The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Posted on Jul 27, 2011 |

Another of John C Maxwells insightful books on Leadership, in which you’ll need to over look the Americanisms, but it still holds some valuable lessons and rules for those of us wanting to improve our Leadership abilities. Maxwell has cleverly labelled 21 rules for us to take on board…

The Law of the Lid: Leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness. Your business will not rise beyond the level your leadership allows.
The Law of Influence: The true measure of leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. The true test of a leader is to get them to create positive change in an organisation.
The Law of Process: Leadership develops daily, not in a day. Leadership is learned over time. Vision, momentum, people skills, emotional strength, and timing are all areas that need to be learned.
The Law of Navigation: Anyone can steer; it takes a leader to chart the course. A leader will see more, sees farther, and sees obstacles before others do. Preparation is the key.
The Law of E F Hutton: Hutton was America’s most influential stock market analyst. When he spoke, everyone listened. When real leaders speak, people automatically listen.
The Law of Solid Ground: Trust is the foundation of Leadership. When it comes to leadership, there are no shortcuts. Building trust requires character, competence and connection.
The Law of Respect: People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves. Even natural leaders tend to fall in behind those who they sense have a higher “leadership quotient” than themselves.
The Law of Intuition: Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. Leaders see trends, resources and problems, and can read people.
The Law of Magnetism: Who you are is who you attract. Work to attract leaders rather than followers if you want to build a really strong business.
The Law of Connection: Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand. Communicate on the level of emotion first to make a personal connection.
The Law of the Inner Circle: A leader’s potential is determined by those closest to them. “The leader finds greatness in the group, and helps the members find it in themselves.”
The Law of Empowerment: Only secure leaders give power to others. Great things can happen when you don’t mind who gets the credit.
The Law of Reproduction: It takes a leader to raise up a leader. Followers can’t do it.
The Law of Buy-In: People buy into a leader first, then the vision. If they don’t like the leader but like the vision, they get a new leader. If they don’t like the vison but like the leader, they get a new vision.
The Law of Victory: Leaders find a way for the team to win. You can’t win without good team players, but you can lose with them
The Law of the Big Mo: Momentum is a leaders best friend. You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving forward. It takes a leader to create forward motion.
The Law of Priorities: Leaders must understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. If you are a leader, you must learn the three “Rs”… a) what’s Required b) what gives the greatest Return c) what brings the greatest Reward.
The Law of Sacrifice: A leader must give up to go up. When you become a leader, you lose the right to think about yourself. Successful leaders maintain an attitude of sacrifice to grow.
The Law of Timing: When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go. Only the right actions at the right time brings success.
The Law of Explosive Growth: To merely “add” growth, lead followers, but to “multiply” it, lead leaders. The leaders job is to build the people who will build the business.
The Law of Legacy: A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession! “Leadership is the one thing you can’t delegate. You either exercise it – or abdicate it.”

“The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership.
The greater the impact you want to make,
the greater your influence needs to be”.