MannKindDRIVE

find my level

what applies to me.

Two quick picks. No login, no personal information.

1. Pick your job ladder

2. Pick your grade level (GL)

you're on the Engineering ladder at GL 7. your DRIVE mastery level is advanced.

Your level describes the rung, not the person. It reflects what your grade level asks for, not where your ability stops. Every level is fully achievable and fully creditable at its own rung. Meeting your level completely is the goal.

The Executive level is not available on this ladder. Executive level applies only to the Mgmt/Executive Ladder. Movement above a Ladder's ceiling requires transition to the Mgmt/Executive Ladder.

Awareness

See it early — risk and opportunity alike.

Advanced

Scope: Across functions. · Lead time: While it is still cheap to act.

Behavior

You see the risk forming two functions over and the opening nobody has spotted, and you move both to whoever can act while there is still room to act. You hold an unsentimental read of your own team’s strengths and gaps. When a conversation needs to be difficult, you start it rather than waiting for it to become unavoidable.

Upside

Seeing risk and opportunity while both are still cheap to handle.

Trap

Seeing it clearly and assuming clarity is the same as having acted.

Not yet

You read the company as it is, not the industry moving toward it.

Threshold condition

Honesty about what you see, including when it implicates you. Required in full at every level; what rises with scope is what it costs you to hold. Your manager judges what meeting it looks like in your role, not whether it applies.

Teamwork & Leadership

Lead from where you stand.

Advanced

Scope: A team or cross-functional group. · Mechanism: By creating conditions and coaching; people finish more capable than they started.

Behavior

You hand people outcomes rather than tasks: why it matters, what good looks like, the guardrails, the timing — and you leave the path with them. You deploy people to their strengths and back their development in the rest. You coach without rescuing. When a commitment is missed you address it promptly and fairly, having first asked what you contributed to it.

Upside

People give more than the task asked for, because you made it worth owning.

Trap

Developing someone instead of holding them to account — coaching that never closes the loop.

Not yet

You build individuals, not yet the leaders who build others.

Threshold condition

Integrity and consistency: the same person under pressure as at kickoff. Required in full at every level; what rises with scope is what it costs you to hold. Your manager judges what meeting it looks like in your role — not whether it applies.

Solution Maker

Consistent, creative, robust solutions.

Advanced

Scope: Cross-functional. · Problem: Ambiguous and contested; people disagree on what it even is.

Behavior

You take on problems where the facts are incomplete and people disagree about the cause. You diagnose at the root, separating capability, accountability, process, incentives and design before choosing where to intervene. You generate real options rather than one, and argue for the unconventional path when the evidence supports it. You build contingencies that make a bold choice a responsible one.

Upside

Finding the problem behind the problem before choosing a solution.

Trap

Treating it as a technical problem when the cause is behavioral or structural.

Not yet

You solve problems others have named; you do not yet frame the ones nobody sees.

Threshold condition

Curiosity, and willingness to look past the first workable answer. Required in full at every level; what rises with scope is what it costs you to hold. Your manager judges what meeting it looks like in your role — not whether it applies.

Execution

Commit and deliver it when promised — and build momentum.

Advanced

Scope: A cross-functional deliverable. · Commitment: Multiple quarters, through real disruption.

Behavior

You own deliverables that run across quarters and functions, and you set commitments that are realistic for the people who must meet them. You anticipate what could go wrong and build the contingency before you need it. You sequence work so the team moves faster, clearing the path rather than pushing from behind. When conditions change you reset the plan openly.

Upside

Sequencing the work so the team delivers faster and still lands it.

Trap

Working harder to save a plan that needed resetting.

Not yet

You deliver the commitment; you do not yet decide which commitments the function makes.

Threshold condition

No corners cut under pressure; transparency about risk while it is still early. Required in full at every level; what rises with scope is what it costs you to hold. Your manager judges what meeting it looks like in your role — not whether it applies.

Continuous Improvement

Stay with it over time.

Advanced

Scope: Cross-functional. · Scaffolding: Each change raises the floor the next one starts from.

Behavior

You improve how work gets done through changes that build on each other, so the team is not solving the same class of problem twice. You question long-held ways of working, keep what still serves the objective and rework what does not. When a change does not deliver, you say so without defensiveness and fold what you learned into the next attempt.

Upside

Building changes that compound instead of accumulate.

Trap

Mistaking activity and movement for improvement.

Not yet

You compound improvements across a team, not yet across a function.

Threshold condition

Treating improvement as yours rather than someone else’s. Required in full at every level; what rises with scope is what it costs you to hold. Your manager judges what meeting it looks like in your role — not whether it applies.

compare levels.

What do I need to work on to grow? Pick any two levels and scan the difference.

Awareness

Advanced

Scope: Across functions. · Lead time: While it is still cheap to act.

You see the risk forming two functions over and the opening nobody has spotted, and you move both to whoever can act while there is still room to act. You hold an unsentimental read of your own team’s strengths and gaps. When a conversation needs to be difficult, you start it rather than waiting for it to become unavoidable.

Upside: Seeing risk and opportunity while both are still cheap to handle.

Trap: Seeing it clearly and assuming clarity is the same as having acted.

Not yet: You read the company as it is, not the industry moving toward it.

Expert

Scope: Your function, read against strategy. · Lead time: Before it shows in results.

You read your function’s position against where the company is going and name what is not yet visible: the risk building, the opening worth taking, the assumption everyone stopped testing. You separate signal from noise and spend leadership’s attention on the few things that matter. You notice what leaders reward, tolerate and avoid, and you say so plainly.

Upside: Helping the function see sooner and spend its attention where it counts.

Trap: Seeing the pattern and going quiet because naming it would cost you something.

Not yet: You read your function in context, not the trade-offs between functions.

Teamwork & Leadership

Advanced

Scope: A team or cross-functional group. · Mechanism: By creating conditions and coaching; people finish more capable than they started.

You hand people outcomes rather than tasks: why it matters, what good looks like, the guardrails, the timing — and you leave the path with them. You deploy people to their strengths and back their development in the rest. You coach without rescuing. When a commitment is missed you address it promptly and fairly, having first asked what you contributed to it.

Upside: People give more than the task asked for, because you made it worth owning.

Trap: Developing someone instead of holding them to account — coaching that never closes the loop.

Not yet: You build individuals, not yet the leaders who build others.

Expert

Scope: Your function. · Mechanism: By setting a standard other leaders adopt — you develop leaders, not contributors.

You set direction across functions and build leaders. You match talent to the highest-value problems and assemble teams whose strengths cover one another’s gaps. You attract strong people and address conflict while it is still small. The leaders you build take their cue from you, so the standard you hold becomes the standard they set — including when holding it costs you.

Upside: Raising what people expect of themselves, not just what you expect of them.

Trap: Generating belief and energy while letting missed commitments pass because morale is good.

Not yet: You raise your function; you do not yet set how leadership operates company-wide.

Solution Maker

Advanced

Scope: Cross-functional. · Problem: Ambiguous and contested; people disagree on what it even is.

You take on problems where the facts are incomplete and people disagree about the cause. You diagnose at the root, separating capability, accountability, process, incentives and design before choosing where to intervene. You generate real options rather than one, and argue for the unconventional path when the evidence supports it. You build contingencies that make a bold choice a responsible one.

Upside: Finding the problem behind the problem before choosing a solution.

Trap: Treating it as a technical problem when the cause is behavioral or structural.

Not yet: You solve problems others have named; you do not yet frame the ones nobody sees.

Expert

Scope: Your function, against strategy. · Problem: Not yet recognized as a problem.

You frame problems the function has not yet seen and test them against where the company is going. You know when more analysis improves the decision and when it only delays it. You read repeated failures as symptoms of unclear ownership, weak capability or conflicting incentives, and you choose accordingly: coach, redesign, reallocate, or make a talent decision. Once the diagnosis is clear you commit.

Upside: Naming the real problem while there is still time to solve it cheaply.

Trap: Mistaking complexity for rigor and holding every option open.

Not yet: You frame problems within your function; you do not yet choose between them enterprise-wide.

Execution

Advanced

Scope: A cross-functional deliverable. · Commitment: Multiple quarters, through real disruption.

You own deliverables that run across quarters and functions, and you set commitments that are realistic for the people who must meet them. You anticipate what could go wrong and build the contingency before you need it. You sequence work so the team moves faster, clearing the path rather than pushing from behind. When conditions change you reset the plan openly.

Upside: Sequencing the work so the team delivers faster and still lands it.

Trap: Working harder to save a plan that needed resetting.

Not yet: You deliver the commitment; you do not yet decide which commitments the function makes.

Expert

Scope: Your function. · Commitment: Annual cycles, in good conditions and hard ones.

You are accountable for what the function delivers across good years and difficult ones. You set the standard it holds to and keep holding it when lowering it would be easier and unnoticed. You decide where effort earns the most return and move resources accordingly, and you stop work that no longer serves the strategy even when stopping it is uncomfortable.

Upside: Making delivery reliable enough to become the function’s edge.

Trap: Protecting the quarter at the cost of the year.

Not yet: you set your function’s commitments; you do not yet arbitrate between functions.

Continuous Improvement

Advanced

Scope: Cross-functional. · Scaffolding: Each change raises the floor the next one starts from.

You improve how work gets done through changes that build on each other, so the team is not solving the same class of problem twice. You question long-held ways of working, keep what still serves the objective and rework what does not. When a change does not deliver, you say so without defensiveness and fold what you learned into the next attempt.

Upside: Building changes that compound instead of accumulate.

Trap: Mistaking activity and movement for improvement.

Not yet: You compound improvements across a team, not yet across a function.

Expert

Scope: Your function. · Scaffolding: The function compounds, and improvement is expected rather than occasional.

You treat how the work gets done as always improvable and stay a student of your own craft. You turn what you learn into a higher standard for the discipline and hold people to it, so getting better is an expectation rather than a project. You look for the recurring pattern and remove the cause instead of correcting the same symptom each time.

Upside: Turning what you learn into a standard the function keeps.

Trap: Defending how it has always been done because you are the one who built it.

Not yet: You raise your function’s floor; you do not yet change the systems that shape behavior company-wide.