Ep 304: Executive Leadership Development

So I was speaking to someone in an executive position. She asked, how can I be a better leader, not just for myself, but so I can genuinely make a difference to other people's lives. Hello and welcome to the Self Belief Chief podcast. You're here with David Holman. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast for the latest information, episodes, insights, research, science. We're putting out content all of the time, so make sure to subscribe wherever you listen. And let's begin. So I'm speaking to this executive. She wants to understand how to become a better leader so that she can add more value to other people. Now, as I spoke about before, leadership is just one of those huge subjects, right? There's just so much information, there's a hundred ways about, of going about it, so many different ideas. So I really, when stuff like that happens, I like to try and simplify it as much as possible. And there's one model that I think is really useful that takes into account lots of different theories and approaches and ideas and actually neatly packages it. It's actually a model by John Maxwell. I think it's a really useful model where he describes five levels of relation of leadership. Five levels of leadership. Okay, so I'm going to tell you what the five levels are. You can write them down and then we're going to break down each of those stages so we can get a better, more in depth understanding. Okay, There are five P's. Level one is position. Level two is permission. Level three is production. Okay, so position, permission, production. Level four is people, development. Level five is pinnacle. So we've got position, permission, production, people, development and pinnacle. So we're going to talk about each of these levels. And what this model is good at is just helping you understand where are you in your leadership process, where are you in that process and then what can we do to jump to the next level. So level one is position, right? So position. Maybe you've just started in a leadership role and people are following you because they have to, they have to follow you, right? It's just the position you have means they have to follow you and nothing else. Level two is permission, right? This is when you've connected with people and they want to work for you. Okay? So you've taken time to listen, to observe, to do that in a really conscious way to learn, right? Having and developing an attitude of servitude. So this is when you're getting your intel and your insights and information. You're trying to really download what's going on, how people think, how people Feel, most importantly, so that you can really start to get to a point of how will I make people feel? Understood. Okay? So permission is that point when you're really starting to connect with the teams, with the people, people to learn and observe and do that in a very conscious way and try and find those common denominators and things that we can start to adjust. So as a second level, the third level is called production. So this is now when you have started to produce results and are gaining credibility for that. So you're producing and based on that, you gain credibility. So level one was position. They have to follow you. The second level is permission. This is when you're doing work to observe, to listen. And the third level is production, right? People know that you're producing and as a result of that, you gain credible respect from those people for those results. Level four is people development. So once you've in level three been producing and gaining credibility, level four in people development, this is when you start having a good sense of how to recruit well, how to create growth, right? Successful leaders find what other people are good at and then put them in those positions, right? They put them in the right place to utilize those skills. So you start to get the right people on board, you know how to help them grow, and you go and place them in positions where they can be at their best and really utilize their skill set and maximize the potential of the business, you know, and this is where, you know, people start to get an understanding of not just the results you provide, but that they can actually be helped to grow as an individual as well. So you start getting respect for that, right? And then level five is the pinnacle, right? This is where you just basically flat out have respect from people. They follow you for who you are and what you've done. So not just a results type thing, but who you are as an individual person. So maybe people understand a bit more of who you are and your character, the way you treat people on a consistent basis. So they like that and they see that you've produced results. The reason I like this model of position, permission, production, people development, and pinnacle is you can ask yourself, okay, what level am I at currently? Where am I currently? Rather than try to kind of bullshit yourself about I'm at this level or this level and then not really know what the next step is, be honest with yourself at what level you're at. And all you've got to do is just know and create a strategy and action plan of how to just jump to the next level. Not two or three levels ahead, just to the next one. And once you've got confidence at that next level, then we can create an action plan of how to get to the next one and the next one. So they're the five levels. And that's a really nice, neat, simple way of helping develop. Helping people develop their leadership skills. Okay. If you want to find out more, you can go to the Self Belief Chief website. We will also put a link in the description. Should you wish to apply to work with me, then you can fill in that application. And if successful, then you'll have the opportunity to have someone help you go through those stages and go through those levels. Okay? My name is David Holman. If you change today, today will change your life. So enjoy the rest of your day, enjoy the rest of your life, and I'll speak to you again soon.