Level up, Week 1: Finding your starting point
Welcome to Week 1 of our group study of The 5 Levels of Leadership! I’m excited to join you in this journey! Each week, we’ll tackle a section of the book, with insights, discussion questions, and an assignment. If you’re leading a group, you can use the section labeled “Facilitator’s Guide” to lead group discussion. We’ll also use the comments section to create group discussion right here on the blog.
If you’re a group leader, remember that your primary responsibility is to put people at ease so that they will participate freely in all discussions. To do that, you need to focus not on being interesting, but on being interested – in each person’s background, opinions, and goals. Plan to speak no more than 20% of the time. Ask a question and truly listen to responses. This is not a time for giving advice or challenging people’s answers. Instead, you and other group members can ask follow-up questions for clarity or deeper insight. This week’s focus is on helping group members get to know one another better.
If you’re not in any kind of “real life” group, I strongly encourage you to find at least one other person to learn along with you. It will multiply this study’s effectiveness for you both. However, if you end up doing this study alone, then you can consider this blog your group. Commenting and reading the comments of others will still give you insight and encouragement.
For this week, we have a lot of work to do in only seven days. Besides reading the introduction (which I encourage you to do early in the week), you and every member of your group need to complete the four-part assessment to determine where you are currently as a leader.
READING ASSIGNMENT:
You Can Have a Leadership Game Plan for Your Life, pages 1-20
Leadership Assessment, pages 21-36
(We will discuss this reading assignment in NEXT WEEK’S post.)
DISCUSSION (Facilitator’s Guide):
1. (Icebreaker) Share with the group your name, your favorite hobby, and the most unusual thing you’ve ever eaten.
2. Why did you agree to engage in this study?
3. In what area of life do you most greatly desire the ability to develop influence with people?
4. What do you see as your greatest obstacle in leadership?
ASSIGNMENT:
Do the leadership assessment on pages 21-36***.
This will require intentionality and follow-through if it’s to be completed in a week. But it’s EXTREMELY important to know your starting point. If you’re tempted to skip the assessment because of all the steps, you’re greatly undermining your growth in leadership through the study.
The assessment consists of four parts:
- Assess your own leadership characteristics.
- Determine how you lead specific followers. (If you don’t currently lead anyone, assess your influence with specific friends, colleagues or family members.)
- Ask those same followers (or people you influence) to measure your leadership.
- Tally results.
***If you don’t have a hard copy of the book or would just prefer to print out assessments, The John Maxwell Company has provided a pdf of the assessment HERE that you can download and print. Please do not distribute, and print and use only what you need to do the assignment.
