Level 5 Leadership – In Action

We have been hearing about Level 5 Leadership since Jim Collins’ book Good to Great became popular over 5 years ago.  While the term is used regularly, it is often misunderstood.  This creates situations where leaders may spend energy developing themselves and others in ways that do not produce desired results. 

We can now measure leadership development levels, including Level 5, with a high degree of statistical reliability and create successful programs to attract it, develop it, and retain it.

The levels we see most often in a business setting range from Level 3 through Level 5.  There are transitional levels such as Expert 3/4 referenced below. There are also two levels above “Level 5” that appear in less than 1% of business leaders.

Why do we care about leadership development levels?
Leadership development levels are helpful in identifying an individual’s abilities as a leader.  Research indicates leaders testing at Level 5 are more likely to successfully navigate our current dynamic environment.  Given the amount of time and money organizations spend on transformations, companies can save considerable resources by hiring and developing this type of leadership. 

How does Level 5 Leadership impact success?
One influential research study conducted by Torbert and Rooke looked at significant change projects in ten organizations; half were led by a CEO measuring at Level 5 while the other CEO’s tested below that level.  The five organizations led by a Level 5 CEO experienced 15 successful significant transformations.  The organizations led by CEO’s testing below Level 5 experienced 0 successful significant transformations. 

While the Torbert and Rooke study looked at the impact of the CEO’s developmental level, they also considered the impact of having at least one person on the leadership team or in an advisory role that tested at Level 5.  They found that in organizations where the CEO had Level 5 support, success was more likely as long as the Level 5 individual was in a position of influence.

Individuals testing at earlier levels are not as likely to have the capability to transform an organization as those at later levels.  The following table illustrates some descriptions of behavioral differences between leadership levels, Level 4 and Level 5:

There is also a bridge level between Levels 4 and 5.

What Can You Do?

Individuals and organizations have several options available including:

• Take the Mature Adult Profile (MAP) developmental assessment, a series of 36 sentence stems to be completed by the leader being assessed.  It is the most rigorously validated, reliable and advanced assessment tool to assess adult leadership developmental level.  It is administered by certified consultants and scored by either Susann Cook Greuter, the creator of the assessment or one of her certified scorers. 
  
  
• Receive individual or team coaching by coaches familiar with the developmental framework and who test at a level higher than the person being coached.
  
  
• Assess organization’s ability to grow, support, and retain “Level 5 leaders” – using an organizational assessment tools and interviews that takes into account the developmental level of current leaders, the culture, and the systems and processes that will enable people to grow and thrive or hamper their development and encourage them to seek opportunities elsewhere.  Assessments are generally tailored to the organization based on size, complexity, and specific organizational needs.
  
• Interview new leaders using general Level 5 questions.  These questions will be tailored to accompany existing interview questions and tend to ask the candidate to recount incidents where they faced a complex problem – seeking information about how they responded, who they involved, what they learned, their reflection process, and if they changed or grew their skills in some way based on the complex problem.
  
  
• Customize leadership development program(s) for current and high potential leaders.  These programs will be tailored to fit within the existing organizational systems and leadership development processes.  Leaders grow over a period of time so these programs could include monthly education, ongoing coaching, team projects with cohorts of people within the organization.  Using this model, leaders will develop not only along the developmental scale, they will also expand their basic leadership skills, expand knowledge of the company operations, and solve problems for the company with the guidance of an instructor who may be functioning at Level 5.  It is important to note that not all leaders will ever develop to Level 5 – NOR DO THEY NEED TO.  For the organization to be effective, they benefit from some Level 5 Leaders positioned strategically and other leaders who understand how to work well with these Level 5 leaders.
  
• Hire (Rent) consultants tested at Level 5 to augment your leadership team.  The quickest way to find these consultants who are testing at “Level 5/Strategist” is to work with a consultant firm who uses the MAP to assess their consultants.  This is an emerging concept that I hope grows over time.  Cook-Greuter & Associates provides the MAP assessment and has a group of practitioners certified to administer and provide feedback.  As you are making your selection, please remember – developmental level alone does not make a great consultant or coach.  This is only one criteria among many to consider when augmenting your leadership team – just as you would consider other criteria when hiring employees.

Conclusion

While Level 5 Leadership will not solve all of your organizational problems, it is a key component supporting organizational transformation.  With access to Level 5 leaders, the likelihood of successfully delivering results increases dramatically.