Level Up, Week 7: The Pinnacle
Welcome to Week 7 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership. This week we’re studying Level 5, The Pinnacle.
The difficulty with teaching this level is that Level 5 leaders are just not very common. Until now, you’ve spent your time nudging group members to reach for the level being discussed. But to reach Level 5, a leader needs to be developing leaders – and not just leaders but Level 4 leaders – for many years. Most people leading groups won’t have a Level 5 leader in them.
You can still discuss this level, though, by meeting your people where they are. What you need to focus on is how well they are developing leaders right now, and getting them to commit to the process as a way of life.
READING ASSIGNMENT
Portrait of a Level 5 Leader, pages 271-286 (We will discuss this reading assignment and the overall impact of this study in NEXT WEEK’s post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide)
1. (Icebreaker) tell about a time when you met a celebrity who was important to you.
2. Have you ever known a Level 5 leader? What was that person like?
3. What’s the difference between helping others with personal development versus helping them with leadership development?
4. What have you found to be the best way to teach another person to lead?
5. Describe a crucible moment in your leadership journey. What lesson did you learn from it?
6. How would you go about teaching that lesson to another person?
7. Of all the people you work with, who has the greatest leadership potential?
8. What experiences, resources, and people can you share with those potential leades to help them become better leaders?
9. Do you think there’s plenty of room at the top for addition leaders, or do you believe that space is always limited? Why? How does that impact the way you develop other leaders?
10. What efforts have you made to create an inner circle to help you grow and keep yourself grounded?
11. The chapter says to plan for your succession. Are you currently training someone to replace you? If so, how? If not, what must you do to make that happen?
ASSIGNMENT
Take responsibility for creating a leadership development environment. Dedicate significant amounts of your time and talent to it. Recognize and reward leadership accomplishments. And make it your responsibility to mentor your top leaders. This is a commitment required not just for a season, but for a lifetime if you want to someday reach Level 5.
