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The 21 Irrefutable Laws
of Leadership
by John C. Maxwell
by John C. Maxwell
Thomas Nelson
QuiCK oVERViEW © 1998 and 2007, John C. Maxwell
The 10th anniversary edition of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership offers updated ISBN 9780785288374
stories and several revisions, including the addition of two laws. How can irrefutable 336 pages
laws be revised? author John C. Maxwell notes the edits extend from his own life
experience. Growth equals change.
This classic book on leadership provides real-life examples from world-famous and
infamous leaders alike. Their stories illustrate how each of the 21 laws are applied
or misapplied. Maxwell narrates these stories, he explains how and why the laws suCCEss Points
work. Each chapter ends with a series of exercises designed to help readers apply the
From this book you
law to their own lives and circumstances. This effective combination of meaningful
will learn:
content with practical application makes it possible for almost anyone to improve
their leadership skills. But as “The Law of Process” states, “Leadership develops daily,
not in a day.” • Ethics can be taught, but
The premise of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is that leadership is a skill that they must also be modeled
can be learned. Undoubtedly, there are character traits that make people seem like
• Momentum is the most
“natural leaders,” but by studying leadership, it is possible to increase one’s skills and
powerful change agent
effectiveness, and thereby one’s success.
• Winning requires personal
responsibility, a clear
APPlY AnD ACHiEVE vision and a dedication
1. The laws can be learned.
to victory
2. The laws can stand alone.
3. The laws carry consequences with them. • Giving your power away
4. These laws are the foundation of leadership. can make you a more
5. Leadership requires the ability to do more than one thing well. effective leader
6. No one does all 21 laws well—look for team members to
balance you.
how far we advance ourselves, but how far we advance others. happening at the moment and to discern not only where the
That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives. organization has been, but also where it is headed.
The interaction between every leader and follower is a 3. Leaders Are Readers of Their Resources—Their
relationship, and all relationships either add to or subtract from focus is on mobilizing people and leveraging resources
a person’s life. if you are a leader, then trust me, you are having to achieve their goals rather than on using their own
either a positive or a negative impact on the people you lead. individual efforts.
How can you tell? There is one critical question: Are you making 4. Leaders Are Readers of People—intuition helps leaders
things better for the people who follow you? sense what’s happening among people and know their
6. The Law of Solid Ground hopes, fears and concerns.
Trust is the foundation of leadership. it is the glue that holds 5. Leaders Are Readers of Themselves—Leaders must
an organization together. Leaders cannot repeatedly break trust know not only their own strengths and blind spots, skills
with people and continue to influence them. it just doesn’t and weaknesses, but also their current state of mind. Why?
happen. Your people know when you make mistakes. The real because leaders can hinder progress just as easily as they can
question is whether you’re going to fess up. if you do, you can help create it.
often regain their trust. 9. The Law of Magnetism
Trust is like change in a leader’s pocket. Each time you make Take a look at the following characteristics. if you have
good leadership decisions, you earn more change. Each time recruited and hired a staff, you will probably find that you and
you make poor decisions, you pay out some of your change to the people who follow you share common ground in several of
the people. these key areas: generation, attitude, background, values, energy,
all leaders have a certain amount of change in their pocket giftedness and leadership ability.
when they start in a new leadership position. Whatever they do You may be saying to yourself, I’m not crazy about the people I’m
either builds up their change or depletes it. attracting. Am I stuck with my situation? No. but you will have to
7. The Law of Respect identify the undesirable traits you see in these people and work
People don’t follow others by accident. They follow individuals on improving these in yourself.
whose leadership they respect. People who are an 8 in leadership on the other hand, you may be saying, I like who I am, and I
(on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest) don’t go out like the kind of people I attract. That’s great! Now, take the next
and look for a 6 to follow—they naturally follow a 9 or 10. The step in effective leadership. Work at recruiting people who
less skilled follow the more highly skilled and gifted. are different from you to staff your weaknesses. if you don’t,
in general, followers are attracted to people who are better important organizational tasks are likely to be overlooked, and
leaders than themselves. That is the Law of respect. Leaders the organization will suffer as a result.
gain respect because of their natural leadership ability, by 10. The Law of Connection
demonstrating respect for others, and for courage, success, When it comes to working with people, the heart comes
loyalty and adding value to others. Evaluate yourself in each of before the head. That’s true whether you are communicating
these areas. Then work for a month on each to make that trait to a stadium full of people, leading a team meeting or trying to
or skill a regular part of your life. relate to your spouse. Think about how you react to people. if
8. The Law of Intuition you listen to a speaker or teacher, do you want to hear a bunch of
intuition is so difficult to explain because it’s not concrete. it dry statistics or a load of facts? or would you rather the speaker
doesn’t rely on just empirical evidence. but the following five engaged you on a human level—maybe with a story or joke? You
facts are true and indicative of intuition. first have to touch people’s hearts before you ask them for a hand.
1. Leaders Are Readers of Their Situation—They are 11. The Law of the Inner Circle
very aware of both atmosphere and environment. When we see any incredibly gifted person, it’s always
2. Leaders Are Readers of Trends—Leaders have the tempting to believe that talent alone made him successful.
ability—and responsibility—to step back from what’s To think that is to buy into a lie. Nobody does anything
17. The Law of Priorities 1. The wrong action at the wrong time leads
although it’s a requirement for success, not every leader to disaster.
practices the discipline of prioritizing. Why? I believe there 2. The right action at the wrong time
are a few reasons. brings resistance.
When we are busy, we naturally believe that we are 3. The wrong action at the right time is a mistake.
achieving. But busyness does not equal productivity. activity 4. The right action at the right time results
is not necessarily accomplishment. in success.
Prioritizing requires leaders to continually think ahead, as you prepare to engage in future plans, use the list
to know what’s important, to know what’s next, to see how of factors from the chapter to prepare for the timing of
everything relates to the overall vision. That’s hard work. your actions:
Prioritizing causes us to do things that are at the least • Understanding: Do you have a firm grasp on
uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful. the situation?
Three R’s of Priority • Maturity: Are your motives right?
Three guidelines I use whenever I evaluate my priorities are • Confidence: Do you believe in what you are doing?
the three r’s. No, not reading, writing and ’rithmetic. My • Decisiveness: Can you initiate action with
three r’s are requirement, return and reward. I believe that to confidence and win people’s trust?
be effective, leaders must order their lives according to these • Experience: Have you drawn upon wisdom from
three questions: others to inform your strategy?
1. What is required? • Intuition: Have you taken into account intangibles
2. What gives the greatest return? such as momentum and morale?
3. What brings the greatest reward? • Preparation: Have you done everything you must
Effective leaders should strive to live every day by the Law to set up your team for success?
of Priorities. 20. The Law of Explosive Growth
18. The Law of Sacrifice In short, the Law of Explosive Growth says:
There is a common misperception among people who aren’t • If you develop yourself, you can experience
leaders that leadership is all about the position, perks and power personal success.
that come from rising in an organization. But the reality is that • If you develop a team, your organization can
leadership requires sacrifice. a leader must give up to go up. experience growth.
If you desire to become the best leader you can be, then you • If you develop leaders, your organization can
need to be willing to make sacrifices in order to lead well. If achieve explosive growth.
that is your desire, then here are some things you need to know Leaders who develop leaders develop the top 20 percent of
about the Law of Sacrifice: their team. They focus on strengths rather than weaknesses.
1. There is no success without sacrifice. Leaders who develop leaders do so by giving rewards, resources
2. Leaders are often asked to give up more and responsibility based on results. They invest time in others
than others. to help increase their ability and influence. Every time you
3. You must keep giving to stay up. develop leaders and help them increase their leadership ability,
4. The higher the level of leadership, the greater you make them capable of influencing an even greater number
the sacrifice. of people. By helping one person, you can reach many others.
19. The Law of Timing 21. The Law of Legacy
Timing is often the difference between success and failure in If you desire to make an impact as a leader on a future
an endeavor. generation, then I suggest you become highly intentional about
Every time a leader makes a move, there are really only your legacy. I believe that every person leaves some kind of
four outcomes: legacy. For some, it’s positive. For others, it’s negative.
ConClusion
as you work to build your organization, remember this:
• Personnel determine the potential of the
organization.
• Relationships determine the morale of the
organization.
• Structure determines the size of the organization.
• Vision determines the direction of the
organization.
• Leadership determines the success of the
organization.
About the Author
Now that you know the laws and understand them, share them John C. Maxwell didn’t get an
with your team. and take time to evaluate yourself regarding allowance growing up; instead, his father
each of the laws using the evaluation tool on the following pages.
paid him for each personal-development
as I mentioned at the beginning of this book, nobody does all the
laws well. That’s why you need to build a team. book he read. By applying the knowledge
I wish you great leadership success. he acquired through self-discipline, Maxwell
has become one of the most prominent
leadership experts of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Maxwell is a frequent speaker to Fortune 500 companies as
well as international government leaders. His books have sold
more than 12 million copies. The book that is the basis for this
summary has sold more than a million copies. His organizations
have trained more than a million leaders, and he continues to
Recommended Reading make an impact throughout the world with his sound, insightful
leadership principles.
If you enjoyed this summary of The 21 Irrefutable
Laws of Leadership, check out:
Summarized by permission of the publisher, Thomas Nelson Inc., P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN
37214. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. © 1998 and 2007 by 2002 by
Developing the Leader Within by John C. Maxwell John C. Maxwell.
Talent Is Never Enough by John C. Maxwell © 2010 SUCCESS Media. All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part
in any form without prior written permission. Published by SUCCESS Media, 200 Swisher Rd.,
Lake Dallas, TX 75065, USA. SUCCESS.com
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