Four Levels of Taoist Leadership
The highest leader is invisible because the organisation runs without them
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 80%
Mark Bertolini's scorecard ranks leadership by the organisation's relationship to the leader across four ascending levels. At level one, employees hate you; at level two, they fear you; at level three, they praise you; and at level four, the highest, the company runs itself because you have become invisible. Most leaders stall below the top because they crave being needed and want people to say the company can't operate without them. But the pinnacle is having trained and resourced everyone so well that the organisation can carry on into the future without you. This is a form of servant leadership, where the leader exists to serve, guide, and fuel the people. It demands subordinating ego and personal ambition to the good of the business.
Origin
Mark Bertolini, former Aetna CEO and now Bridgewater co-CEO, framed the four levels of Taoist leadership; Pompliano pairs it in Hidden Genius with Robert Greenleaf's servant leadership and Ben Francis of Gymshark.
Core principles
- 01The goal is to make yourself redundant, not needed
- 02Being invisible beats being indispensable
- 03Leaders exist to serve and resource their people
- 04Ambition for the business must exceed ambition for yourself
How to run it
- 1
Diagnose your current level
Honestly assess whether your people hate you, fear you, praise you, or no longer need you.
Pro tip Praise feels good but is only level three, not the summit.
- 2
Shift from feared to trusted
Replace fear-based compliance with a culture where people feel safe to act and even ship without you.
Watch out Fear stops people taking the initiatives that create breakout wins.
- 3
Train and resource for independence
Build people's capability and give them the resources so decisions stop flowing through you.
Pro tip Your job is to fuel their ideas, not to be the bottleneck.
- 4
Aim for invisibility
Engineer the organisation to run and grow without you, putting the business above your ego and title.
Pro tip Ambition for the company must exceed ambition for yourself.
Watch out Clinging to your position for ego makes you the ceiling on the company.
In the wild
Gymshark founder Ben Francis founded the company, became CEO, stepped down as CEO, then got reinstated as CEO, each time choosing whatever was best for the business rather than his ego. He told Chris Williamson that when your ambitions for the business are bigger than your ambitions for yourself, that's when you truly become a leader, because it means setting the ego aside.
→ Gymshark kept making the strongest leadership decision at each stage rather than protecting one person's position.
Common mistakes
Optimising to be indispensable
Leaders who want the company to be unable to operate without them build fragile organisations and cap growth at their own bandwidth.
Mistaking praise for mastery
Being praised is only the third level; stopping there means the organisation still depends on you rather than running itself.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and executives thinking about scaling, delegation, and eventual succession.
Not ideal for
Very early-stage ventures where the founder's hands-on involvement is still essential.
From the transcript
“The first level is that your employees hate you, the second is that they fear you, the third is that they praise you. And the…”
“When your ambitions for the business are bigger than your ambitions for yourself, that's when you'll truly be a leader.”
From the episode
The 10 Habits Of The World’s Most Successful People - Polina Pompliano - #655
Polina Pompliano