Leadership Essay

Leadership Essay

The first thing that Mr. Maxwell put emphasis on was that leadership is not a noun, it is a verb. I thought that was an important fact to start with because you have to understand leadership is not a tangible thing, it is an action word. Meaning that people who possess leadership act on high ethical standards, and also live accordingly. His thesis could have been (and I guess mine will be) that understanding leadership can improve organization and more importantly expand effectiveness.

Level 1. The Positional Level. We all start out somewhere and are given a title. Whether it be cashier or bagger it doesn’t matter. The key word here is rights. People at level one follow because they have to. It’s the beginning of all leadership journeys. The up-side of level one is simple, it’s a place where leadership can be molded and defined. The down side is that the people who follow you will give you the least amount of energy and effort. Such as the workers you see in fast food restaurants who meet to have a bad attitude the whole time you order. If they follow you because they have to, they will always give you the least of their ability. “People don’t like to follow people because they have to follow people.” They will follow you ultimately, but it’s only because they have to; it’s the only way they will get paid.

Level one leadership culture or positional companies will exhibit low inhibition out of their employees, and very high enthusiasm for five o’clock. Only reason people follow the managers at these companies is because they have the title “manager”. MacDonald’s and many car washes would be good examples of this kind of Level 1 leadership.

Level 2. Permission Level. The key word is relationships. People now begin to follow you, not because they have to, but because they want to. There is a big difference there. What has happen between the first two levels? You have connected with your people. In addition, you have gotten to know each other and learned to get along. So now, in this work place employees are not only following you because you are a supervisor, but because you are a supervisor that people like. The only example I could think of in my life of Level two leadership, was when I quit playing baseball for my high school team and began to play and love volleyball instead. The volleyball coaches were so much more enjoyable to be around than the baseball coaches that it made me want to be at practice and get better.

Relationships with people are the foundation of leadership. You can build up from good relationships. Because leadership is influence, and you cannot influence someone with whom you do not get along. It’s like seeing someone you don’t want to see in public, and then they ask you a favor. The leader on level two does three things extremely well. One is they listen well. Secondly, they observe. They are