Introduction
According to Collins, a level 5 leader is an executive who has an exceptional ability to combine personal humility with a high degree of professional will. Level 5 leadership is at the apex of the pyramid of leadership and it differs from the other four levels in that it can make companies highly competitive. An example of a level 5 leader is Darwin Smith, the CEO of Kimberly-Clark who managed to transform the company from a loss-making company to a leading company in terms of profit margins for 20 years (Collins, 2001).
Level 5 leadership
A level 5 leader is a turnaround expert. This is because he or she can transform a company completely and move it from good to great. He or she uses his technical expertise, humility, and professional knowledge to coordinate the affairs of a company to increase efficiency and effectiveness. This leads to increased productivity of companies (Avery, 2004).
There is an agreement of the above answer with Collins’ explanation of a level 5 leader. This is because Collins portrays a level 5 leader as a result-oriented leader with an exceptional ability to transform companies and move them to the glory of profit-making and excellence. The example of Darwin Smith also portrays a level 5 leader as a turnaround expert who managed to move Kimberly-Clack to great heights (Collins, 2001).
Conclusion
One of the things to do to become like a level 5 leader is to have the professional knowledge of management coupled with great personal humility. For a person to become like a level 5 leader, he or she also needs to master the art of selecting the right people to work with. He or she should also be able to establish an organizational culture that is characterized by high levels of discipline.
References
Avery, G. (2004). Understanding leadership: paradigms and cases. London: SAGE.
Collins, J.C. (2001). Good to great: why some companies make the leap… and others don’t. London: Random House.