Mastering the five levels of influence

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Last night several leaders from the Doral campus finished a book study on the book Launching A Leadership Revolution. The consensus was this book is perhaps one of the best books on the subject of leadership we had all encountered. We were all challenged, stretched, and confronted about where we are right now as leaders. Not just that, we also had to take a hard look at how we move from where we are to where we need to be or should be.

Our group felt they needed to go beyond what they were doing and come up with ways to implement what they had learned. As a result, we came up with several projects to pursue in the course of the next year. Here's a short list of what we came up:

1. Start a campus in Bogota, Colombia.
2. Partner with a local health care clinic to provide medical care to those who can't afford it.
3. Have a ministry fair at the campus to help people engage in service opportunities.
4. Partner with leaders in the church to mentor each other.

I congratulate all the participants for their commitment to come to the book study every week for the last 10 weeks. You guys have all taught me the value not quitting. Thank you for making these weeks all worth while.

Before I go, here's a quick review of the five levels of influence.

The cycle

1. Being a learner
2. Being a performer
3. Leading
4. Developing leaders
5. Developing leaders who develop leaders

We are all somewhere between 1 and 5. Most people never make it above level 3. Some make it to level 4, only a few make it to level 5. If you desire is to make it to the top level you are going to have to have a passion, work hard, be willing to bring people who are better than you for the ride, and stay the course.

Where are you on this journey? Do you have what it takes to stay the course? Do you have the passion? Are you willing to hire people better than yourself? What is keeping you?