Transformational Leadership Models: Level 5 Leadership

Abstract
Level 5 leadership is one of several models of the transformational leadership theory developed by Burns and Bass among others during the later part of the last century. Level 5 leadership originated as a result of the research done by Jim Collins (2001) about how some companies transformed from good to great. It was found that the chief factor provoking such transformation was the presence of a leader mixing great humility and extreme resolve, which became to be the definition of a Level 5 leader. Level 5 leadership works best when combined with other elements also identified by Collins (2001). Some people are born with the “Level 5 seed” and some others don’t, but it will be the environment that at the end will determine if the characteristic of a Level 5 leader will flourish within an individual.

Transformational Leadership Models: Level 5 Leadership
Given that Level 5 leadership is a transformational leadership model, before going into details about it, and so as to establish some background, the next paragraphs will briefly touch upon the fundamentals of the transformational leadership theory.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational, sometimes also referred as transforming (especially in older texts and documents), leadership was originally mentioned by James V. Downton in his 1973 book Rebel Leadership: Commitment and Charisma in the Revolutionary Process. Following further development, in 1978 James M. Burns formalized it as a theory in his book Leadership. Burns went on by describing transformational leadership not as a specific set of behaviors, but as a constant process by which “leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of moral and motivation” (1978, p.20).
In contrast to transactional leaders, whose relationship with team members is based on a reward or “quid