adminleadership” in order to achieve organisational success.
He said organisations grow in direct proportion to the level of growth in their leaders.
Dr Maxwell was speaking at the Leadership Summit 2011 in Harare on Monday, elaborating on his popular work, “The 5 levels of Leadership”.’
Although highlighting that the positional leadership level was a good starting point, he warned that most leaders failed because they tend to remain at that level.
“The majority of leaders start at the positional level when they are appointed into positions, but they rarely realise that this is the lowest leadership position because at this stage the followers tend to give the least minimum effort necessary.
“Organisational success comes when there is a high level of commitment,” he said.
According to Dr Maxwell’s 5 levels of leadership, the effective leader should naturally progress from the positional level, to the permission level, in which the leader establishes positive relationships with those being led.
At this stage, the leader appreciates the human resource as the organisation’s greatest asset.
At the third level (the production level), results are key, and the leader is expected to lead by example.
“Culture is important in organisations because it determines the behaviour of the organisation and as such leaders should show the way. More often than not people do what they see, rather than what they are told to do,” said Dr Maxwell.
He added that it was critical for leaders to produce results because this acts as a way to attract the best skills for the organisation.
Dr Maxwell, however, believes that the fourth level – the reproduction level of leadership – is arguably the most critical because at this stage is able to develop young leaders for the future, which starts with recruiting the right people for the job.
“Key to recruiting people is to know what you are looking for. If you do not know what you are looking for, you will not know if you find it or if you don’t,” he said.
The final level entails equipping the upcoming generation with the right skills.
He, however, hastened to add that leadership growth was not an event, but rather a process.
Dr Maxwell is an internationally recognised leadership expert, speaker, coach and author who has sold over 19 million books.
He is the founder of EQUIP and The John Maxwell Company, organisations that have trained more than five million leaders worldwide.
Every year Dr Maxwell speaks to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders and organisations as diverse as the United States Military Academy at West
Point, the National Football League and the United Nations.
Online Reporter