Leadership and Innovation Characteristics - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 88

Level Four
Leadership
from People
Development

Level Five
Leadership
from
Mentorship

Level Two
Leadership
from Respect

Level Three
Leadership
from Results

Level One
Leadership
from Position

This is the basic
level of leadership.
At this level
people follow you
because they have
to. Your ability to
lead people is
totally geared to
your position and
does not exceed
beyond the lines of
your job
description or
authority granted
to you by the
company and your
boss.

At the respect level
of leadership people
follow you because
they want to. The
core of Leadership
from Respect is that
people want to know
that you care, before
they care about what
you know. People
see you as a
professional partner,
sharing the same
goals and the same
challenges along the
way.

People follow you
because of what
you have done for
the company.
People admire you
for your
accomplishments
and respect your
tenacity. At this
point leadership
becomes fun.
Going to work is
fun, work related
challenges are seen
to be opportunities
for a more stable
work environment
and all tasks have
a purpose in the
minds of
employees.

People follow you
because of what
you have done for
them. It is a
leader's
responsibility to
develop their
people to do the
work that is
expected to
contribute future
growth
opportunities to
the company and
the people who
serve it. People are
loyal to you
because they see
first hand personal
growth
opportunities for
them as well as the
company.

People follow you
because they
respect you. As a
leader you are
bigger than life
and your success is
shown through a
life of
accomplishments.
People seek you
out after you have
left the company
because you have
left an indelible
mark on the
organization and
the employees.
Less than five
percent of all
leaders will get to
this level.

FIGURE 4.3 The five levels of leadership. Source: Maxwell (2011).

you aspire to be as a leader and/or innovator. To summarize the key points of inno-
vators and leaders, from a career and personal perspective, consider the following:

1. Vision: Develop your vision statement for your career and life. Without
a clear vision in your own mind, you cannot lead your team. You should
know where you are going, how you are going to get there, and when you
are going to get there.
2. Belief in your cause or your organization: Often our belief in our cause is
half-hearted and this doubt gets transmitted to the rank and file of our sup-
porters. Believe in your organization fully, and then lead others to work for it.
3. Unquestionable Integrity: Your personal life and your honesty and integ-
rity should never be in doubt. No one should ever be able to raise a finger
against you where moral and integral issues are concerned.
4. Communication Skills: It is just as important to know what you are doing
as it is to be able to tell the others what you are doing. Many a cause has
been lost to humanity because those who believed in it were not able to get
it across to the general public. Learn the skills and use them.
5. Work well with others: You have to work with your group or followers
- not above them. Be a hands-on leader, not a hands-off one.