In leadership development, there’s an invisible but stubborn ceiling — one that stops the majority of leaders from ever reaching their full potential. In my work with executives, I find that fewer than 10 percent ever make it to the highest rung of leadership maturity (i.e., Level 5). The rest? They plateau at Level 4.
This ceiling is so common that it’s almost become the norm. But it’s not inevitable. The leaders who break through do something fundamentally different — they change not just what they do, but how they think and operate at their core.
Level 4 vs. Level 5 Leadership
Jim Collins, in Good to Great, describes Level 5 leaders as those who blend personal humility with fierce professional will. They are incredibly sophisticated leaders who are trusted, other-centered, and able to take a long-term, systems view of success. Unfortunately, research has found that only 8% of leaders operate at this level.
Level 4 leaders, by contrast, are highly competent leaders — they generally deliver results, drive teams, and often hit short-term goals. But, rarely do they have a transformational effect on the organizations or groups that they lead. 85% of leaders operate at this level.
From my perspective, the gap between Level 4 and Level 5 is not about skillset — it’s about mindset. One of the ways that this can be seen is that:
- Level 4 leaders see leadership as a game of hitting targets, whereas
- Level 5 leaders see leadership as a responsibility to steward people, purpose, and impact over the long term.
One of my favorite diagnostic questions when working with executive teams is:
“How do you measure the success of your business?”
If leaders answer with numbers — “double-digit growth year-over-year” — they’re likely operating at Level 4. If they answer with their purpose and the value they create for customers, they’re likely operating at Level 5.
Why Most Leaders Get Stuck at Level 4
If Level 5 is so desirable, why do so few leaders get there? I see a few common culprits:
- Incentives – Leaders are generally incentivized to be Level 4 leaders, to deliver results in the short term. And, when they do this, they are compensated well, recognized, and praised.
- Lack of feedback – Without candid, developmental feedback, blind spots remain invisible. Quite frankly, shareholders are often willing to overlook poor leadership if the leaders are hitting short-term metrics.
- Tactical focus – Most leaders get pulled into the urgent rather than the important. They optimize for speed, not perspective. While efficiency is important, it is effectiveness is what leads to long-term success.
- Scarcity of Level 5 mentors – You can’t become what you can’t see. Without role models, Level 5 seems abstract or unattainable.
A classic case study of the rise and fall of Level 4 Leaders is Jack Welch at GE (and other former GE leaders). Welch was great at hitting short-term outcomes, but in the process, made decisions that crippled the organization. And, at the time, Boards of Directors of other companies sought out GE executives to lead their business. And, rarely was this approach successful. Look at Boeing as an example of this.
Breaking Through the Ceiling
You can’t “train” a leader into Level 5 with more tips, tools, or techniques. The leap from Level 4 to Level 5 requires vertical development — upgrading the very operating system that drives a leader’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
In my work, I call this the “Being Side” of leadership. Instead of merely adding new skills, leaders expand their mental and emotional capacity — building deeper trust, embracing humility, and thinking in terms of systems rather than silos. This shift allows them to not just lead more effectively, but to see and approach leadership in entirely new ways.
The Invitation
If you want to help your leaders break through the Leadership Ceiling and operate at Level 5, my Fall workshops are designed to start that journey. We’ll focus on the kind of vertical development that transforms not just performance, but the very nature of how leaders show up and serve.
In these workshops, I guide leaders through a three-step process:
- We explore the differences between leadership levels so they can see the mindset and behavioral shifts required for Level 5.
- Leaders awaken to their current level using my Vertical Development Assessment and Personal Mindset Assessment, gaining a clear, personalized understanding of where they stand.
- We chart a path forward — helping them take deliberate, meaningful actions to level up so they can have a more elevated and sustainable impact on the groups they lead.
I would love to help you elevate your leaders. If this is something you would like to consider, let’s connect.
