
The 9 Levels in Leadership
Leadership is becoming increasingly complex. The expectations of companies and employees have evolved and grown. The complexity of requirements has massively increased, along with the need for a new kind of leadership - specifically, leadership that is situationally and employee-centered. The reason for this is that there is not a one-size-fits-all management style. This is where values-oriented leadership comes in.
The 9 Levels of Value Systems® clarify why, who, and how someone should lead at which level. Successful collaboration can only occur when leadership style, behavior, and philosophy align with the employees' value systems and the desired behaviors within the organization. A leader will only be successful and satisfied if their behavior aligns with their own values while also aligning with the values within the organization, which they significantly influence. This is the key to achieving long-term goals within their own team, department, or organization successfully.
Moving forward, we would like to provide you with insight into what leadership can look like at the different levels (Krumm, Rainer: 30 Minutes: Value-oriented leadership, Offenbach 2016).
The Employees:
- Work long and hard when properly led
- Perform simple tasks
- Dislike competition
- Clearly see power and decision-making authority in the head figure
Expectations for Leadership:
- A friendly, benevolent, yet firm head figure leadership style
- Clear instructions without delegation
- All decision-making pathways go through the boss
- Works with employees and ensures a good work atmosphere
- Designs tasks according to their own ideas and sets an example
Not appropriate at this level:
- Excessive involvement of employees
- Too much delegation of responsibility and decision-making authority
The Employees:
- Know exactly what needs to be done and what the outcome should look like
- Take pride in their skills
- Expect respect and reward for skills and well-done jobs/quick incentives
- Prefer manageable and quickly solvable tasks that can also be repetitive
- Desire some freedom for decision-making
Expectations for Leadership:
- Generally more directive leadership style
- Clear statement of who is in charge
- Dominance and strength
- Demonstrate that none of the employees could do the task better than the leader
- Employees do not receive a comprehensive overview of what is happening in the company
- New employees are trained - once they are involved in their tasks, no further training is provided
- Create incentives for good performance (extrinsic motivation)
Not appropriate at this level:
- Too authoritarian and restrictive instructions
- Too little freedom for employees
The Employees:
- Generally accept the supervisor due to their position and hierarchical level
- Identify more strongly with the company than employees at lower levels
- Perform their work well and are conscientious about their duties
- Expect recognition of their performance, e.g., through awards
- Prefer clearly defined areas of competence
- Appreciate certificates and awards as recognition
Expectations for Leadership:
- Represent the company
- Authoritarian and correspondingly directive leadership style
- Establish order and ensure routine
- Structure tasks, define rules, and clarify expectations
- Job descriptions are clear and unambiguous
- Employees must qualify for advanced tasks
Not appropriate at this level:
- Lack of leadership, direction, and structure
- Cooperative leadership style or discussions (interpreted as weakness of the leader)
The Employees:
- Expect rewards for their work and dedication
- Need to be able to contribute individually
- Require a high level of autonomy
- Strive for success for the company, which must also be rewarding for the employees
- Desire an area of responsibility where they can operate freely (autonomy)
- Are proactive and willing to take on responsibility
Expectations for Leadership:
- Competitive leadership style (reward systems, sanctions, and clear areas of responsibility)
- Entrusting extensive and complex tasks
- Entrusting responsibility and granting decision-making authority
- Profit sharing as motivation to be part of a successful company
- Establishment of lean and flexible rules that do not hinder the process
Not appropriate at this level:
- Rewards that are not perceived as appealing or attractive
- Failure to establish and enforce rules and boundaries, and not applying sanctions for misconduct
The Employees:
- Value the interaction and collaboration of different individuals, fostering dialogue
- Collaborate in development and decision-making
- Recognize that they can be even more successful when they work together towards a common goal
- Tolerate weaknesses only to a limited extent – they soon seek solutions that benefit everyone
- Seek a positive work environment where they can be productive
- Aim for a healthy work-life balance
Expectations for Leadership:
- An open, participatory, and cooperative leadership style
- To be both a leader and a team member simultaneously
- Must be able to handle the discussion and scrutiny of their proposals within the team
- Actively manage group processes without being authoritarian
Not appropriate at this level:
- Trying to completely equalize oneself with the team as a leader
- Attempting to dominate within the team
- A too relaxed leadership style that could inadvertently lead the team to develop unintended dynamics
The Employees:
- Are willing to accept guidance from leadership as long as it meets high-quality and quantity standards
- Only accept goal-oriented directives
- Cherish their autonomy
- Prefer a leader with high expertise in their field
- LCommunicate their needs to their leader to fulfill their tasks
- Appreciate an open and communicative relationship with their leader
Expectations for Leadership:
- Supporting employees in carrying out their tasks
- Collaboratively discussing all topics from task assignment to goal achievement
- Being receptive to suggestions from employees to fulfill a task
- Encouraging innovative thinking and free expression of opinions
- Supporting the full development of employees to contribute to the company
Not appropriate at this level:
- A leader who does not take responsibility for achieving goals and does not provide specialized support to employees