Hanalei Ramos: Blog 3
While watching “Jeffrey Pfeffer: Power and Influence in the Collaborative Age,” my interest was piqued when Pfeffer and Hamel started talking about Level 5 leadership. From what I gathered, much of the writings on Level 5 leadership stem from Jim Collin’s 1996 book, Good to Great. Collins is referred to as the expert on the topic.
In the video, Pfeffer states that leadership does not transfer over into how power is used, and based on a conversation with Collins, there aren’t as many Level 5 leaders in existence. Also, Level 5 leaders, who are seen as individuals with great “personal humility and professional will,” have not always performed at Level 5 functions. Pfeffer goes on to say that there remains a difference in leadership when you are managing up, down, or laterally.
While there is some correlation between the 5 Levels of Leadership and the Taxonomy of Power, there is also some overlap between the 5 Levels of leadership and the skills approach, in that all leaders can be developed via training, experience, or mentorship. According to Collins, it is not mandatory for individuals to “proceed sequentially through each level of the hierarchy to reach the top, but to be a full-fledged Level 5 requires the capabilities of all the lower levels, plus the special characteristics of Level 5.” The mentioned levels and brief descriptions can be found in the compiled table I created below:
Description | Corresponding Taxonomy of Social Power | |
Level 5
Executive |
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.
|
Expert Power |
Level 4
Effective Leader |
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high performance standards.
|
Referent Power |
Level 3
Competent Manager |
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.
|
Reward Power |
Level 2
Contributing Team Member |
Contributes to the achievement of group objectives; works effectively with others in a group setting.
|
Referent Power |
Level 1
Highly Capable Individual |
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.
|
Coercive Power / Legitimate Power |
Many articles that discuss Level 5 leaders state that level 5 leaders have a high sense of “personal humility and professional will.” Amidst these different levels, one may also align each with Cialdini’s 6 principles of social influence. Because level 1 relies mostly on productive contributions, highly capable individuals are more likely to assert their authority to influence. In level 2, a contributing team member may rely heavily on capitalizing on liking as influence. In level 3, a competent manager may use reciprocity to influence his/her team. In level 4 and level 5, effective leaders and executive leaders may use commitment, consistency, and social proof to influences their subordinates.
While there was no material that referenced this theoretical Level 5 leadership structure, it was helpful to learn more about. There are elements of trait approach and skills approach that help support Collin’s claims, and uses categories in a manner similar to style approach. Also, there are some imperfect parallels between Collin’s Level 5 leadership model and this week’s unit on power and influence. Level 5 can be viewed as a another method to employ power and influence in a workplace setting to help maximize organizational objectives.
References:
Jeffrey Pfeffer (2011) Jeffrey Pfeffer: Power and influence in the collaborative age. Mlabvideo. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXGQqwVb018
Collins, Jim. “Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve.” Harvard Business Review. N.p., July 2005. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
Maxwell, John. “What Are the 5 Levels of Leadership?” John Maxwell on Leadership RSS. N.p., 22 Aug. 2013. Web. 09 Oct. 2014.
Penn State World Campus (2014). PSYCH 485: Lesson 7, Power and influence. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa14/psych485/001/content/07_lesson/09_page.html
Satell, Greg. “Why Tim Cook’s ‘Level 5 Leadership’ Might Not Be Enough To Secure Apple’s Future.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 4 June 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2014.