‘When a good leader leads, the people respect and praise him, When an average leader leads, the people ignore him, When a poor leader leads, the people despise him, But when a great leader leads, the people say “we did that ourselves”’ — LaoTzu — Tao Te Ching
The significant leaders from all the great spiritual and philosophical traditions from across the world and through all ages have two clear motivations in common: compassion and wisdom. They also always have the same two key characteristics of humility and determination. These characteristics seemed largely irrelevant to a modern business world until empirical research led by Jim Collins (co-author of Built to Last) and published in Good to Great-Why some companies make the leap … and others don't1 uncovered that the most successful business leaders always had both these characteristics too.
Collins found that the famous business leaders such as Jack Welch, Lee Iacocca and ‘Chainsaw’ Al Dunlap were far less successful, even in financial terms, than these top tier leaders who had a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will (determination). He called them ‘Level 5’ leaders and less than 0.5% of CEOs of American Fortune 500 companies fitted this definition. He found that these 'Level 5' executive leaders did not seek status or recognition which is a characteristic of lower level leaders who reflect a focus on level 3 (the Level of Power).
The UHM interpretation of the highest level of leadership suggests that you are currently demonstrating the capability of2 Appropriate Leader and have the potential to demonstrate significantly higher leadership ability (typified by UHM Levels 4-7).
Self-awareness is evaluated here as it is a necessary condition for leading others and research indicates that the conscious mind is about 5% of the total mind. When interpreting your result it is important to also consider the priority order of your decision-making preferences.
(Note: This assessment is identified from patterns of your answers to the UHM questionnaire and this assessment is the work of MarkTwo Consulting. It is an extremely challenging assessment and less than 5% of people get higher than ‘Appropriate Leader’, nor is it a definitive assessment of your ‘Level 5’ leadership as it only looks at some markers for humility and indirectly evaluates your ‘determination in adversity’.)
Reflection: Who is the best leader you have ever come across? Why?