The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Some time ago I read a great book concerning leadership by John Maxwell titled, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership." On this father's day, I thought it appropriate to list these laws and encourage anyone (moms too) who would like to develop into a fuller, richer, and more developed individual, to read this book. Leadership is not necessarily about leading as much as it is about helping others achieve their goals and future potential. Here is the list:

1. The Law of the LID
Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness
2. The Law of Influence
The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence – Nothing More, Nothing Less
3. The Law of Process
Leadership Develops Daily, Not In A Day
4. The Law of Navigation
Anyone Can Steer the Ship, But it Takes a Leader to Chart the Course
5. The Law of E. F. Hutton
When the Real Leader Speaks, People Listen
6. The Law of Solid Ground
Trust is the Foundation of Leadership
7. The Law of Respect
People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves
8. The Law of Intuition
Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias
9. The law of Magnetism
Who You Are Is Who You Attract?
10. The Law of Connection
Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand
11. The Law of the Inner Circle
A Leader’s Potential Is Determined by Those Closest to Him or Her
12. The Law of Empowerment
Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others
13. The Law of Reproduction
It Takes a Leader to Raise Up a Leader
14. The law of Buy-in
People Buy Into the Leader, Then the Vision
15. The Law of Victory
Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win
16. The Law of The Big MO
Momentum is a Leader’s Best Friend
17. The Law of Priorities
Leaders Understand That Activity Is Not Necessarily Accomplishment
18. The Law of Sacrifice
A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up
19. The Law of Timing
When to Lead Is As Important As What to Do and Where to Go
20. The Law of Explosive Growth
To Add Growth, Lead Followers – To Multiply, Lead Leaders
21. The Law of Legacy
A Leader’s Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession

Comments

The Moldy Middle

While taking statistics during my quest to get an MBA and while earning my engineering degree, the professors always emphasized the importance of finding the statistical mean of any population by using the Central Mean Theorem (a.k.a the highest point of the Bell Curve). As an engineer, this was essential in order to maximize throughput, minimize cost and waste, and ultimately make a better, faster, cheaper widget. A funny thing happened on the way to the dark side of marketing. I discovered that the only thing in the middle of the road was quite literally dead road kill. I do not know if you remember stores like Bradlees, Ames and Service Merchandise (just to name a few), but they all folded because the environment changed and they were caught trying to service the mythological “average customer.” Part of that change came when Wal-Mart began its juggernaut with the discount department store. Wal-Mart did two things right: 1) Focused on “mobile” consumers, and 2) Fo

The Rush to Bottom

I cannot take credit for these words of wisdom, and sadly I do not know who wrote it originally. So, I cannot acknowledge them by name but I can acknowledge their exceptional talent to get a message across with clarity and hard-hitting truths. Whomever this author is, I thank and admire you and take pleasure in sharing this with others! I have also included a video if anyone is interested in sharing it. “When the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great...but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.” An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer. The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one wi

The Saleman's Litmus Test

If your goal is to become a great company or even improve your existing one, every employee in you company should be able to “sell” the product or service that you are merchandising. Since that is usually not the case, you are forced to hire sales people to help implement the objectives laid out by upper management. A national study indicated that less than 3% of the population has an inherent penchant for sales, and as much as 50% of all salespeople really do not know how to sell. During my 20 odd years in sales, I have hired, worked with, and observed great sales people (yes, both men and women). Being the observant type and believing in best practices, I have complied a listing of questions you should ask any salesperson before you hire them, and should use this Litmus Test to review of your existing sales force to determine whether to keep them or cut them loose. I hope you find it useful. Psyching Out the Test : People always try to answer questions the way they think yo

The Profit Prophet

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