Leadership: A Customer Strategy
Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of hearing John Maxwell deliver an engaging keynote on leadership at the Sage Software Insights partner conference. Maxwell is the author of several best-selling books on leadership, as well as the just-released Leadership Gold: Lessons I've Learned from a Lifetime of Leading.
I was especially drawn in because of two things Maxwell said that, to me, directly apply to customer strategy: 1) when your ability to lead grows, so does your business; and 2) leadership is all about engaging people—and without engaged employees customer centricity is not much more than big talk. “Your ability to lead will determine your effectiveness,” he said.
Maxwell discussed the five levels of leadership. Here’s an overview.
Level 1: Position
Leadership, Maxwell explained, is a process, not a title or a job. Most people think positional leadership is being a true leader. It’s not; it’s just the first stage of leadership. Employees will follow you because they have to. At this stage much of your staff is thinking, what’s the least I can do not to get fired?
Level 2: Permission
Leadership is influence, Maxwell said. And influence is where relationships start to take hold. People follow you because they want to. Likely it’s because you’ve begun to connect with your team and they’re willing to give that extra effort. According to Maxwell, this connection happens when leaders listen to their employees, learn from what they’ve said, and then lead. You can’t be a successful leader if you “lead by assumption,” he said.
BTW, you might notice the similarity here to connecting with customers by getting their feedback and taking action on it…
Level 3: Production
Credibility comes with effectiveness—and results. At this stage, people follow you because of what you’ve done for the organization. This is also where momentum begins to take off and make leaders look good. “Momentum is your best friend as a leader,” Maxwell said.
Level 4: People development
Your staff will follow you because of what you’ve done for them. Level 3 is where you add effectiveness; this is where it multiplies—where growth really kicks in. It’s also the stage where you need to pause to consider what you’re doing for yourself, as well as for your team. What are you doing to invest in yourself; to develop your leadership and put a personal growth plan in place? And what are you doing to invest in and develop your team.
Maxwell reminded attendees of the adage, those who are closest to you determine your success. “Leaders are known not by what they accomplish, but by what they get others to accomplish,” he said. “As your staff gets better, we all get better.”
The caveat, Maxwell said, is that you have to hire right in the first place. Your success is based on your ability to distinguish people who have leadership potential, he said, adding: “Don’t send ducks to eagle school.”
He also made this very interesting point: If you don’t invest in your staff, why should anyone (customers and other stakeholders) invest in your organization?
Level 5: Personhood
This level is about respect. People follow you because of who you are and what you represent.
Maxwell reminded attendees that these levels build on each other. You can’t leave behind what you accomplished in a previous level. He also noted that you’re on different levels with different people at the same time. Your core team may consider you a level 4 or 5 leader, but a new hire may consider you a level 1.
People respond to you, to your leadership, and to your message, not on what you say, but on what level leadership they’re on with you, he said. He suggested writing down the names of your employees, noting what level each person is on with you, and examining how you can get to the next level with each person.
In the end, he said, leadership is as much about your team as it is about yourself. “Great leaders not only get to the top, he said, “they take people with them.”
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