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Beneath Level 5 leaders, lie four other areas, each one appropriate in its own right but none with the power of Level 5. Level 1 leader is a high capable individual who plays an important role in the success of his organization through his talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits. A level 2 leader is a contributing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose.
A level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organizing people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives. A level 4 leader is an effective leader. He sets high- bevel performance standards. He is remarkable at motivating his people and leading them towards realizing his vision of the organization. (Appendix 1, p. 11 summarizes all levels of Collins’ Leadership Hierarchy) (Collins, J-(2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Volvo. 3. No. 7, p. 136-146) The purpose of this assignment is to conduct an evaluation of my own style of leadership within the organization in which I work by using the above hierarchy as a frame of reference. In order to produce a thorough assessment on both my style and the usefulness of Collins model, range of other theories and concepts must be taken into consideration. However, before proceeding to the analysis and evaluation, it would be helpful first to know the position I hold as well as its responsibilities within the organization.
A Brand Manager, member of the Marketing Department, is responsible for the planning, development and implementation of the Company’s marketing activities, among others: Launching of new products, market research studies, promotional activities/materials, to organize and execute the training programs for the Sales Force. In order to become an efficient ND effective Brand manager, the company is requiring knowledge (good academic background), experience and managerial skills including: Strategic and analytic capabilities, entrepreneurial spirit, team player, and flexibility and strong skills in communication and leadership.
The Idea of Leadership It is most likely to find a topic more important to business success today than leadership. Leadership is defined as the ability to influence people toward the achievement of goals. Leadership occurs among people, involves the use of influence and it is used to attain goals. Leaders are expected to persuade or inspire people, produce cooperative efforts and pursue goals. Leadership is different from management, though the two are easily confused. One may be a leader without being a manager and many managers cannot ‘lead a squad of seven- years -olds to the ice cream counter’ according to Gardner (1989).
Gardner believes that there are several dimensions for distinguishing leadership from management. Leaders think long-term, look outside as well as inside and influence others regardless the position that they possess. In order to understand the idea of Leadership and which are the characteristics a leader usually has, studies and research have been conducted and several approaches to leadership styles as well as theories are arose. Some of them are going to be related to Collins Level 5 leadership hierarchy as well as to my own style of leadership. (Daft R. L. , Management, chi. 6, Leadership in Organizations , p. 514_515) Level 1 Leader & The Leadership Traits Approach Leadership trait approach is the oldest approach to the study of leadership. From this approach occurs that there are certain qualities in some people that define them as leaders or potential leaders. Traits therefore are the extinguishing personal characteristics such as intelligence, values and appearance. Leaders extend their power and use their abilities to influence events. Effective leaders are usually more intelligent, more dependable, responsible and more active.
They usually ask for more information and give out more information. However, the appropriateness off trait or a set of traits depends on the leadership situation. The same traits do not apply to every organization or situation. (Appendix 2, p. 1 1 summarizes the physical, social and personal leadership characteristics) On the contrary, Collins Hierarchy s consisted of several characteristics/ capabilities that most can be found also in the leadership trait approach such as knowledge, achievement to drive and working effectively with others in a group setting.
However, two characteristics that are of great importance are not included in it. There are the most important ones and are a necessary requirement for transforming an organization from good to great, humility and professional will. (Diploma in Management, Module book 1, section 6, Teams in Management, p. 6. 16) However, in order to understand in what extent these two concepts can be correlated, we an use ourselves as an example. For instance, my position requires being a highly capable individual (Collins Hierarchy Level 1). How can accomplish this requirement?
By demonstrating many of the personal traits such as intelligence, knowledge, judgment and cognitive ability. For instance, the products that handle have intense competition. Good knowledge of the market as well as intelligent moves made them to differentiate from competition. The creation of a guideline for treatment at home as well as the delivery of the products at home gave a benefit to them. As a result, Doctors preferred to prescribe these products or long term use and hade great impact on the company’s name and reliability.
When we speak of leadership, either we refer to the qualities/ competencies of an individual or we can refer to a function of organization. The ‘trait’ theory of leadership- the traditional or popular management view of leadership- focuses on the concept that leadership is a quality or set of qualities particular to an individual. On the contrary, the group dynamics theory sees leadership as a function of organization. Level 2 Leader & Task versus people perspective styles Task versus people perspective styles of leadership do not take into inconsideration the organization as a whole. They focus on teams.
Every group of people has a task to accomplish. However, since groups are composed of people, several needs arise from them. According to the group dynamics theory of leadership, the person who adequately fulfils the needs that the group perceive to be the most important could be considered as an effective leader. A working team need to fulfill two functions. First, its formal tasks must be fulfilled. In order this to be accomplished; a set of competencies must be evolved. Technical knowledge, innovation and sense of achievement are related with the instrumental need to perform the tasks.
Second, needs for affiliation, interaction and mutual support are usually observed within a team. Such needs are called expressive needs. The person who becomes leader must facilitate the satisfaction of some of the teams’ needs. This leader emerges to the group because he is the best able to help the group survive and succeed. ) (Master in Business Administration, Module book 3, section 1 The Theory of Leadership, p. 1. 7-111) According to Collins leadership hierarchy, the leader that is described in the group dynamics approach could be characterized as a level 2 leader.
A intriguing team member who is very good with his team members and ensures that his team meets its assigned objectives and fulfils the core purpose. Both group dynamics approach and Collins hierarchy are useful in helping us to see how leaders may relate to team members and to situations. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Volvo. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) As a Brand Manager, one of my responsibilities to support our sales team by providing them with moderate amounts of detail and focus on why it is important for the team members to complete our objectives.
However, believe that co-owning the objective/action plan with team members and asking team members ideas as well as offering my own ideas is more efficient and can lead us easier to our goals. Besides, It is better to have, for instance, five people to think rather than one. Therefore, I strongly believe that teamwork can lead to better results. Level 3 Leader & The Contingency Theory According to contingency models, leadership depends as much on the situation of the group as on the leader himself or herself. Thus, we have a choice; either the leader can fit to the situation or change effectively the situation o fit the leader.
As we can understand, leadership is different for first-level supervisors than for chief executives and the kind of leadership needed for skilled and highly motivated followers may not work for followers who are alienated and untrained. According to Fiddler, contingency model divides the leadership situation into three variables. In order to determine the most effective leadership style, we must consider the inter-relationship of the three contingencies: leader – member relations, task- structure and position power. 1 . Leader – member relations, where mutual trust, respect and open immunization exist and can be consider as advantageous.
This means that tasks are clear and structured and members are aware of the power the leader holds. On the other hand, where there is little or no trust, respect of communication, then the relationship can be characterized as disadvantageous (control over the situation is needed and a focus on a task will not detract from the leaders/ team relationship because this is not essential to start with. 2. Task- structure, when work is highly structured and easy to know when somebody has not complied with an instruction and it is easy to impose sanctions.
However, when work is unstructured, leaders cannot enforce compliance with external controls and therefore, the leader has much less power than when work is highly structured. 3. Position power, is the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. When position power is high then the leader has the power to plan and direct the work of followers, evaluate it and accordingly reward or punish it. On the other hand, when position power is low, the leader has little authority over followers. (Appendix 3, p. 11 presents Fiddler’s examination on how Leader Style fits the situation)
Finally, according to Fiddler, task- oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are either highly advantageous or highly disadvantageous to them and that relationship-oriented leaders tend to be more effective in situations that are moderately advantageous to them. (Bellman, L. G. , Deterrence,D. E. , Reframing Organizations, Chi. 7, Reframing Leadership, p. 342-344) According to Collins, a level 3 leader is a competent manager who is skilled at organizing people and resources towards the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
However, as it is showed above, an efficient leader must differ from situation to situation or from team to team, according to its special characteristics. Analyzing a level 3 leader in correlation with Contingency theory, we understand that a level 3 leader should consider both leader -member relations and tasks. Predetermined objectives cannot be achieved, if mutual trust, respect and open communication do not exist in a team and if tasks are not highly structured and followers do not know precisely their responsibilities.
However, we must never ignore the extent to which a leader has formal authority over the followers. Collins, J. , (2005). Level Review, Volvo. 83. NO. 7, p. 136-146) For instance, according to my position, my everyday contact is with the sales team. According to my opinion, it is clear that trust, respect as well as open communication and mutual understanding exist within our team. One of the responsibilities of my position is to organism in some extent, their work by indicating them what is our goal and how we can reach it, with what tools and where we want to focus.
Another one is to monitor our products sales and ask questions whenever I believe it is necessary. However, my session power is not as high as to evaluate them and reward or punish them accordingly. Level 4 Leader & The Transformational and Charismatic Leadership Styles According to researches on different leadership approaches, some leadership styles are more effective than others and it is easier for leaders who follow these styles in order to lead their organization to a successful change. Two styles of leadership that can have a significant impact are charismatic and transformational leadership.
A charismatic leader gathers followers through dint of personality and charm, rather than any form of external power or authority. Charismatic Leaders pay a great deal of attention in scanning and reading their environment, and are good at picking up the moods and concerns of both individuals and larger audiences. They hone their actions and words to suit the situation. They pay much attention to the person they are talking to, making that person feel like he/she is for that time, the most important person in the world.
Charismatic leaders create an atmosphere of change and they are usually obsessed by visionary ideas that excite and drive other people to work hard. They are often skilled in the art of visionary leadership. They have strong Sino for the future and can motivate others to help realize. Transformational leaders are similar to charismatic leaders. They increase the desire of followers or subordinates for both achievement and self-development. According to Bass’s research in the 1980 four areas of transformational leadership are identified. 1 .
The individualized consideration, where transformational leaders spend time and energy on working with individuals in order to identify the individual’s needs and abilities, to provide opportunities to learn and to coach and give developmental feedback. 2. The intellectual stimulation, where leaders encourage imagination, intuition and creativity as well as logical thinking. 3. The Inspirational motivation, where transformational leaders communicate a clear vision. 4. The idealized influence, which is know also as ‘charisma’, where transformational leaders express confidence in the vision they communicated.
They display purposes, persistence and trust and they emphasis accomplishments. They focus on qualities such as vision, values and ideas for building relationships and find common ground to enlist followers in the process Organizations that support charismatic or transformational leadership usually reject an image of confidence, commitment and competence. They usually attract new staff of higher quality and respond more quickly and effectively to possible change in the market or the environment. (Daft R. L. , Management, Chi. 16, Leadership in Organizations , p. 32-536) Collins believes that a level 4 leader is an effective leader. He sets high-level performance standards. He is remarkable at motivating his people and leading them towards realizing his vision of the organization. It is clearly that, this level leader shows a lot of the characteristics of a charismatic and transformational deader. A level 4 leader can remarkably motivate people. How? First, by paying attention to their followers and understand their different kind of needs and then encourage them to use their own imagination, intuition and creativity.
A level 4 leader can lead them towards realizing the vision of the organization by focusing on qualities such as vision, values and ideas for building relationships and find common ground to enlist followers in the process. Therefore, as we can understand, there is some resemblance between a charismatic or transformational leader and a level 4 leader. (Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business In order to understand the style of a charismatic or transformational leader and a level 4 leader, we are a going to use as an example myself within the organization work.
My everyday collaboration with the sales team gives me the opportunity to be close to them. In order to reach our goals, I believe that it is important to spend time and energy with them in order to identify the team member needs and abilities and adjust them to, to provide opportunities to learn and to coach them as well. I also believe hat encouraging team’s imagination, intuition and creativity as well as logical thinking can lead to SUccess. Although, sometimes it is not easy to provide them with all these, when opportunity is given, then I put all my effort to accomplish them.
However, the idealized influence, which is perceived as a charisma, is not developed yet by me. Therefore, it is explicable why it needs great effort and skills to be a charismatic or transformational leader and a level 4 leader. Level 5 Leader, the Executive According to Collins, a Level 5 leader is a paradoxical blend of fierce will and arsenal humility. Although he or she is stubble and ruthless, he/she is also humble. Leaders at this level are highly ambitious for their company and they usually don’t let their ego to come in the way of the organization’s SUccess.
A key characteristic off Level 5 leader is an almost complete lack of ego. Although they accomplish great think for their organizations they never take the credit. Successes are related with other people or external factors, and when they can find a specific person or event to give credit then relate them with one of them, then they credit to sheer luck. At same time, they accept fully responsibility for poor results or failures and never credit them to bad luck. A Level 5 leader sits on the top of a hierarchy of capabilities and according to Collins, it is necessary in order to transform a company from a good to great.
Although level 5 leadership is essential factor for an organization to become great, it is not the only one. Several factors deliver companies to greatness that must be combined with level 5 leadership. It is a symbiotic relationship between level 5 and the rest of Collins findings. Leaders at the other four levels can produce high egress of success but not enough to transform a company to great. According to Collins, ” Good to Great transformations don’t happen without Level 5 at helm. They just don’t. ” In order to understand level 5 leadership style, I brought my own leadership style as an example.
I am not as modest as Collins believes a level 5 leader is, and sometimes blame bad luck for our unpleasant situations. (Collins, J. , (2005). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve, Harvard Business Review, Volvo. 83. No. 7, p. 136-146) Conclusion Following a brief examination of a number of theoretical models concerning dervish, it was attempted to thoroughly evaluate my own style of leadership based on Collins leadership hierarchy as well as using several other leadership approaches and styles as references.
Based on the analysis, one could argue that there are indeed a lot of leadership styles to follow. In order to become an efficient leader, the more wise is to follow a combination of several styles of leadership. Based on what is showed in the previous pages Collins levels are very similar to the different leadership styles and approaches. Leadership Trait Approach was linked to Leadership level 1. In both of them, a leader should have several characteristics, for instance knowledge and intelligence.
The Task versus People Perspective Styles were compared with level 2 leadership, where a leader can be considered as a team player, which adequately fulfils the group’s needs and tasks. A level 3 leadership was linked to the Contingency Theory. In this comparison the leader is skilled at organizing people and other resources according to circumstances and according to what resources as well as the team are based of. Transformational and Charismatic Leadership Styles were linked to the level 4 leader.
Taking into consideration these styles, we can conclude that inspiration, consideration of the individuals’ needs and encouragement of imagination are some aspects that an effective Leader should have. Finally, Level 5 leaders has plus two characteristics that are not found in any other leadership style or approach presented. When these characteristics – Humility and Professional Will- according to Collins, are part of a leader, then he can lead a company from a good to a great one. In order to understand better the relation as well as the meaning of levels, there was a critical evaluation on several heartsickness of my own leadership style.
Therefore, a leader must combine trait approach, group dynamic approach, contingency theory, transformational and charismatic leadership styles plus Humility and Fierce Will in order to become a great leader. To conclude, evaluating my own style of leadership was not an easy task to accomplish. Some characteristics of leadership styles were found in me, such as listening and motivating followers or having precise goals and vision. However, level 5 leadership was not found in my own style of leadership. The question is, does it lie somewhere inside or I will never reach to this level.