Level 4 of The 5 Levels of Leadership

You may have heard it said that everything rises and falls on leadership.

But what exactly is leadership?

Leadership is influence.

The more influence you earn, the more people you can lead.

Some are natural-born leaders.

The rest of us have to learn how to be an effective leader.

Fortunately for us, there is a clear process, but a few points before we begin:

Point 1: You are at a different leadership level with each person.

Point 2: Each level builds upon the next.

Point 3: If you switch divisions for companies, you start over at Level 1, and have to earn your way back up.

There are 5 Levels of Leadership (see John Maxwell’s book The 5 Levels of Leadership) and yesterday we covered the second Level. On to Level 4!

Level 4: People Development

The upside of people development: Helping individual leaders grow eastenders your influence and impact.

The downside of people development: Leading on Level 4 requires high levels of maturity and skill.

“Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.” – John Maxwell

That is what leaders do on Level 4.

They use their position, relationships, and productivity to invest in their followers and develop them until those followers become leaders.

The result is reproduction.
2 things always happen on Level 4.

First, teamwork goes to a very high level.

Why? Because the high investment in people deepens relationships, helps people to know one another better, and strengthens loyalty.

Second, performance increases. Why? Because there are more leaders on the team, and they help improve everybody’s performance.

Level 4 leaders change the lives of the people they lead because they effectively lead them to become Level 3 leaders and their relationships are often lifelong.

Here are 4 things you can do to grow through level 4

  1. Work Through Your Insecurities:
    1. Leaders who are afraid of looking bad or being replaced, rarely develop leaders. If this is you, spend time with people you trust to work through your insecurities and to request accountability.
  2. Recruit the Best People You Can Develop:
    1. Most leaders spend 80% of their time with the bottom 20% of people. The complainers and troublemakers.
      Instead, Level 4 leaders focus 80% of their time developing the top 20% who may not need the attention but would most benefit from it and in turn further the company or organization along.
  3. Create a Personal Development Process:
    1. The ability to see, discern, and analyze is essential to developing people. Level 4 leaders recognize the strengths and weakness of their people and are able to develop a leadership process according to their talents, temperaments, and styles. While average leaders try to lead everybody the same way, Level 4 leaders lead everyone differently.
  4. Remain Approachable As a Leader, Role Model, and Coach:
    1. Openness, humility, and transparency are always attractive. These qualities give others permission to ask questions, take risk, and be themselves. Also, make sure to take complete responsibility for creating energy and inspiration for others.
In the next post, we will be unpacking the fifth level of leadership, level 5: Pinnacle

About the Author

As many of you know, my journey has been one of grit, grace, and transformation. At 19, I was a high school dropout, single father, and struggling paint contractor in Michigan. I later moved to Florida, where I faced both personal and professional hardships. With nothing left to lose, I turned to prayer—and was blessed with a relentless hunger to learn. I devoured books, attended seminars, and discovered better ways to streamline and grow my business—even through the Great Recession (and yes, I did hit the wife lottery along the way!). In 2014, I published How To Double Your Business and later sold the painting business, launching a new chapter: coaching others to grow their businesses. For the past 10 years, I’ve dedicated myself to helping business owners scale through the DYB System, while also drawing from frameworks like EOS, Scaling Up, and The Four Disciplines of Execution. Yet something was still missing—something more adaptive, integrated, and complete. Then I found Pinnacle. After months of research and interviews with other Guides, I joined Pinnacle. Their tools and strategies have exceeded every expectation. Now, as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help leadership teams implement a custom-tailored operating system that draws from the best in the industry—but flexes with your unique business. It’s a dynamic, proven approach to achieve clarity, momentum, and lasting growth. I’m no longer taking on any more 1:1 coaching clients… Instead, I now specialize in working with visionary business owners who are ready to get their leadership teams aligned—around a clear vision, a focused strategy, and an actionable execution plan. With the tools and process I now have as a Pinnacle Business Guide, I help turn alignment into momentum, and momentum into results. If your business is growing—but your leadership team isn’t fully rowing in the same direction—let’s talk.

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