Does Transformational Leadership Describe Your Style?
Inspiring confidence, challenging the status quo, influencing change…these along with a whole plethora of ideas come to mind when we talk about a transformational leadership style. Whatever our leadership styles, (and there are several) it’s a sure bet, we can all learn from the world’s top leadership guru John Maxwell. If we’re thinking transformational leadership, don’t we really have to ask, what facilitates change in an organization, team or a leader’s life? Here are some thoughts from John Maxwell’s book The 360 Degree Leader.
Maxwell’s 7 Myths of Leadership
The most common transformational leadership myth is that, “When I get a position then I can lead others.” These people might wait for a more senior leader to empower them with authority, instead of building relationships with others to influence naturally. People who buy in to this idea don’t understand how effective leadership develops. The Law of Influence in the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership states it clearly: “The true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.” What are you waiting for? You can work on your relationships and increase your influence with those around you right now, wherever you are or whatever your title. As a matter of fact positional leadership is actually the lowest level of leadership according to John’s 5 Levels of Leadership.
- Whereas POSITION gives you the right to lead, if your leadership is positional, people only follow you because they have to.
- A better leadership style is when others give you PERMISSION to lead them. What do leaders have at this level that others don’t? Relationships. It’s more fun when people follow you because they want to!
- What could be better than leading a team based on relationships? Results. And you’ll find yourself at the PRODUCTION leadership level when people like you and like what you are doing for the organization.
- The PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT level, John says, is where you will see Reproduction. It’s here that people will follow you because of what your leadership has done to enhance their lives personally. And this is where long-range growth occurs because of your commitment to developing other leaders. Maxwell instructs us to do whatever we can to achieve and to stay at this level.
- Leaders that attain the level designated PERSONHOOD have gained a large following of individuals who have great Respect for these leaders. Here people follow you because of who you are and what you represent. This level is reserved for leaders who have spent years growing people and organizations. Few make it here, but those who do are larger than life!
Leadership is dynamic, John says, and the right to lead must be earned individually with each person you meet. Where you are on the “staircase of leadership” depends on your history with that person. And with everyone we meet we start at the bottom of the five steps.
Disposition More Than Position
When transformational leaders understand the dynamics of gaining influence with people, they come to realize that position has little to do with genuine leadership. Do individuals have to be at the top of the organization chart to develop relationships with others and get them to like working with them? Do they need to possess the top title to achieve results and help others become productive? Do they have to be president or CEO to teach the people who report to them to see, think, and work like leaders? Absolutely not. Influencing others is a matter of disposition, not position.
You can lead others from wherever you are in an organization. And when you do the whole organization is better. David Branker, a leader who has influenced others from the middle of organizations for years says, “To do nothing in the middle is to create more weight for the top leader. For some leaders – it might even feel like dead weight. Leaders in the middle can have a profound effect on an organization.”
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