During an extensive research to discover the type of leadership required to turn a good organization into a great one, Jim Collins coined a new term in the philosophy of leadership -- `Level 5 Leadership'. A Level 5 Leader is a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. Level 5 leadership is a study in duality -- modest and wilful, shy and fearless. This article is basically drawn from Jim Collin's work, Good to Great -- Why Some Companies Make the Leapand others Don't. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results.
Leaders, who have a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will, can transform a good enterprise to a great one. Leaders with unwavering faith and will power prevail till the end. They have the courage to face the brutal facts of reality. With this unshattering will of theirs and the discipline, they achieve great heights. With the blend of a culture of discipline and an ethic of leadership, a magical alchemy of great performance can be achieved. "You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit."
The great leaders are not overwhelmed by the ego, which is ever present to quench the thirst of their being recognized as great. Rather they create a stunning transformation with the leadership qualities of theirs that carry no airs of self--importance. They are team members, working within a team, but not making the team to work for them. These leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and divert the same into the larger goal of building a great organization. They have ambition to produce great results for their organization. They are known as Level 5 Leaders. |
