21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF

LEADERSHIP

BY
JOHN MAXWELL
 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP:

1. THE LAW OF THE LID-

“Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness”
Success without Leadership vs Success with Leadership
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2. THE LAW OF INFLUENCE-

“ The True Measure of Leadership is

Influence- Nothing More, Nothing Less”

“True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It

comes only from influence and that cant be mandated. It
must be earned.”
 5 Myths About Leadership
a. The Management Myth-
leading and managing (are not the same)
b. The Entrepreneur Myth-
people may buy what you sell (but you don’t have a long term
influence on them)
c. The Knowledge Myth-
IQ doesn’t equate to leadership
d. The Pioneer Myth-
being up front doesn’t mean that one is a leader. People have to
intentionally follow and act on your vision
e. The Position Myth-
It’s not the position that make that leader, it’s the leader that
makes the position.
3. THE LAW OF PROCESS-

“Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day”

-Leadership is Investing- It Compounds
-Leaders are Learners
-To Lead Tomorrow, Learn Today
-Fighting Your way Up- Champions
-A Man of Action
-No Overnight Success
 Four Phases of Leadership Growth:

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a Phase 1-I DON’T Phase 4- I SIMPLY GO
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Phase 2- I KNOW Phase 3- I GROW

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inneffective effective
4. THE LAW OF NAVIGATION-

“ Anyone Can Steer the Ship, But it Takes a Leader to

chart the Course”

- Navigators see the Trip Ahead

- Where the Leader Goes…
- Navigators draw on past experiences
- Navigators Listen to What Others have to say
- Navigators examine the condition before making commitments
- Navigators make sure their conclusions represent both faith and fact
 -

Charting the Course with a Navigation Strategy

Predetermine 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 success
Review your plan daily
5. THE LAW OF E.F. HUTTON-

“ When the Real Leader Speaks, People Listen”

-What could I Do? (if I am new)
-The Eyes Have it….(spotting the leader)
POSITIONAL LEADERS REAL LEADERS

Speak first Speak Later

Need the Influence of the real leader to Need Only their own influence to get
get things done things done

Influence only the other positional Influence everyone in the room

leaders
PEOPLE BECOME REAL LEADERS BECAUSE OF:

I. Character- Who they Are

II. Relationships- Who they Know
III. Knowledge- What they Know
IV. Intuition- What they Feel
V. Experience- Where they’ve Been
VI. Past Success- What they’ve Done
VII. Ability- What they can do

Ex. MOTHER TERESA

when she speaks, people really listen even if they disagree…
6. THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND-

“ Trust Is the Foundation of Leadership”

- It wasn’t the Decision- It was the Leadership

- Trust is the foundation of Leadership
- Character communicates Consistency
- Character communicates Respect
- People First Trust, Then Support
7. THE LAW OF RESPECT

 “ People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger than Themselves”

Ex. Harriet Tubman

- principled
-fearless
-Increasingly gaining Respect
-The more leadership ability a person has, the more quickly he recognizes
leadership ------or its lack in others.
-A respected Leader steps down
-Closest to leaders respected them the most
- How many will follow? How much change was done?
8. THE LAW OF INTUITION-

“ Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias”

-The Best leaders lead and respond
-It’s Informed Intuition
-Seeing through a Leadership Lens
-How leaders think
-Leaders are Readers of their situation
-Leaders are readers of Trends
-Leaders are readers of their resources
-Leaders are readers of people
- Leaders are readers of themselves
-What you See Results from who you Are (ex. abstract
painting)
- Leaders solve problems using the law of intuition
- Reinventing apple-
- “Leadership is more art than science”

Three Levels of Leadership Intuition:

1. Those who Naturally see it
2. Those who are Nurtured to see it
3. Those who will never see it
9. THE LAW OF MAGNETISM-

“ Who you Are Is what you attract”

“ The better leader you are, the better leaders you will
attract”
-People Like You will seek you out
-People in organization-Where do they match up?
a. Attitude
b. Generation
c. Background
d. Values
e. Life experience
f. Leadership Ability
10. THE LAW OF CONNECTION-

“Leaders touch the Heart before they ask for a Hand”

- The Heart comes first

- Private and public connection
- Connect with people one at a time
- It’s the Leaders Job
- The Tougher the challenge, The greater the connection
- The result of connection
11. THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE
“ A Leader’s Potential Is Determined by those closest to him”
- Every Organization has an inner circle-
“ there are no lone ranger leaders”. If you’re alone, you’re not leading
anybody, are you?
- Never stop improving your inner circle
- The value of raising up the right people in your inner circle:
a. POTENTIAL VALUE- Those who raise up themselves
b. POSITIVE VALUE- Those who raise morale in organization
c. PERSONAL VALUE- Those who raise the leader
d. PRODUCTION VALUE- Those who raise up others
e. PROVEN VALUE- Those who raise up people who raise up
other people
12. THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT-

“ Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others”

-Barriers to Empowerment:
- Desire for job security
- Resistance to change
- Lack of self- worth
-Leading by Lifting Others
“ The Greatest things happen only when you give others the credit”
-Finding strong Leaders to empower

-The Power of Empowerment

“ That empowerment is powerful- not only for the person being
developed, but also for the mentor”
13. THE LAW OF REPRODUCTION-
“ It Takes a Leader to raise up a Leader”

-How they became leaders

Natural Gifting 10 percent
Result of crisis 5 percent
Influence of another Leader 85 percent

-Leaders; Many follow in their footsteps

-Some do it, some don’t
-Raising up Giant killers
story of David
-We teach what we know- we reproduce what we are
-Take the next step-
-see the big picture
-attract potential leaders
-create an eagle environment
*an eagle environment is one where the leader casts a
vision, offers incentives, encourages creativity, allows risks, &
provides accountability.
-The Impact carries over
“It takes one to know one, show one, and grow one”- that’s
the Law of Reproduction
14. THE LAW OF BUY-IN
“ People Buy Into the Leader, Then the Vision”
“ The Leader finds the dream and then the people.
The people find the leader and then the dream”

- Don’t put the Cart first

“ People don’t at first follow worthy causes. They follow worthy
leaders who promote worthwhile causes”
-You are the message
“ People want to go along with people they get along with”
- Buying time for people to buy-in
-Its not an either/ or proposition
LEADERS VISION RESULT

FOLLOWERS DON’T FOLLOWERS DON’T LOOK FOR

LIKE THE LEADERS LIKE THE VISION ANOTHER LEADER

FOLLOWERS DON’T FOLLOWERS LIKE THE LOOK FOR

LIKE THE LEADERS VISION ANOTHER LEADER

FOLLOWERS LIKE FOLLOWERS DON’T CHANGE THE

THE LEADERS LIKE THE VISION VISION

FOLLOWERS LIKE FOLLOWERS LIKE THE GET BEHIND BOTH

THE LEADERS VISION
15. THE LAW OF VICTORY-
“Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win”

-Three Components of Victory:

a. Unity of Vision-
“ A team doesn’t win the championship if its players have different
agendas”

b. Diversity of Skills

c. A Leader dedicated to victory and raising players to their

potentials
16. THE LAW OF THE BIG MO-
“ Momentum Is a Leader’s Best Friend”
-Fighting a tidal wave of negative momentum
-It takes a leader to get things started
-Small beginnings
-Momentum breaker? -No- momentum maker
-The Momentum explosion
-Only a leader can create momentum
“If you can’t make some heat get out of the kitchen”
-Truths about momentum
*Momentum helps followers perform better than they are
*Momentum is easier to steer than to start
*Momentum is the most powerful change agent
TWO KEYS:
PREPARATION & MOTIVATION
“Leaders always find a way to make things happen”

“ IF YOUR DESIRE IS TO DO GREAT THINGS WITH YOUR

ORGANIZATION, NEVER OVERLOOK THE POWER OF
MOMENTUM. IF YOU CAN DEVELOP IT, YOU CAN DO
ALMOST ANYTHING.”
- that’s the power of the Big Mo
17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES-
“ Leaders Understand That Activity Is not Necessarily Accomplishment”

-The Three Rs
a. What is Required?
b. What gives the greatest Return?
c. What brings the greatest Reward?

Project what you are required to do. Is it an important component of

something bigger?

Passion is very important.

18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE-
“ A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up”
-When all else fails, make another sacrifice
“The Law of Sacrifice maintains one sacrifice seldom brings success”

-The Heart of leadership – the true nature of leadership is really sacrifice.

-Counting the Cost of Leadership

*As you rise in leadership, responsibilities increase and rights
decrease.

-The Higher you go, the more you give up

“The higher the level of leadership people want to reach, the
greater sacrifices they’ll have to make”
19. THE LAW OF TIMING-
“When to Lead Is As Important As What to Do and Where to Go”

-”Judo Principle”
-Timing is Everything:
a. The Wrong Action at the Wrong Time- Leads to Disaster
b. The Right Action at the wrong time- brings Resistance
c. The Wrong Action at the Right time- Mistake
d. The Right Action at the Right Time- Success

“When the right leader and right timing come together, incredible
things happen”
 RESULTS OF TIMING

WRONG ACTION RIGHT ACTION

WRONG TIME WRONG TIME

DISASTER RESISTANCE

WRONG ACTION RIGHT ACTION

RIGHT TIME RIGHT TIME

MISTAKE SUCCESS
20. THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH-
“ To Add Growth, Lead Followers-To Multiply, Lead
Leaders”

-The Key to Growth is Leadership

-Leader’s Math Brings explosive growth
*Any Leader who practices the law of explosive growth makes
the shift from follower’s math to leader’s math*
-Leaders who develop followers add one at a time
-Leaders who develops Leaders multiply their growth
LEADERS WHO LEADERS WHO DEVELOP
DEVELOPS FOLLOWERS LEADERS
Need to needed Want to be succeeded
Focus on weaknesses Focus on strengths
Develop the bottom 20 Develop the top 20 percent
percent
Hoard powers Give away powers
Spend time with others Invest time in others
Impact only people they Impact people far beyond their
touch personally own reach
Grow by addition Grow by multiplication
21. THE LAW OF LEGACY-
“ A Leader’s Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession”

-Leaders who leave a Legacy of Succesion:

* Lead the Organization with a “LONG VIEW”
* Create a leadership culture
* Pay the price today to assure success tomorrow
* Value Team Leadership above individual leadership
* Walk away from organization with dignity
-Few leaders pass it on
“ A Legacy is created only when a person puts his organization
into the position to do great things without him”
-Paradigm Shift
-The success continues

“ SUCCESS IS NOT MEASURED BY WHAT

YOU’RE LEAVING TO, BUT BY WHAT YOU ARE LEAVING
BEHIND”
-CHRIS MUSGROVE-
-CONCLUSION
“EVERYTHING RISES AND FALLS ON
LEADERSHIP”

-Any endeavor you can undertake that involves other people will live
or die depending on leadership. Remember This:

a. Personnel determine the potential of the organization

b. Relationships determine the morale of the organization
c. Structure determines the size of the organization
d. Vision determines the direction of the organization
e. Leadership determines the success of the organization
QUESTIONS????