John C. Maxwell is recognized worldwide as one of the foremost authorities on the subject of Leadership. I qualify that because, while John is an author, speaker, and mentor, there are those who would argue that a particular military, political, or business leader is that authority by stature and experience, perhaps on a battlefield, and I would not argue back. It doesn’t really matter. That said, I will offer that you can pick up any of John’s books on leadership, and there are many best-sellers among them, read a chapter, and apply the lesson immediately in your life. His foundational work “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” , is the primer on what you need to do in order to exhibit leadership at any level. “The 5 Levels of Leadership” guides you on the path of the attributes, behaviors, and values you need to exhibit in order to climb from Positional Leadership, Level 1, to the Pinnacle, Level 5, a Leader who develops others to become Level 4 Leaders. What is required of a Level 1 Leader? Only that you have a position of authority, such as a parent, a boss, a coach. Do all the folks in these positions remain at Level 1? I pray not, but there are some, for sure, who do. Positional Authority requires no moral buy-in. It’s about “I’m the – Fill in the blank” – and you will follow my orders” To become a Level 2 leader does require a shift from “Position” to “Permission”. First, you have to like people and they need to like you. As John quotes in the book “People go along with people they get along with”. Think of it this way. If you’re walking and no one is following you, you’re just out for a walk. This is where it becomes helpful to invest in two resources. The first is “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” in written or Audible formats. The other is training in the science of creating authentic relationships with people who are not like you. Why? It’s inevitable that you will need to lead people who base their decision on whether to “buy-in” to your leadership on completely different values than yours. If you don’t connect with them and establish a working relationship, data indicates you will only have an 18% chance they will follow you vs 82% if you can match your values. Once you have established Level 2 Leadership, you need to keep growing to maintain it and potentially climb to Level 3, which yields Production. As you will learn, leadership operates on a continuum and will require you continuous growth, increased emotional intelligence, and situational awareness. It can take years to build the status of a leader and minutes to destroy it. Which level are you? Well, guess what – you may be at a different level depending on who you are serving at that moment and the roles that you find yourself in. If you are up to the journey I would encourage you to stay tuned to this channel. There will be resources posted here, some free, some with an opportunity to invest, all of the value that will reward the time, energy, and the dollars you invest in yourself.