21 Irrefutable Laws

Leadership in Action

Editors: John Mohr and Rich Clampitt




The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Synopsis)


By John Maxwell


As you learn about the laws of leadership, keep in mind these four ideas:

1. The laws can be learned. Some are easier to understand and apply than others, but every one of them can be acquired.
2. The laws can stand alone. Each law complements allthe others, but you don’t need one in order to learn another.
3. The laws carry consequences with them. Apply the laws, and people will follow you. Violate or ignore them, and you will not be able to lead others.
4. These laws are the foundation of leadership. Once you learn the principles, you have to practice them and apply them to your life.


The Law of the Lid

Leadership ability isthe lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower an individual’s ability to lead, the lower the lid on his/her potential. The higher the leadership, the greater the effectiveness. Your leadership ability — for better or for worse —always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your organization.

A person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could bewith good leadership. 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. Whatever you will accomplish is restricted by your ability to lead others.

Wherever you look, you can find smart, talented, successful people who are able to go only so far because of the limitations of their leadership.

DonStephenson, the chairman of Global Hospitality Resources, Inc., of San Diego, Calif., an international hospitality advisory and consulting firm…said that whenever they came into an organization to take it over, they always started by doing two things: First, they trained the staff to improve their level of service to the customers; and second, they fired the leader. The good news is that getting ridof the leader isn’t the only way.


The Law of Influence

If you don’t have influence, you will never be able to lead others.…titles don’t have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes
only from influence, and that can’t be mandated. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time — either to increase yourlevel of influence with others or to erase it.

A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one in the same. The main difference between the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management focuses on maintaining systems and processes.

The best way to test whether a person can lead rather than just manage is to ask them to create positivechange. Managers can maintain direction, but they can’t change it. To move people in a new direction, you need influence.

Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” Most people believing this is the essence of leadership, naturally assume that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are leaders. But that isn’t automatically true. IQ doesn’t necessarily equate to leadership.

Anothermisconception is that anyone who is out in front of the crowd is a leader. But being first isn’t always the same as leading. To be a leader, a person has to not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind them, following the lead, and acting on the vision.

In business, bosses have tremendous leverage in the form of salary, benefits, and perks. But in voluntaryorganizations, such as churches, the only thing that works is leadership in its purest form. If you are a businessperson and you really want to find out whether your people are capable of leading, send them out to volunteer their time in the community. If they can get people to follow them while they’re serving at the Red Cross, a United Way shelter, or their local church, then you know that they...