In Good to Great, Jim Collins describes the Level 5 leader in the following manner.

"Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company.  It's not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest.  Indeed, they are incredibly ambitious -- but their ambition is first and foremost for the institution, not themselves."

One of the characteristics of this type of leader is humility.  You will find this leader stepping back and not claiming undue credit.  In fact, you will find that all the credit for success goes to the team, while the blame for failure is universally shouldered by the leader.

The servant leader does not address team member weaknesses in public. Praise is very public, while correction is done behind closed doors.  You will never see a servant leader embarass a colleague in public.  While watching a college football game last fall, I saw a Division 1A coach of some experience bring a young quarterback to tears on the sideline.  A Level 5 leader never lets his intensity and ambition result in the public humiliation of someone who cannot fight back.

While you may find explanations and plans for recovery after a failure, you will seldom hear excuses.  This is a very timely lesson that the executives of BP have not yet learned.  As many other public figures could tell them, perpetrating a cover-up seldom contributes to a win-win solution to a problem or failing.  This goes back to the discussion we had earlier on the most powerful three words in the project manager's vocabulary: "It's my fault."

Verse 66* of the Tao expresses this concept a most powerful way.

"He who wishes to rule over the people
     must speak as if below them
He who wishes to lead the people
     must walk as if behind them
So the Sage rules over the people
     but he does not weigh them down
He leads the people
     but does not block the way

The Sage stays low
     so the world never tires of exalting him
He remains a servant
     so the world never tires of making him its king

*Tao Te Ching, The Definitive Edition, Lao Tzu with Translation and Commentary by Jonathan Star, Jeremy P Tarcher/Penguin, 2001, page 79