are there places available for talented leaders who desire to move up? Take a look at the leaders who are near the top of the chart. Of what caliber are they? How long have they been with the organization? How long are they likely to stay? Are they so firmly entrenched that the talented leaders below them in the organization have little hope of advancing? If there are no openings and the leaders you have aren’t going anywhere, then there is no room at the top for other potential leaders. How can you create some? What new challenges can you give your existing top leaders to open up their current positions to others? What kinds of expansion or types of initiatives could your organization tackle that would require additional leaders?
If you don’t create room at the top for developing leaders, you will waste much of your potential horsepower, and you will eventually start to lose your up-and-coming talent.
2. Continually Mentor Potential
Level 5 Leaders
I’ve been teaching and writing on the subject of leadership for three and a half decades, and in that time I’ve had the privilege of working with a lot of organizations. Each of them has been unique, with questions, needs, and conditions unlike any other. However, all of them have had one thing in common. They needed more and better leaders! Not once has anyone in an organization said, “We have too many leaders. And the ones we have are better than we want. Can you help us get rid of some?”
No matter what your leadership potential may be, you should strive to work your way up to Level 4 so that you can invest in others. But if you reach Level 5, you have a much greater responsibility. Leaders with high potential will only follow leaders who are ahead of them—in ability, experience, or both. For that reason, Pinnacle leaders cannot delegate the leadership development process of potential leaders to others who are less talented than those being mentored. It simply doesn’t work. If there are potential Level 4 or Level 5 leaders in your organization and you’re a Level 5 leader, you must dedicate the time and effort to mentoring them. Otherwise they will go elsewhere to find a Level 5 leader who is willing to do it. The best potential leaders will not remain in the organization unless you go to them where they are, extend your hand, and help them to climb up to your level.
3. Create an Inner Circle That Will
Keep You Grounded
The Law of the Inner Circle says that those closest to leaders determine their potential. When leaders reach Level 4, their inner circle makes them better. Inner circle members help leaders take their organization to a higher level. That’s still true on Level 5, but the inner circle must also fulfill another function: it must keep the leader grounded. A good inner circle can help leaders on the Pinnacle level to avoid the pitfall of believing their own press, which I mentioned earlier.
Inner circle members allow leaders to be themselves, but will also tell them the truth about themselves. Here is what I ask my inner circle to do:
The people in my inner circle give me these things, and in return I give them my loyalty, love, and protection; I reward them financially; I develop them in leadership; I give them opportunities; and I share my blessings.
Having a strong inner circle will keep the journey enjoyable, prevent loneliness, and keep leaders from developing hubris. And here’s the good news. The people in your inner circle can become your favorite people—like family.
4. Do Things for the Organization That Only
Level 5 Leaders Can Do
Being on Level 5 allows a leader to see and do things that cannot be done from any other place in leadership. Some of those things are obvious. If you’re the top leader in your organization, you need to guide it. You need to be a good model to everyone in the organization by valuing people, continuing to grow, practicing the golden rule, being authentic, exhibiting good values, and living out the right priorities.
Other things may be less obvious and very specific to your situation and organization. You may be able to create a groundbreaking product or service. You may be able to champion a value or cause that no one else could as effectively. You may be able to help people improve their lives. You may be able to impact your community in a unique way. You may have relationships with people who can help you to do something important. All the work you’ve done and all the influence you’ve gained over the years just might be in your hands so that you can do something bigger with it. You have to keep your eyes, ears, and heart open to the possibilities. The success you have hasn’t been given to you for only yourself. Level 5 leaders have a platform from which they can lead and persuade. Whenever possible, use it to pass on those things that have helped you. Leadership is influence. Leverage it to add value to others.
Leaving a successor is the last great gift a leader can give an organization. Leadership transition difficulties are far too common, and, like the passing of the baton in a relay race, a leadership transition must be planned and executed well. Success is dependent upon the leader with the baton handing it off to the next leader when both of them are running at maximum speed. True leaders put ego aside and strive to create successors who go beyond them. And they plan to hand off the baton of leadership when they are still running at their peak. If a leader has already begun to slow down, the baton is being handed off too late. No leader should hurt the organization’s momentum by staying too long just for his or her own gratification. The number one problem in organizations led by Level 5 leaders is that they stay too long. So if you’re a Level 5 leader who runs an organization, plan your succession and leave before you feel you have to.
6. Leave a Positive Legacy
One of the keys to arriving at the end of our lives without regret is doing the work of creating a lasting legacy. If you are a Level 5 leader, I want to encourage you to use the influence you have now to create a better world. How? First, recognize that what you do daily, over time, becomes your legacy. Whether it’s spending quality time with your family every day, saving money and investing every month, or speaking kind and encouraging words to others each day—these actions result in a legacy of positive impact.
Second, decide now what you want your legacy to be. How do you want to be remembered? What would you like people to say about you at your funeral? Do you have a vision for the positive impact you want to leave behind you? Do you know what you can invest in potential leaders who will want to help you build it?
Finally, understand that a legacy is the sum of your whole life, not just snippets. If you have failed, that’s okay. Has your life taken a path that is less than ideal? Put it behind you. Set off in the right direction and begin to change the way you live starting today. Fulfill your mission and vision for your life. Do it now before it is too late to change.
Don’t let yourself get to the final days of your life wondering what could have been. Decide today what your life will be, and then take action each and every day to live your dreams and leave your legacy!