John Maxwell The 5 Levels of Leadership

Here is a great video I watched on Leadership by John Maxwell.

Below is my summary of the talk.

5 Levels of Leadership

Level 1 - Position
    Key word is 'Rights'. People don't like to follow people because they have to follow people. They follow you because they have to, because they get paid etc. They are going to give you little of their energy.

Level 2 - Permission
Key word is 'Relationships' .
People follow you because they want to. You have connected with your people. They like you and you like them. You are a supervisor that people like. You are likeable. Relationships with people are the foundation of leadership. Leadership is about influence and you cannot influence people you antagonised.

The leader on level 2 has 3 things they do extremely well. They listen well. They observe and conscious about their people. They are learning. And in doing these 3, they love to SERVE. If you want to grow as a leader, you need to grow beyond your position level.

Level 3 - Production
Key word - Results.
You become effective as a leader because you produce. You set the example. And the greatest motivational principle is - people do what people see. Too many people are like travel agents. They sent people to places where they have never been themselves. So, in level 3, you are modelling for them. Who you are as a leader is who you attract on your team.

And when you start to produce and grow things, you will get momentum. And momentum is the leaders' best friend. It becomes easier to grow and lead. Momentum is a problem solver.

Level 4 - People Development
Key word - Capacity.
3 thoughts on developing people
    - recruitment : who you bring in.
    - positioning : put them in the right places, the niche area, what they are good at. If you are out of position, you will never reach your potential.
    - equipping : Training and development. We train you and you must be willing to train somebody else. It is part of multiplying and compounding.

Level 5 - Pinnacle
Key word - Respect.
You did it so well, people just loved to follow you. It takes time to get here.

So what level am I?
You are different levels with different people. What level am I on with that person?

A person on level sees you entirely different from a person on level 4. The commitment level is higher the level you go. Hence the actions and reactions will be different.

People I Met Today

7.00 am Woke up to go toilet. Saw my daughter sleeping soundly. She got back from work about 5.30 am

7.30 am Woke up my son for work but he was still sleepy.

8.00 am Connected with my wife who shared about a friend's daughters being rather weak physically and falling sick easily.

8.50 am Meet a colleague LW at HSO car park who complained about the morning traffic jam which took him more than an hour to get to work. This morning's traffic was unusually heavy.

10.30 am Shared with colleague CJ about the place I usually go to purchase Lunar New Year goodies and Yu Shang ingredients and sauces.

11.30 am Advised my colleague WS about submission of form.

12.30 pm Pick up my wife and had lunch together. 



Articles Read:

7 Creative Habits of Highly Successful People
The ability to create isn’t just about producing great art or making scientific discoveries. It’s a skill that can be honed in any area of life, and involves learning how to view things from different perspectives, find fresh solutions to problems, and express ourselves uniquely.
1. Nurture Creative Dissent
Sir Richard Branson purposefully embeds “mavericks” into every Virgin company to ensure its success because he knows that yes men kill innovation. Likewise Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, says that groundbreaking movies such as Toy Story and Monsters Inc. were only possible because colleagues invited criticism from each other.

2. Follow Your Bliss
Paulo Coelho, author of the best-selling book The Alchemist, was put into a mental institution by his parents because they wanted him to be an engineer. Michelangelo was beaten by his father whenever he caught him painting because he was supposed to grow up to be a cloth merchant. Unfortunately, our true vocations and creative impulses are often crushed by people’s expectations of us.

3. Trust Your Gut
To access creativity, become aware of your initial hunches instead of always obeying “shoulds.”

4. Boost Your Superpowers
Jimi Hendrix was not only blessed with a unique gift for playing guitar, but he practiced ALL the time. He wore his guitar when he boarded planes and made scrambled eggs for breakfast. He became a master guitarist because he constantly sought to bolster his innate talent. What comes naturally to you? Make a commitment to discovering and enhancing your special skills, and you will excel.

5. Overcome Failure and Setbacks
Oprah Winfrey was demoted early in her career as a news anchor because she didn’t have “the it factor” for TV. She went on to reinvent and rule daytime talk shows for 25 years. She told Harvard’s 2013 graduating class, “There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” Facing adversity is part of growing into your best self.

6. Unplug and Recharge
A study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign shows that taking breaks leads to greater productivity and higher quality of work than putting in long hours. Albert Einstein is thought to have developed the theory of relativity while riding his bicycle. Just strolling around your building for 15 minutes can get the creative juices going. In fact, research at Stanford shows that walking in particular boosts creative thinking.
In cognitive psychology we call these breaks “incubation periods.” Other repetitive mindless tasks such as gardening, running, swimming, sweeping, and showering are also particularly helpful for allowing solutions to problems to pop into your mind out of nowhere.

7. Take Inspired Risks