cies requires the continued demonstra-
tion and development of your emo-
tional competencies.
Level 3: Organization
While all leaders need to under-
stand the importance of leading oneself
and leading others, many leaders have
the added responsibility of leading an
organization. This requires awareness
that goes beyond understanding indi-
viduals and small groups to under-
standing the complex dynamics of the
organization as a system. Leaders at
this level encounter a new challenge
for the first time in their lives: leader-
ship without a personal context, that is,
learning to connect without contact.
Previous leadership experiences have
relied upon interpersonal dynamics.
The leader personally connected with
team members and developed a level
of trust with them. She or he was able
to motivate and even inspire team
members by looking them in the eye,
articulating a vision, creating enthusi-
asm, drawing out their best selves. But
at the organizational level, this one-on-
one leadership dynamic often does not
exist. So leading effectively at this level
involves mobilizing and energizing
others toward the attainment of a
shared vision without the benefit of an
interpersonal dynamic, and often,
despite the presence of competing
agendas and priorities. It also requires
understanding and managing how the
organization is situated within a larger
context. Leaders must recognize that
their organization is not an isolated
entity, but a system within a system.
Level 4: Society
Leaders have a role and a responsi-
bility to lead within the broader soci-
ety. At the end of the day, it is not just
about the leader as an individual, or
about the success of her or his organi-
zation and the individuals within it.
Truly outstanding leaders make a dif-
ference on a bigger stage. They have a
favorable impact on their community,
their country, and even the world.
Tony Hayward, former CEO of BP,
ognize the need to be in touch with
their passions, dreams, and aspira-
tions. They are aware of, and true to,
their core values, and have a clear
sense of purpose or calling in their
lives. Ultimately, they have for them-
selves a personal vision for the future.
Leaders who understand the impor-
tance of leading oneself, however, also
recognize the need to exhibit self-con-
trol. Their passion is tempered by
patience, ethics, and good judgment.
The core of Boyatzis’
Intentional
Change Theory
(ICT) is the word
“intentional.” This does not mean
attending a seminar on leadership and
emerging with the hope that some of
that good material will gradually sink
in, leading to a series of incremental
improvements that result in a vaguely
better you. Rather, ICT prescribes
beginning by exploring your ideal self,
including the crafting of a personal
vision statement. Only then is a 360-
degree assessment undertaken to iden-
tify how the
real self
matches up to the
ideal self, both positively and nega-
tively. The next step is the develop-
ment of a learning plan that closes the
gap between the real and ideal selves.
The execution of this plan with the
help of others—preferably including a
personal coach—is the foundation for
becoming a better leader.
Level 2: Others
Obviously, the next level of leader-
ship is leading others. And by “lead-
ing,” we are not merely referring to
directing or ordering specific behav-
iors. We are instead referring to the
capacity to ignite a fire within others,
inspiring them to do more, to give
more, and to be the best they can be.
This requires an ability to make gen-
uine, authentic connections with oth-
ers, showing that you understand their
needs and concerns, and
care
as well.
People don’t care how much you know
until they know how much you care
.
The competencies required of a
leader in this environment differ sig-
nificantly from those that helped him
craft a clearer picture of his own lead-
ership strengths and gaps. Effectively
leading others involves
moving beyond
the demonstration of the emotional
competencies of self-awareness and
self-management to demonstrating the
social competencies of social aware-
ness and relationship management.
But like playing a video game, where
the skills that you mastered at a lower
level will be required as you develop
new and more sophisticated skills at
the next, mastering social competen-
did not lose his job because he failed
to understand the drilling and refine-
ment industry. He lost his job because
he whiffed when it came time to
understand the role that his company
played in the community in which it
operated. Contrast that to Steve Jobs,
whose vision to “put a dent in the uni-
verse” had little to do with creating
computers and everything to do with
changing the way people live in the
world. While he certainly had his
flaws, and while he may not have rep-
resented the ideal prototype of an out-
standing leader, Jobs’ understanding of
his company’s leadership role in soci-
ety had far more to do with his and
Apple’s success than a cool-looking
MP3 player.
Working Multiple Levels
Just when it seems difficult enough
to effectively lead change on one level,
we raise the ante. Our lives, dyadic
relationships, and teams all conspire to
affect and be affected by dynamics in
our organization—just as the mood in
a family is affected by the parents’ rela-
tionship to each other and to their par-
ents. Leading change requires paying
attention (again, being intentional) at
all of these levels simultaneously.
Insights and emotions occurring within
a top management team become a key
element in the organization’s ability to
sustain a desired change.
This multi-level perspective occurs
naturally, but is not typically discussed
in leadership training and education.
But as we saw with Tony Hayward, a
misstep at one level reverberates at all
of the other levels. We believe, with
appropriate learning and coaching,
leaders can become as comfortable
operating at many levels as they are
concentrating on one.
Of course, we are quite aware that it
is far easier to state the importance of
moving through the levels of leader-
ship than it is to do it. But whether the
last video game you mastered was
Pong
or you are an accomplished villain at
the third level of
Grand Theft Auto
, you
understand that the patience, knowl-
edge, and hard work required to move
to the next level is enormously satisfy-
ing and rewarding. So it is with leader-
ship. It is
the most important journey
that an executive can take. And when
you commit to that journey, your team,
your organization, and your communi-
ty will be glad you did.
LE
Michael Devlin is Associate Dean of Weatherhead Executive
Education and Melvin Smith is Associate Professor of OB and
Faculty Director of WEE. Visit
ACTION: Work the four levels simultaneously.
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
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