21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP
Chapter 1 – The Law of the Lid
Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level of effectiveness. The lower the lid, the lower the ceiling on your potential. Oppositely, the higher your lid is, the greater your capacity for
achievement. Your personal and organizational success is tied to the strength of your leadership.
Chapter 2 – The Law of Influence
The true measure of leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less. Leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. Influence cannot be mandated, only earned. Lack of an official title doesn’t preclude you from leading, nor does having a position of authority qualify you to lead.
Chapter 3 – The Law of Process
Leaders develop daily, not in a day. Becoming a person of influence is a lot like investing in the stock
market. If you hope to make a fortune overnight, then you’re going to be disappointed. What matters
most is what you do day by day over the long haul.
Chapter 4 – The Law of Navigation
Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders see the whole trip in their
minds before they start the journey. They have a vision for their destination, understand what’s
required to get there, and know whom they need on the team to be successful. Leaders keep an eye on
the future, scanning the horizon for indications of which course appears the best. Then, based on what they see, they set the direction for the organization.
Chapter 5 – The Law of E.F. Hutton
When the real leader speaks, people listen. Within five minutes of observing a meeting, you can pinpoint the key influencer by paying attention to eye contact. Who do people watch after a question has been asked? Whose opinion do they wait to hear? The person they look to is the real leader. People don’t listen to a leader because of the message being communicated; they listen out of respect for the
speaker.
Chapter 6 – The Law of Solid Ground
Trust is the foundation of leadership. When it comes to influence, you can’t take shortcuts, no matter
how long you’ve been leading your people. To build trust, a leader must exemplify competence,
connection, and character. People may forgive occasional mistakes based on ability, but they won’t trust anyone with shoddy character. No leader can break trust with her people and expect to retain influence.
Chapter 7 – The Law of Respect
People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves. The less skilled follow the more highly skilled and gifted. The more leadership ability a person has, the more quickly he recognizes leadership—or its absence—in others. In time, people line up to follow those they respect, or else they leave the team to pursue their own agenda.
Chapter 8 – The Law of Intuition
Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. Great leaders have talent, but they also possess
instincts and other intangible qualities that earn them the right to lead. Their intuition enables them
quickly to size up a situation and take the appropriate action. They’re excellent readers of people and
trends, and they use this knowledge to advance their goals.
Chapter 9 – The Law of Magnetism
Who you are is who you attract. Good leaders understand the need to recruit people who complement
their strengths, but these are not the people they naturally draw to their side. The leaders you attract
will be similar to you in style and ability. To improve the caliber of your followers, get better yourself, for a team cannot be anything other than an extension of the leader’s personality.
Chapter 10 – The Law of Connection
Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand. They connect with their followers emotionally before
calling them to action. As a leader, you will gain credibility only when you demonstrate a genuine
interest in the welfare of others. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care
Chapter 11 – The Law of the Inner Circle
A leader’s potential is determined by those closest to him. Don’t leave the formation of your inner circle open to chance. Find proven leaders who extend your influence and boost morale, delegate
responsibility to them, and never stop investing in their growth and development.
Chapter 12 – The Law of Empowerment
Only secure leaders give power to others. Such leaders lift up those they lead—giving them resources,
encouragement, and credit. Empowering leaders place a high belief in their people. They see the best in
those they lead, and inspire them to reach their potential.
Chapter 13 – The Law of Reproduction
It takes a leader to raise up a leader. People cannot give to others what they themselves do not possess. Commit to personal growth, and then pour everything you know into your people. Do that long enough, with enough people, and you’ll develop a leadership culture where talented performers flock.
Chapter 14 – The Law of Buy-In
People buy into the leader, then the vision. Many would-be leaders mistakenly believe that if their cause is good enough, people will automatically rally around it. However, people don’t follow worthy causes. They follow leaders who promote worthy causes. The leader finds the dream and then the people, but the people find the leader and then the dream.
Chapter 15 – The Law of Victory
Leaders find a way for the team to win. Victorious leaders share an inability to accept defeat. Losing
seems totally unacceptable to them, so they figure out what must be done to win, and they go after it
with everything at their disposal.
Chapter 16 – The Law of Big Mo
Momentum is a leader’s best friend. All leaders face the challenge of creating change in an organization, but the job gets much easier with momentum working in your favor. Without momentum, even the simplest tasks can seem insurmountable. But when you have momentum, the future looks bright,
obstacles appear small, and trouble seems temporary.
Chapter 17 – The Law of Priorities
Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment. Good leaders recognize that eighty percent of their productivity comes from twenty percent of their work, so they prioritize their efforts for maximum results. In selecting where to devote their time, leaders ought to consider what’s required of them, what offers the greatest return, and what brings them the greatest satisfaction
Chapter 18 – The Law of Sacrifice
A leader must give up to go up. Many people want to climb the corporate ladder because they believe
freedom and power are waiting at the top. However, the true nature of leadership has less to do with
perks and more to do with sacrifice. Each time you progress to a higher level of influence, you have to
give up additional rights.
Chapter 19 – The Law of Timing
When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go. If a leader makes the right move
prematurely, then he will encounter heavy resistance. On the other hand, the right move made too
slowly won’t be effective. It takes the right action, done at the appropriate time, for a leader to find
success.
Chapter 20 – The Law of Explosive Growth
To add growth, lead followers—to multiply, lead leaders. Leaders who develop followers can only grow their organization one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiply their growth, because for every leader they develop, they also influence all of that leader’s followers.
Chapter 21 – The Law of Legacy
A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. Leaders who leave a legacy take a long view of the future. Seeing beyond their lifetime, they prepare for the organization to sustain itself independent of their involvement. In doing so, they craft a leadership culture in which influential leaders are spread
throughout the ranks of the organization. Legacy-minded leaders refuse to see themselves as
permanent fixtures in the organization. As such, they intentionally seek to be replaceable—training
others to carry the torch after they depart.
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