LEARNING FROM YOUNG LEADERS : Question 1

In Good to Great, as many of you know, we discovered the idea of the Level 5 leader, one blessed with a paradoxical blend of personal humility—that’s the X factor of great leadership—personal humility with an utterly indomitable will. But the deep inner essence of Level 5 is the idea of service, of leading in service to a cause. We are talking here about ambition. Towering, exhausting, relentless, nonstop ambition, but channeled outward away from yourself into a cause, into an enterprise, into a purpose, into something that is bigger and more important than we are. See, ego-driven Level four leaders, they’re really good at inspiring people to follow them. The Level 5 leaders inspire people to follow a cause. And therein is all the difference.