John C. Maxwell just recently released a new book called, The 5 Levels of Leadership. This is not the first time that he has written about this. In fact, he’s been teaching on this topic for 30 years. In a nutshell, the five levels are as follows:

1. Position: the lowest level of leadership, people follow because they have to.
2. Permission: people follow because of who you are. This is about relationships.
3. Production: people follow because of what you have done. This is about getting stuff done.
4. People Development: people follow because of what you have done for them. This is about helping people grow to become leaders.
5. Pinnacle: people follow because of a lifetime of great leadership and developing leaders who develop leaders.

I have understood this concept for years when I first read about it and have strived to move up the levels of leadership. However, this is the first time I have had an action plan to help me move from one level to the next. There is even an assessment to determine what level of leadership you are on with people (noting that we may be on different levels with different people).

For those that are serious about leadership in the church, I would highly recommend this book. If you’ve read it already, I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on it. Please comment below some of the highlights of this book for you. I look forward to your responses.