The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Excerpts from: John C. MaxwellForeword by Zig Ziglar

The Law of the Lid – Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness

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To Change the Direction of the Organization, Change the Leader.

The Law of Influence - The True Measure of Leadership is Influence – Nothing More, Nothing Less

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Five Myths About Leadership1.The Management Myth – A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one and thesame.2.The Entrepreneur Myth – Frequently, people assume that all salespeople and entrepreneurs are leaders.3.The Knowledge Myth – Most people, believing power is the essence of leadership, naturally assume that thosewho possess knowledge and intelligence are leaders.4.The Pioneer Myth – Another misconception is that anyone who is out in front of the crowd is a leader.5.The Position Myth – As mentioned earlier, the greatest misunderstanding about leadership is that peoplethink it is based on position, but it’s not.“He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.” If you can’t influence others, they won’tfollow you. And if they won’t follow, you’re not a leader. That’s the Law of Influence. No matter what anybody else tells you,remember that leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less. - Leadership proverb

The Law of Process – Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day

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Leadership is Like Investing – It Compounds

If you continually invest in your leadership development, letting your “assets” compound, theinevitable result is growth over time.

Although it’s true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability tolead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved.

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Leaders are Learners

It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.Successful leaders are learners.

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The Four Phases of Leadership Growth1.Phase 1 – I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know2.Phase 2 – I Know What I Don’t Know3.Phase 3 – Grow and Know and it Starts to Show

When you recognize your lack of skill and begin the daily discipline of personal growth inleadership, exciting things start to happen.4.Phase 4 – I Simply Go Because of What I Know

When you’re in phase 3 you can be pretty effective as a leader, but you have to think about everymove you make. However, when you get to phase 4, your ability to lead becomes almost automatic.

The higher you want to climb, the moreyou need leadership. The greater theimpact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be.Personal & organizationaleffectiveness is proportionate tothe strength of leadership.You can find smart, talented peoplewho are able to go only so far because of the limitations of their leadership.The only thing a title can buy is a littletime – either to increase your level of influence with others or to erase it.As long as a person doesn’t know whathe doesn’t know, he doesn’t grow.

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To Lead Tomorrow, Learn Today

The Law of Navigation – Anyone Can Steer the Ship, but it Takes a Leader to Chart the Course

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Navigators See the Trip Ahead

General Electric chairman Jack Welch asserts,” A good leader remains focused…Controlling yourdirection is better than being controlled by it.” Welch is right, but leaders who navigate do evenmore than control the direction in which they and their people travel. They see the whole trip intheir minds before they leave the dock.

A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who seesbefore others do.” Leroy Eims

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Navigators Draw on Past Experience

Every past success and failure can be a source of information and wisdom – if you allow it to be.

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Navigators Listen to What Others Have to Say

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Charting the Course With a Navigation StrategyPredetermine a Course of Action.Lay Out Your Goals.Adjust Your Priorities.Notify Key Personnel.Allow Time for Acceptance.Head into Action.Expect Problems.Always Point to the Successes.Daily Review Your Plan.

The Law of E.F. Hutton - When the Real Leader Speaks, People Listen

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The Eyes Have It

The next time you’re in a meeting, look around you. See if you notice a difference between thesetwo kinds of leaders:

So if you’re starting in a new position, and you’re not the leader, don’t let it bother you. The realtest of leadership isn’t where you start out. It’s where you end up.

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People Become Real Leaders Because of…1.Character – Who They Are

“To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a greatstep to knowledge.” Benjamin DisraeliIt’s difficult balancing optimism and realism, intuitionand planning, faith and fact. But that’s what it takes to be effective as a navigating leader.Major barriersto successful planning arefear of change,ignorance,uncertaintyabout thefuture, and lack of imagination.The secret to the lawof navigation is preparation.The real leader holds the power, not just the position.

Positional LeadersSpeak first Need the influenceof the real leaderto get things doneInfluence only theother positional leadersReal leadersSpeak laterNeed onlytheir own influenceto get things doneInfluence everyonein the room

2.Relationships – Who They Know3.Knowledge – What They Know4.Intuition – What They Feel5.Experience – Where They’ve Been6.Past Success – What They’ve Done7.Ability – What They Can Do- So I must ask you this: How do people react when you communicate? When you speak, do people listen – I mean

really

listen? Or do they wait to hear what someone else has to say before they act? You can find out a lot about your level of leadership if you have the courage to ask and answer that question. That’s the power of the Law of E. F. Hutton.

The Law of Solid Ground - Trust is the Foundation of Leadership

Your people know when you make mistakes. The real question is whether you’re going to ‘fess up.If you do, you can often quickly regain their trust.

When it comes to leadership, you just can’t take shortcuts, no matter how long you’ve been leadingyour people.

A leader’s history of success and failures makes a big difference in his credibility. It’s a little likeearning and spending pocket change. Each time you make a good leadership decision, it putschange into your pocket. Each time you make a poor one, you have to pay out some of your changeto the people.

Trust is the foundation of leadership. To build trust, a leader must exemplify these qualities:competence, connection, and character. People will forgive occasional mistakes based on ability,especially if they can see that you’re still growing as a leader. But they won’t trust someone whohas slips in character. In that area, even occasional lapses are lethal. All effective leaders know thistruth. PepsiCo chairman and CEO Craig Weatherup acknowledges, “People will tolerate honestmistakes, but if you violate their trust you will find it very difficult to ever regain their confidence”.That is one reason that you need to treat trust as your most precious asset.

Character makes trust possible. And trust makes leadership possible. That is the Law of SolidGround

No leader can break trust with his people and expect to keep influencing them. Trust is thefoundation of leadership. Violate the Law of Solid Ground, and you’re through as a leader.

The Law of Respect - People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves

People don’t follow others by accident. They follow individuals whose leadership they respect.They follow individuals whose leadership they respect. Someone who is an 8 in leadership (on ascale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest) doesn’t go out and look for a 6 to follow- henaturally follows a 9 or 10. The less skilled follow the more highly skilled and gifted.

In general, though, followers are attracted to people who are better leaders than themselves. Thatis the Law of Respect.

The Law of Intuition - Leaders Evaluate Everything With a Leadership Bias

Of all the laws of leadership, the Law of Intuition is probably the most difficult to understand.Why? Because it depends on so much more than just the facts. The Law of Intuition is based onfacts plus instinct and other intangible factors. And the reality is that leadership intuition is oftenthe factor that separates the greatest leaders from the merely good ones.

The more leadership ability a person has, themore quickly he recognizes leadership- or itslack- in others.The greatest test of respect comes when a leader creates major change in an organization.A leader has to readthe situation and knowinstinctively what playto call.People need a goalto galvanize them.