Â
Leadership is influence and influence must be built through trust, not title. One of the most persistent myths is the idea that leadership stems solely from a person’s title or level of authority. The truth is that genuine leadership has little to do with org charts or position power. Real leadership is relational and fluid. It flows from the depth of relationships and trust a leader cultivates with their people.
If you have been in the workforce for long, you have likely witnessed people in management positions who wielded significant authority due to their title – yet they utterly failed to rally their teams. They may deliver results through command and control, but their people have a foot out the door. These are the leaders who experience high turnover in the teams they lead.
Similarly, we’ve all observed individuals with no title or rank who inspired masses through the strength of their ideas, their conviction, and their relationships. People want to be a part of their team. What distinguishes a leader who creates lasting impact from one who is simply obeyed? It’s the relationships they build and the investment they make into others.
If you haven’t read John C. Maxwell’s book ‘Developing the Leader Within You’ you are missing a critical resource. John Maxwell is widely recognized for his expertise in leadership. If you want to grow your influence, and therefore grow your leadership, this book is for you. In this book, the author outlines the five levels of leadership: Position, Permission, Production, People Development, and Personhood. Each level is a step of progression the leader can establish with another person to build influence with that person. Here is a summary of what you will learn and why influence matters more than title in leadership.
Leading through Position
The Position level of influence is entry level. It’s where influence begins in the context of each new relationship. The leader operates solely on the authority and rights granted by their job title, position, or rank in relationship to the other person. This affords a baseline influence, but it is fragile as people will only follow directives out of obligation, not inspiration. Team members will listen to and follow directives primarily out of contractual obligation as employees. There may be a degree of professional respect given initially based on the leader's credentials and position. However, the influence here is quite limited and fragile.
People will typically only comply with the leader's requests at the Position level for as long as they feel they must out of formal company policy or hierarchy. There is little psychological buy-in, trust or inspirational motivation to fuel discretionary effort beyond the bare minimum required.
Leaders who remain stuck at the Position level of influence often struggle with employee engagement, turnover, and resistance to change. Their influence only goes as far as their position allows rather than inspiring people's long-term commitment. This is why progressing to higher levels of relationship-based influence is so critical.
While the Position level serves as the starting point for a leader to operate within a new organization or relationship, it represents the most superficial form of influence. To gain more profound and lasting leadership impact, the leader must move beyond just relying on positional power. They must shift from just having assigned authority to building trusted credibility in the eyes of followers.
Leading through Permission
True leadership influence begins at the Permission level, where rapport and trust are established through consistency, integrity and getting to know people as individuals. Once teammates grant you permission to lead them, real buy-in becomes possible.
The Permission level hinges on the leader's ability to build rapport and develop real relationships with their team members. This involves actively earning people's trust through consistent actions and getting to know folks as individuals, not just employees.
Earning trust is established by key behaviors, including keeping promises whether big or small. The leader must develop a record of following through on their commitments. Missed deadlines, broken words, and lapses in accountability will quickly erode a team's willingness to grant their leader influence.
Leaders must demonstrate authenticity rather than putting on an authority-invested act. Being transparent about failures, vulnerabilities, and reasons behind decisions allows people to connect with the person, not just the role.
To truly know people, a leader must practice listening actively, without judgment. Leaders should spend more time understanding team members' perspectives, aspirations, and needs rather than always playing the directive role.
Leaders must visibly support and advocate for their team. Feeling like their leader has their best interests in mind matters immensely for building trust. And leaders should look for common ground, shared interests, experiences, and principles with everyone in the team. It helps humanize the leader-team relationship. It reminds everyone that titles and roles are temporary contexts.
By consistently displaying character worthy of trusted influence through their everyday actions and interactions, leaders give people reasons to grant them permission to lead beyond just their position's authority.
This is a crucial transition point for leaders. Those who cannot gain relational authority at the Permission level will perpetually struggle with team commitment and resistance. Leaders must take the time to make real connections and prove their credibility is about more than just a title.
A leader should never stop reinforcing trust with the team but should continue to be consistent in investing time with their team, practicing active listening, sharing reasons behind decisions, vulnerabilities, etc. to maintain trust and permission influence.
Leading through Production
The Production level is a critical inflection point for leaders in building more profound influence with their teams. At this stage, the leader moves beyond just having permission and trust to being followed based on their tangible results and productivity. Leaders can establish this level of influence by delivering on expectations, doing what they say they will do. They must demonstrate consistently strong performance in their own role. They must live up to the elevated expectations placed on them by exceeding goals, resolving issues, and driving key initiatives forward. This proves their individual competence worthy of being emulated.
To move the team into a production level of influence, the leader must make team success a top priority. The leader's efforts cannot be self-serving or achieved at the expense of the team. Their results must directly benefit the whole group's efforts through collaboration, removal of barriers, and securing needed resources. The leader prioritizes team accomplishments over personal gains.
The Production-level leader also displays skills in bringing out the best from everyone on the team through role assignment, coaching, and collaborative execution. They show mastery in capitalizing on the group's collective talents for maximum output. As results get achieved, effective leaders take every opportunity to celebrate team accomplishments, distribute credit widely, and make collaborators feel valued. They perpetuate a high-achievement culture.
Leaders move to the Production level when they model the precise attitudes and behaviors they expect from their teams. They set the pace through their energy, innovation, and diligent work ethic. Team members see the leader's production as the standard to strive toward.
When a leader consistently delivers results in a way that uplifts the whole team, their influence expands dramatically. People aren't just following an authority figure - they are actively getting behind someone who has proven their competence and genuine commitment to group success. This production-based credibility significantly strengthens leadership influence.
Leading through People Development
The People Development level represents a major evolution in a leader's sphere of influence. At this stage, the leader's impact extends far beyond just directing workflow and achieving team results. Their influence becomes aligned with nurturing the long-term growth and success of everyone on their team. Here are some keys leaders use to build influence at the People Development level.
People Development leaders take an active role in mentoring and coaching their team members to reach their full potential. They provide constructive feedback, identify strengths/weaknesses, and help map out developmental plans tailored to each person's aspirations. Their influence stems from a desire to see everyone succeed.
These leaders purposefully find or design stretch assignments, training opportunities, and job enrichment that challenges teammates to expand their skills and take on more responsibility over time. They actively make others better by investing in their professional growth.
What separates People Development influence from just skills training is the leader's personal stake in team members' personal wellbeing and life journeys outside of work. These leaders forge deeper connections by actively caring about the whole person.
At the highest level, People Development leaders view part of their role as identifying and developing their own potential successors. They identify who they will tag to hand the baton. They take satisfaction in knowing their influence will live on by building up the next generation of leaders around them.
The biggest differentiator of this level of leadership is a mindset shift from pursuing self-focused achievements to focusing on the positive leave-behinds and legacy that will result from developing others. The influence aim becomes larger than any single role or team.
When team members can sense and experience their leader's profound commitment to their growth as complete people, it inspires an incredibly strong bond of loyalty and shared purpose. The enthusiastic commitment becomes less about just "delivering results for the boss" and more about not wanting to let down someone who believes in their highest potential. This gravitational pull of transformational leadership is incredibly influential.
Leading through Personhood
The Personhood level represents the highest plane of leadership influence according to John Maxwell's model. At this stage, a leader's impact, and ability to rally people transcends any organizational position, role, or context. Their influence stems from truly embodying admirable character principles and an unwavering commitment to helping others succeed.
Personhood leaders have achieved an influence that flows from their fundamental personhood - who they are at their core as human beings. They walk with integrity, model essential values like humility and courage, and their actions authentically align with their philosophies. People are drawn to follow the truth of their character.
These leaders also leverage influence through the wisdom, insight, and perspective they've accumulated through years of varied experience - both successes and failures. Their judgment and vision grant them a gravitational pull based on proven prudence.
What especially sets Personhood leaders apart is their wholehearted commitment to bringing out the best in others with no pretense or hidden agendas. People can sense their dedication to empowering others' success is completely genuine with no pretense.
At the deepest level, these leaders have banked an unwavering bedrock of relational trust and faith in their leadership through years of steadfast behavior and through difficulties. Their influence is rooted in this unshakeable credibility.
The net effect is that Personhood leaders shape and transform people's lives in profound, lasting ways. They become revered mentors, catalysts, and advisors whose guidance extends far beyond any single team or organizational context. Their positive imprint is multi-generational.
Very few leaders reach the lofty heights of Personhood influence in their lifetimes. It requires an exceptional degree of self-actualization, emotional intelligence, and genuine selflessness over decades. But those who do attain it can mobilize people's commitment through their presence and wisdom alone - regardless of any official titles or authority. They are the "leaders among leaders" whose impact and legacy is earth-shaking.
Â
To summarize, while positional authority may allow you to initially "rent" temporary obedience, leading through relationship-building and personal credibility is the only way to achieve the long-term impact, loyalty, and voluntary commitment that characterizes great leadership and major influence.
Relationship-based leadership is what inspires people's unwavering dedication, innovation, and commitment to a shared mission. The most influential leaders are force multipliers who don't just churn out results - they elevate and transform those around them. And that gravitational pull to stick with and execute for someone who genuinely believes in you and wants you to reach your highest potential is an incredibly powerful and sustainable form of leadership.
So, for those seeking to maximize their ability to mobilize lasting change and high achievement, don't fixate on title or authority. Instead, invest the arduous work into methodically earning influential credibility, one person at a time. Traverse the levels of making personal connections, proving capability, developing others, and distilling inspirational wisdom.
Because while positional leadership has a lifecycle of turnover and temporary compliance, relationship-based leadership influence is a permanent force that can shape the trajectories of entire organizations and lives. That's the kind of extraordinary impact all leaders should aspire to.
If you would like to grow in leadership and influence, having a trusted coach in your corner can really accelerate results. Growth requires practice, and practice puts you in a vulnerable position. The safest practice environment is with your coach where you can describe your challenges and goals and practice conversations that will move you toward your goals. To learn more about coaching and leadership development services, visit:
You can find John Maxwell’s book here:
Â
Comentarios