History

Level 5 Leadership

Definition:  

A level 5 leader [L5L] starts with the right people and focuses on the greater good of the organization. This leader has a great deal of humility and tackles the hard truths in order to achieve success for the organization (Satterlee, 2013, p. 112).

Summary:

The article Move your organization from good to great chronicles the journey undertaken by Georgetown University Hospital [GUH] to implement the L5L principles. This school of thought first focuses on the who, then the what. This mean is if the people aren’t right, the best policies won’t work. This prompted GUH to examine how they approach their chronically poor performing employees. The hedgehog concept helped GUH ignore everything except what worked toward their goals. The flywheel element means the solution is not one large sweeping change but many small incremental changes to achieve the desired result. The L5L methodology forced GUH to ask the tough questions and face the brutal facts of what is not working in their organization. The article covered a several year process of lessons learned and trial and error. The article demonstrated how L5L is a process rather than a goal. One never really arrives, rather, it is a refinement which needs consistent attention.

Discussion:

Many slogans and methodologies have come and gone over the years. This concept is based on a 2001 book entitle Good to Great by Jim Collins (Satterlee, 2013). Many leadership principal are timeless but change in how they are approached and packaged together. The concept contains many commonsense elements about leadership and efficient ways to run a company. L5L starts from the top down and requires a leader with a laser-like focus on what is important. In any initiative or company, there are always a multitude of opportunities. The hedgehog element of L5L is a tool which helps the leader dismiss all but the most critical elements. In Christian circles, the phrase “don’t miss the...