Introduction
Leadership is the process by which the leader tries to influence the followers so that the followers act in a manner consistent with the attainment of the organizational objectives and goals. Leadership is an art and science. As there has been an increase in the presence of cross-functional teams across the globally diverse operations of the organization, leadership has become more challenging since the leaders have to deal with different people from different cultural backgrounds. Many times, it also happens that the leaders need to deal with their followers on the virtual communication platform. As such, there are no specific guidelines which can be followed by an individual to become an effective leader. In his book ‘The 5 levels of leadership: Proven steps to maximize your potential’, Maxwell (2011) describes the process through which the leadership potential of an individual evolves over time. In this report, a summary of the main concepts mentioned in the book is presented followed by an extensive critical analysis of the book.

Summary
In his book, Maxwell (2011) has taken a step-by-step approach to the leadership process and defined it to comprise of 5 stages. The biggest challenge faced by leaders is to encourage their followers to consistently grow and work for the attainment of organizational objectives. Leadership is also a process which is on-going since the leaders need to motivate and guide their followers consistently through varied leadership styles. Some followers may require a lot of direction and guidance, while some perform best when they are empowered. As such, Maxwell (2011) points out that the leader needs to understand the situation at hand and chose a style accordingly.
The five leadership levels which have been identified in this book, ranked from bottom to top are:
• Level 1 – Position
• Level 2 – Permission
• Level 3 – Production
• Level 4 – People development
• Level 5 – Pinnacle.

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