It is said that there is the difference between a leader and a great leader. With what we know about leadership and even when we can put what we learn into implementation, they can help us to become a leader, a good leader. However, if that day comes, If we’re in a leadership role, then we’ve likely wondered how you can move to that "next level," going from good to great leadership.

We all know by now ‘good is not enough’ and in fact ‘good is the enemy of great’. Greatness is not about who we think we are, it comes from what we do. If we have great potential, but we do nothing with it we remain unknown, the only greatness we may experience is the thoughts in our minds of what could have been.
Who knows, we may not achieve greatness at our first attempt, nor our second, but we will never achieve it if we do not try.
Greatness is a choice, and choosing not to try is the same as choosing not to be great!
So why not make today the day that you choose to be great, the day that you start yourself on the road to greatness. Sure you may slip and stumble along the way, but these are just learning opportunities.

Let's start with the description of a Level 5 Leadership.

This is the fact which is proven that the key to an organization becoming great is having a Level 5 leader, not just only having leaders.
But what makes leaders great? Is it their courage? Their business acumen? Their expert knowledge? Their ability to organize?
They are someone who blends genuine personal humility with intense professional will.
Truly great leaders have a specific blend of skills. But they also possess something else; certain characteristics which are harder to define.

In order to going from good to great, we need to understand What is the leadership hierarchy and how to approach level 5 leadership play in this hierarchy

The level 5 hierarchy

It is the highest level in a hierarchy of leadership capabilities
Leaders at the other four levels in the hierarchy can produce high levels of success but not enough to elevate organizations from mediocrity to sustained excellence
Good-to-great transformations don’t happen without level 5 leadership
Level 5 is not the only requirement for transforming a good organization into great one.
We do not need to move sequentially through each level of hierarchy to reach the top. But to be a fully-fledged Level 5, we need the capabilities of all the lower levels to handle with different situation and with different leaders that you may have by knowing where they are at so that you can move them up.

So let look at the leadership hierarchy, understanding a certain characteristic at each level to find out where we are at and where we need to go next.

This is the lowest level of leadership—the entry level. People who make it only to Level 1 may be bosses, but they are never leaders. They have subordinates, not team members.

They rely on rules, regulations, policies, and organization charts to control their people. Their people will only follow them within the stated boundaries of their authority.

Example: You can tell a level 1 leadership company or culture or yourself and people you are leading in this level 1 by looking at their approach when going to and leaving work. First is when they are going to work, in oversea, they drive to work, and you can mostly indicate the level 1 leader through their parking. Instead of driving straight into the parking lot, they back the car and slowly, carefully revert the car into parking lot. For here, we may not look at their parking way but maybe about what they do at first when they arrive office, at 9am, you just say hi with them at the door, go in, drop your bag, turn on your computer, and the next things you know when you stand up, look around, the office is still empty, but you can find them in restroom to start to do the grooming or at the coffee shop next door to have their breakfast. Simply because they, by themselves have neither had nothing to do until you appoint them not motivation and purpose of what they are doing. Other example, in level 1 leader type company, let say the quitting time is at 6pm, guess what at 5.30, everybody is clearing their desk, they are moving stuff out of their way, because it is only 30 minutes until the highlight of their day, and they are counting down, so they start to clear things because they want nothing but in speed when they leave. And at 5.45, they start to get away from their desk and go to different cubicles and they’re saying their good bye, and they say what’s great to be with you today and have a good time and see you tomorrow. They do all these kind of stuff is because at 6pm is their big time and they don’t want to encumbered with doing the team building relationship stuff. They want to do that on the company time. At 5.50, they are going to the restroom, of course you want to pee in company tim … at 5.55, they are back their desk and start to change their shoes. because at 5.57 they are they are on track, they are in ready position and start counting down … and 6 sharp … they are all gone … You look around and they are all gone. In fact they go so fast that they startle you, how come they go so fast.

Position is the only level that does not require ability and effort to achieve. Anyone can be appointed to a position. This means that position is a fine starting point, but every leader should aspire to grow beyond Level 1.


Level 2 Contributing Team Member Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting. At this level, they get Permission from people you work with.
Making the shift from Position to Permission brings a person’s first real step into leadership. Leadership is influence, and when a leader learns to function on the Permission level, everything changes. People do more than merely comply with orders. They actually start to follow. And they do so because they really want to. Why? Because the leader begins to influence people with relationship, not just position.
When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. And that can change the entire working environment. The old saying is really true: people go along with leaders they get along with.
The Difference here is that you have a connection with people. It is tough to be in people business but people not like you

Level 3 Competent Manager Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. They create Production and the Performance to gain the credit from people in organization.
Production qualifies and separates true leaders from people who merely occupy leadership positions. Good leaders always make things happen. They get results. They can make a significant impact on an organization. Not only are they productive individually, but they also are able to help the team produce. No one can fake Level 3. Either you’re producing for the organization and adding to its bottom line (whatever that may be), or you’re not.
Some people never move up from Level 2 Permission to Level 3 Production. Why? They can’t seem to produce results. When that is the case, it’s usually because they lack the self-discipline, work ethic, organization, or skills to be productive. However, if you desire to go to higher levels of leadership, you simply have to produce. There is no other way around it.

Level 4 Effective Leader Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards
On Level 3, the emphasis is on personal and corporate productivity. The ability to create a high-productivity team, department, or organization indicates a higher level of leadership ability than most others display. But to reach the upper levels of leadership that create elite organizations, leaders must transition from producers to developers. Why? Because people are any organization’s most appreciable asset.
Good leaders on Level 4 invest their time, energy, money, and thinking into growing others as leaders. How does this emphasis on people and people decisions translate into action? Leaders on the People Development level of leadership shift their focus from the production achieved by others to the development of their potential. And they put only 20 percent of their focus on their personal productivity while putting 80 percent of it on developing and leading others. This can be a difficult shift for highly productive people who are used to getting their hands dirty, but it’s a change that can revolutionize an organization and give it a much brighter future.

Level 5 The Pinnacle - Executive Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will
Rare is the leader who reaches Level 5—the Pinnacle. Not only is leadership at this level a culmination of leading well on the other four levels, but it also requires both a high degree of skill and some amount of natural leadership ability. It takes a lot to be able to develop other leaders so that they reach Level 4; that’s what Level 5 leaders do. The individuals who reach Level 5 lead so well for so long that they create a legacy of leadership in the organization they serve.
Pinnacle leaders stand out from everyone else. They are a cut above, and they seem to bring success with them wherever they go. Leadership at this high level lifts the entire organization and creates an environment that benefits everyone in it, contributing to their success. Level 5 leaders often possess an influence that transcends the organization and the industry the leader works in.
Most leaders who reach the Pinnacle do so later in their careers. But this level is not a resting place for leaders to stop and view their success. It is a reproducing place from which they make the greatest impact of their lives. That’s why leaders who reach the Pinnacle should make the most of it while they can. With gratitude and humility, they should lift up as many leaders as they can, tackle as many great challenges as possible, and extend their influence to make a positive difference beyond their own organization and industry.
That is much about the leadership hierarchy. Now let zoom in what make the level 5 leader in details.

Like we mentions, Level 5 Leader is not only about walking their way to the pinnacle but is the blend of difference counter-intuitive to Counter-cultural – people generally assume that transforming from good to great organizations requires charismatic, larger- than-life leaders

Level 5 leadership is an essential factor for taking an organization from good to great, but it’s not the only one

There are other “drivers”, combined with Level 5 - the combined package which takes the organization beyond unremarkable
The drivers are:

First Who
Good-to-great leaders start with people first and then deal with vision and strategy second
This is where you apply the say ‘There are going to be times when we can’t wait for somebody. Now, you’re either on the bus or off the bus’.
They get the right people on the bus, Move the wrong people off. Usher the right people to the right seats, before Determine where to drive it

WHY?
If you begin with “who” rather than “what” you can more easily adapt to a changing world.
If you have the right folks on the bus, the problem on how to motivate & manage people largely goes away.
If you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction, you still won’t have a great organization. Great vision without great people is irrelevant.

If you are thinking on getting folks on/off the bus … then make it absolutely clear that there would only be seats for A players who were willing to put forth an A+ effort, and if you weren’t up for it, you had better get off the bus, and get off now.

Rigorous, Not ruthless.
To be rigorous means consistently applying exacting standards at all times and at all levels, especially in upper management. To be rigorous, not ruthless, means that the best people need not worry about their positions and can concentrate fully on their work.
To let people languish in uncertainty for months or years when in the end they aren’t going to make it anyway—that is ruthless. To deal with it right up front and let people get on with their lives—that is rigorous.
When in doubt, don’t hire – keep looking! When you know you need to make a people change – act: The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you’ve made a hiring mistake. The best people don’t need to be managed. Guided, taught, led—yes. But not tightly managed.

Good-to-great leaders held both disciplines – faith and facts – at the same time, all the time.
They confront the brutal facts, yet never lose faith Your job is to turn over rocks and look at the squiggly things, even if what you see can scare you!
Attitude: We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail.
How to confront the Brutal Facts:
Lead with questions, not answers – Humble Enquiries
Put more questions to board members than they put to you
Raise questions for one reason only: to gain understanding (not manipulation)
Engage in dialogue and debate, not coercion.
Good-to-great companies have a penchant for intense dialogue
Conduct autopsies, without blame.
No finger-pointing.
Build red-flag mechanisms. – Find opportunities
Good-to-great companies don’t have better information, necessarily. The key is turning information into info that can’t be ignored.

“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are scattered or diffused, moving on many levels.
Hedgehogs simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything.
For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance.

The hedgehog-like understanding three intersecting circles: what best ignites the passions of its people / what an organization can be best in the world at / how its economics work best

You can be passionate about all you want, but if you can’t be the best at it or if it doesn’t make economic sense, then you might have a lot of fun, but you won’t get great results.
If we can’t be the best at it, then why are we doing it at all?
A Hedgehog Concept is not a goal to be the best, a strategy to be the best, an intention to be the best, a plan to be the best. It is an understanding of what you can be the best at.


Technology Accelerator
Good-to-great organizations have a paradoxical relationship with technology
On the one hand they avoid jumping on new technology bandwagons
On the other they pioneer the application of carefully selected technologies, making bold farsighted investments directly linked to their hedgehog concept
Like turbochargers, these technology accelerators create an explosion in flywheel momentum

Buildup-Breakthrough the Flywheel
Good-to-great transformations do not happen overnight or in one big leap
Rather, it starts one movement at a time, gradually building up momentum, till there is a breakthrough
Mediocre organizations never sustained the breakthrough momentum but instead lurch back and forth with radical change programmes, reactionary moves and restructuring
Flywheel transitions look like dramaticm revolutionary breakthroughs from the outside (when the wheel is fully turning).
From the inside they feel completely different, more like an organic development process.
Avoid the doom loop – the difference between flywheel & doom loop
(in)consistency
(non)confrontal
(un)disciplined
(un)motivated (self)
(talk)results

Good-to-great organizations have three forms of discipline
Disciplined people – you don’t need
Disciplined thought – you don’t need bureaucracy
Disciplined action – you don’t need
Disciplined action – you don’t need excessive controls

Combining a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship results in great performance

Level 5 Leaders are humble people. So, learn why humility is important, and make sure that you understand – at a deep, emotional level – why arrogance is so destructive.
Then ensure that you behave in a humble way – for example, whenever your team has success, make sure that credit goes to them for their hard work.


Besides extreme humility, Level 5 leaders also display tremendous professional will
They possess inspired standards, cannot stand mediocrity in any form, and utterly intolerant of anyone who accept the idea that good is good enough

Level 5 leaders have ambition not for themselves but for their organizations
They routinely select superb successors
They want to see their organizations become even more successful in the next generation
Comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know that the roots of that success trace back to them
Level 4 leaders often fail to set up the organization for enduring success – what better way to demonstrate your personal greatness than that the place falls apart after you leave
They want to see their organizations become even more successful in the next generation
Comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know that the roots of that success trace back to them
Level 4 leaders often fail to set up the organization for enduring success – what better way to demonstrate your personal greatness than that the place falls apart after you leave


Level 5 leaders, inherently humble, look out the window to apportion credit – even undue credit – to factors outside themselves
If they cannot find a specific event or person to give credit to, they credit good luck

At the same time, they look in the mirror to assign responsibility, never citing bad luck for external factors when things go poorly
Compare this with leaders who look out the window for factors to blame but preened in the mirror to credit themselves when things go well

A key component inside the black box of what it takes to shift an organization from good to great
Inside this black box is another – the inner development of a person to Level 5 leadership
A very satisfying idea, a truthful idea, a powerful idea, and to make the move from good to great, very likely an essential idea
“For like all basic truths about what is best in human beings, when we catch a glimpse of that truth, we know that our own lives and all that we touch will be better for making the effort to get there.”