Leadership at Work - Level 2 of the 7 Levels of Leadership

Level 2 Leadership is leadership in conflict. A Leader at this level will see the world in a "dog eat dog" mentality. When a level 2 leader is pushing and pulling and demanding, throws responsibility your way and then blames you when things go south; watch out. In management we call this "firefighter mode" or "managing from one crisis to the next". What happens here is everyone feels absolutely depleted at the end of the day and feels as though they have nothing to show for their long hours of work.

What we know about this type of leadership energy or style is that a leader is operating out of a state of fear and with tunnel vision. As we discussed in our discussion of Level 1 leadership we know that this comes from within an individual and the change must also come from within the person. When a person goes from a level 1 leader to a level 2, he/she becomes energized with anger, which is a good thing in this case. It means that they are no longer willing to be apathetic. They are angry enough to do something about their situation.

A level 2 leader knows what they want. A level 2 leader knows how to play the game and how to win. Their vantage point is "you lose". What the level 2 leader does here is although they know how to win, play the game and what they want; they pay the price of these decisions. They reap being unhappy, lonely, they have a lack of fulfillment and can become depressed.

A group of employees who are lead by a Level 2 Leader will tend to be burnt out, disengaged and there is a high resignation rate. A recent Gallup Poll stated that: "...some 20% actively are defiant and actively trying to sabotage their organizations..." Organizations with this leadership are short sited, exhibit fight or flight tendencies, and work in survival mode.

Let's remember here that it takes two to have a conflict. Like energy seeks, like energy. All conflict is self conflict. Remember our equation?

The Level 1 Leader is:

Think + Interpret + Disengage = Self Centered Leadership

What we now have is:

The Level 2 Leader is: Think + Interpret + Conflict = Conflict Level Leadership

Reflect on those whom you lead. We all lead everyday, no matter what level we are in the business we work in. It doesn't matter if you deliver the mail in the mailroom or make decisions in the boardroom everyone is a leader. What fuels your purpose when you lead? What triggers you? We create our reality and it all starts inside us as energy at a cellular level. Generate the positive.