The ideal leader

I’m beginning to form an opinion of what characteristics make up the ideal leader. The image is still blurry, but it is looking a lot like what Jim Collins refers to as a “Level 5 Leader”.  

The base characteristic for level 5 leadership is a combination of personal humility and professional will. Level 5 leaders are ambitious, but their ambition is external. Their ambition is for the organization and its purpose; not themselves. They don’t define themselves by money, fame, or power. They define themselves by impact, contribution, and purpose. They are often humble, quiet, and reserved. 

I’m interested in the almost contradictory combination of humility and will. How can a leader be both humble and determined? 

I’m thinking it has to do with the difference between “self-esteem” and “self-importance”. 

Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Let’s call this self-respect.

Self-importance is an exaggerated sense of one's own value or importance. Let’s call this ego.

The ideal leader has low self-importance (i.e. low ego) and high self-esteem (i.e. high self-respect).

Here’s a matrix to visualize how I’m thinking about this. I’ll expand on this concept another time. In the meantime, I’m interested in your thoughts on this topic.

• Low self-esteem + low self-importance = Follower

• Low self-esteem + high self-importance = Bully

• High self-esteem + high self-importance = Dictator

• High self-esteem + low self-importance = Leader