🔒How to become a Level 5 Leader

Humility. Purpose. Compassion. Determination. These are some of the key characteristics of Level 5 Leaders.

As I have progressed through my career, moving to academia after spending several decades in financial services, and now as CEO and co-founder of a mission-driven startup, Silver Fern Healthcare, I have become increasingly committed to leading in a manner that is genuine and transformational.

Most importantly, I want to have led as a Level 5 Leader — someone completely dedicated to the company’s mission, someone who acts with humility, and someone who has a steadfast focus on people.

The concept of Level 5 Leadership comes from author and business advisor Jim Collins’ extensive and well-known work. Through his research, Collins meticulously details what takes a company from “Good to Great” and the distinguishing factors that make companies great.

The difference, he found, centered around leadership. According to Collins, “Level 5” refers to the highest level in a hierarchy of executive capabilities, while leaders at the four lower levels may achieve success, but not sustained excellence.

During my career I have known, worked with, and come across all kinds of leaders. In my view, the most effective ones — the ones who make tremendous positive human and societal impact — operate as Level 5 Leaders.

So, how do you develop these attributes? I would be trivializing the concept if it were as easy as offering a checklist of “to-dos” to get to Level 5, but there are specific actions, habits and traits you can cultivate and embody to develop the qualities of a Level 5 Leader in yourself and others.

Unleash your talent

First, as Steve Jobs put it, Level 5 Leaders hire great talent “and get out of their way.” I believe the way to success is to find great talent, inspire them through the mission and with opportunities for growth, and then unleash that talent.

You guide them, but you don’t control them. It’s not all about you, it’s about the bright people you have on your team.

As leaders, we have to give people the opportunity to experiment and get it wrong, as well as get it right. The environment must feel safe so people are empowered to grow and take risks, even if they don’t always pay off.

You also need to create an environment where people want to work and where people thrive, because it’s contagious. Work cultures and teams that have those traits attract and keep talent.

Unwavering resolve

In order to be successful in a for-profit business, the most important things you must do are: meet your mission and make money.

In an early-stage company, you can’t run out of cash, and so you must have a strong determination to do whatever it takes to get it done — ethically and legally, of course.

As CEO of Silver Fern, I try to be a Level 5 Leader every day. I regularly make difficult decisions on behalf of the business — and two factors that I use as my North Star when making those decisions are: What is the impact on the mission? And, how does the decision affect the team?

It can be easier to make decisions if you are only focused on profits. It’s much harder to always make decisions that also consider what’s best for the mission and the team, especially when those priorities collide. Ultimately, making those hard decisions is what differentiates Level 5 Leaders from others.

Lead by example

I am a firm believer in walking the walk and talking the talk. Leaders set the tone for the whole team and need to actively create a culture that ignites passion and action in people and that gives employees an opportunity to cultivate new skills, try new things, and, overall, flourish.

This means modeling the behaviors you want to see in others and giving real-time feedback. We all know how difficult it can be to deliver tough feedback. Having open dialogue, including communicating when a team member achieves positive results and being willing to communicate hard messages, is how innovation flourishes, improvement is achieved, and other Level 5 Leaders are developed.

Your people are your greatest resource and operating as a Level 5 Leader will benefit everyone: you create a highly functional, efficient team; your people are happy; and you achieve your mission.

Colleen McGuire is the co-founder and CEO of Silver Fern Healthcare, a Connecticut-based healthcare technology company.