Reader reviews

• jensenc_6

  (3/5)

  Good insights, Heavy on the What, Lite on the How.
• cartledge777

  (5/5)

  My favorite leadership book by Maxwell- all the others are pretty much a rehash of this one.
• alicia_arnold_9

  (4/5)

  Good organizing principles of leadership.
• laholmes_1

  (2/5)

  As far as leadership books go, this is one of the better ones. I think all his other books are kind of the same thing over and over, but this has good principles. Lots of common sense things, and ones that will help you as you lead.
• jmcdbooks

  (4/5)

  Rated: B-Good stuff, but rather generic. Wouldn't really call these "Laws" as just as concepts -- good ideas. A little disjointed. I expected more.
• shdawson

  (4/5)

  Good read, but need to go over the various laws several times to see how they inter-relate.Read this in 1998. Still have to map out the connections between the laws. The arrangement of this work could have been better written, in order to understand the content. The content itself is wonderful.
• mark_oszoli

  (5/5)

  Each leader whether politics or religion should all get a copy of this book and READ it! Maxwell has provided awesome principles in a simple yet powerful way.
• gottfried_leibniz-1

  (5/5)

  This is an awesome book about Leadership. I learnt a lot from the author, I had no clue about Leadership until I volunteered for a non-profit. Every organization needs leaders, leadership is simply influencing people, more of being a servant from what I learnt.
  Leadership is not dictatorship, it is being with people.
  I think history can teach us a lot. Take Gandhi, he was a great leader.
  
  But the greatest of all leaders is Jesus, He was the epitome of leadership, he gave his own life for the Gospel. He was not self-seeking, he said, "he came to serve and not to judge." (this is not in the book)
  
  
• mantzikert

  (2/5)

  I found this to be an entertaining rather than serious book. There are actually lots of different leadership styles, and some work better than others in different situations.
• Carolyn Hughes Sawyer

  (5/5)

  Great principles! Easy to understand! Highly recommend to those in leadership positions!
• Martin Cerna

  (5/5)

  i really enjoyed this book and found it very helpful.
• Charlie Brown

  (5/5)

  Awesome book to read if you want to dev leadership
• Mark Swanepoel

  (4/5)

  Great book. Very insightful. A must-read for all leaders and managers.
• Jonathan Ruales

  (5/5)

  Very encouraging, everyone should desire to be a leader if, no matter how what your dreams are. Even if your a leader in your own right.
• Elijah Ilunga

  (5/5)

  Very inspiring and learnt a lots of new things.. Great
• djgallantlive.com

  (4/5)

  Great read. I liked the audio version. Thank you so much.
• Noah Dominique

  (5/5)

  Great book. Fondamentals for any manager, a must. Read it.
• Ellen J. Harris

  (5/5)

  A must-read everyone aspiring to their own business and personal development.
• Edward Prest

  (5/5)

  I will definitely be listening to this book multiple times!
• Evan

  (5/5)

  Simple but full of great takeaways to improve in practical ways.
• Natalia Ramos

  (5/5)

  Great Book!
  A must in understanding leadership. With clear examples and easy to read.
• Donp2334

  (4/5)

  interesting book, relatively short overall pretty good. Definitely will be part of my favorites.
• Gurinder Singh Khalsa

  (5/5)

  Great book for leadership qualities. It is a must read book for leadership qualities--- Gurinder Singh Khalsa
• ldmarquet_1

  (1/5)

  The Leader-Follower Model is so last century!My name is David Marquet, from Practicum, Inc and we help our customers structure their organizations to maximize the potential of their people. We call this leadership. One of the basic tenants we have found is that thinking about your people as “followers” limits their enthusiasm, energy, and commitment. The result is the need to empower them. Better is the organization that refuses to dis-empower them in the first place!Unfortunately, it is through this centuries old leadership model that breaks the world into “leaders” and “followers” that Maxwell views the world. As such, the book has limited value for those moving to post-industrial age leadership models.
• rwk_2

  (2/5)

  Begins with a comparison between Mother Teresa and Princess Diana. M/T, of course, gets dropped and doesn't get mentioned again for 100+ pages - when he visited her orphanage but was too pressed for time to pay respects at her memorial. That pretty much says it all about Maxwell's concept of leadership success. More than anything else, this book made me ask what 'success' really was, and led me to the realization that bigger, busier and more is not really what I want out of life. Of course, if you're into that sort of thing, this is a pretty effective 'how-to' manual on growing your leadership role. In the end, however, it just seems to me like another manifestation - albeit a subtle one - of the prosperity gospel. I'm trying not to sound harsh - it's very well written and effective in it's own realm - Maxwell is a prominent Christian leadership guru for a reason - it's just not where I am.
• Rodney Abdus Saboor Albert

  (5/5)

  great book
• deanc_35

  (3/5)

  1 person found this helpful

  A typical book on leadership by a "Christian" writer--but not only for church or Christian leaders. These "laws" or principles can apply to leaders in most any organizational context, but seem geared toward the larger organization.Maxwell includes a number of interesting biographical vignettes to illustrate his principles. I'm skeptical that he has reduced leadership to "the" 21 laws -- and "irrefutable" seems a tad overreaching -- but his ideas make sense and his writing style is engaging.Is the book worth what I paid for it? Well, as a higher education administrator (and former pastor), I learned a few helpful things I can apply to my particular context, so, I suppose, the answer is yes. If you are looking for a good, basic primer in organizational leadership, you probably ought to consider this one.

  1 person found this helpful

• callmejacx

  (5/5)

  1 person found this helpful

  I use to think of leardership as being for business, but this book has opened my eyes and made me understand the leadership can be in anything you do or are. This is one book that will stay in my libary for future reference. I recommend this book to everyone.

  1 person found this helpful

• terrilldavis

  (5/5)

  1 person found this helpful

  This is a must have book to have in general. One never knows when the right business opportunity comes along until it's there and if your not ready for it, it will move on to the next person in line. This is a great book for managers, manager trainees, public speakers, and those looking to take public office. But in today's economy, this is the perfect book for everyone because it explains and tells you what you need to do to get to the next level personally. Building leadership qualities in yourself makes you more marketable and will bring you more opportunities in life.

  1 person found this helpful

• jclemence_2

  (4/5)

  1 person found this helpful

  John C. Maxwell has had a long and storied track record in leadership positions. As a pastor and businessman, he has had the ability to step outside just the church or business spheres individually and look at what leadership principles work regardless of the context in which they are administered. In The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Maxwell enumerates those principles he has found to be most important for any leader's success.The book itself is a quick read. The basic content in each chapter is a few explanatory paragraphs about the principle in question, followed by lots of illustrations. This makes the book fun, lighthearted and engaging, and as you read you begin to ask yourself how you are doing in each area. This is the lasting benefit of Maxwell's work--taking those two or three nagging questions the book raised in your mind and committing to working on them as you lead.This is not an exhaustive list of all of the traits a good leader needs, nor should it be viewed with a formulaic approach (even though the subtitle suggests that these are the case). Rather, it is a list of one leader's insights over a lifetime. If you will allow yourself to read instrospectively with the motive of becoming a better leader, there can be benefit to the book. If you do not intuitively recognize many of the "laws" in the book, you may need to step down from leadership entirely!

  1 person found this helpful