The Importance of John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - Article Example

Leadership INTRODUCTION Leadership is a skill or quality through which an individual can guide a group of people for accomplishing success in a community or in an organisation. The concept of leadership has been introduced in the civilization a long way back. According to observation, it has been identified that the concept of leadership had been introduced in the early 20th century and Dr. Peter Northouse and Dr. Gary Yukl had expressed their thoughts, knowledge, experience and understanding in order to express the concept of leadership. Since then, several famous personalities such as Frederick Winslow Taylor, Kurt Lewin, Dr. Fred Fiedler and Rensis Likert among others have expressed several theories and concepts of leadership. As an effect, it has been observed that American market trend had changed within a short period time. Leadership played a pivotal role in the industrial revolution in the American economy. In the modern era, leadership has driven the performance of the entire world. Apart from this, the concept of leadership has also offered the opportunity of learning among workers and simultaneously it has developed the context of strategic business approach. Thus, modern business firms are focusing on best leadership practices in order to attain the organisational objectives and profitability. Thesis. The study intends to explore the importance of John Maxwells 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership in order to establish a business successfully, which has been mentioned by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Grill Concepts Incorporation, Bob Spivak. DISCUSSION According to the observation, it has been ascertained that John Maxwell has specifically identified 21 irrefutable laws of leadership in order to attain success in an organization. Accordingly, the CEO of Grill Concepts has shared his accrued leadership qualities which can help to establish a successful business. Summary of the Article. From the article, it is found that during the 1950s-60s, Bob Spivak had started his career with Grill Concepts’ restaurants. At that stage, he was not aware about the critical truth of leadership theories. Rather, during that phase, his thinking was little different from today. In order to maintain his disposition and in order to get rid of his subordinates, he used to avoid talking with his subordinates. According to his perception, during that period he used to believe that every individual, who was involved with Grill Concepts and its restaurants, did not work for him, rather he assumed they all were working together in order to achieve the goal of Grill Concepts. Moreover, it has been also highlighted by the CEO that during that time, once he was not satisfied with the performance of a Chef; thus, he had fired him from the restaurant after settling the entire due amount. That was the time, when Bob Spivak had realized his disorientation about leadership. According to the observation, it has been identified that during the firing conversation, Bob Spivak had realized his mistakes after he saw the reaction on the chef’s face. According to the article, it has been observed Bob Spivak had realized and acknowledged his fault because he understood the importance of commutation with the subordinates being a leader. Moreover, during working with FEDCO, Bob Spivak realized the importance of leadership in a bigger way. At that point of time, his superior commander Mr. George Cohn had suggested him to maintain the “Follow Me” leadership style in order to lead the team more effectively. Besides, during working with Grill Concepts, Bob Spivak had realized that after hiring employees; training and development is highly needed in order to enhance the performance of the restaurant. It has been also observed that Grill Concepts’ restaurants have used the philosophy of “PEOPLE” which stands for Pride, Excellence, Opportunity, Profit, Leadership, Enjoyment. It has been applied internally and externally in order to reduce the cultural gap significantly. John Maxwell 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Used in the Grill Concepts Company. Through analysing the John Maxwell’s irrefutable laws of leadership, it has been observed that several laws have been applied in Grill Concepts. According to the analysis, it is determined that the law of influence has been maintained by the leaders of the restaurants. During maintaining this leadership trait, the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants have focused and maintained several myths such as management, entrepreneur, knowledge, pioneer and position. It has been observed that Grill Concepts’ restaurants have influenced its people through maintaining the systems and the processes of the restaurants significantly. Apart from this, entrepreneur of Grill Concepts’ restaurants has used his skills in order to achieve the mission and vision of the restaurants. Moreover, leaders have played a pioneering role with the members of the restaurants in order to upraise the quality of the products and services (Maxwell 1-256). Similarly, it has been also observed that Grill Concepts’ restaurants have applied the concept of the law of process in order to develop the quality of leadership constantly. According to Maxwell, leadership trait suggests that a leader should know first, what he does not know. At the same time, a leader should learn how to lead a team effectively. Moreover, Maxwell has suggested that leader should think first before making a decision. Similarly, it has been observed that Grill Concepts’ restaurants leaders have behaved like a learner in order to grow self-discipline and perseverance. According to the Bob Spivak’s article, it has recognized that Grill Concepts’ restaurants have maintained the philosophy of PEOPLE in order to enhance the efficiency of its restaurants along with maintaining the excellence which justifies that the company has used the concept of the law of process (Maxwell 1-256). Subsequently, Grill Concepts’ restaurants have truly followed the law of solid ground leadership trait in order to build the foundation of the restaurants with trust. In keeping with Maxwell, trust is valuable than anything else and leaders do not have the privilege of breaking the trust of people. Thus, as per his leadership trait leaders should maintain the trust along with consistency and respect. Similarly, this leadership trait has been used in case of Grill Concepts’ restaurants. According to observation, it has been identified that Grill Concepts restaurants’ leaders aim towards not breaching the trust of the people in order to influence and the leaders maintain the trust factor with consistency along with putting their best efforts in order to carry the organization forward. During analysing Bob Spivak’s article, it has been also revealed that the company has performed its operations with pride. Consequently, it can be apparently affirmed that the Grill Concepts restaurants have utilised the idea of law of solid ground from John Maxwell’s leadership trait (Maxwell 1-256). In accordance with John Maxwell, the law of respect is one of the most crucial leadership traits, which can ensure the effectiveness and self-development of the leaders. According to him, people generally follow those leaders who are trustworthy and mentally stronger than themselves. On the contrary, only occasionally just because of a specific reason, it can be possible that a strong leader can choose a leader who is weaker than himself. Moreover, John Maxwell has also specifically mentioned those occasions such as encouraging someone for leadership or giving respect to someone as a leader. Correspondingly, this approach has also been observed among the Grill Concepts’ restaurants leaders. Subsequently, it has been identified that most of the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants have shown respect to other leaders, wherein it does not matter who is a highly experienced leader and who is new as a leader in the organisation (Maxwell 1-256). On the other hand, the law of the picture is also an essential quality for a leader in order to experience success from the organizational point of view. According to John Maxwell, leaders should create a clear picture of their actions in order to ensure that those actions are followed by their subordinates. Besides, according to Maxwell, leaders must draw a picture in front of their subordinates. Correspondingly, this strategy has been adequately adopted by Grill Concepts’ restaurants. According to the analysis, it has been observed that leaders of the restaurants have provided a purpose for the mission, drawn a picture for the vision and made a strategy for executing the plan of the organization. Apart from these, leaders constantly have concentrated on good actions, which have ensured that most of the followers have watched leaders in order to follow them. Moreover, it has been also observed that leaders of Grill Concepts restaurants have left several good examples through their performance in front of the followers in order to grab their attention positively. According to Bob Spivak’s article, it has been determined that the company has always focused on profit which can be attained by a set clear vision and mission. This approach ensures that the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants have used the concept of law of the picture in the organisation (Maxwell 1-256). Subsequently, the law of timing is as important as others. According to Maxwell, timing can lead the result both ways even after putting all the efforts in it. It can be asserted that wrong action in the wrong time can lead towards a disaster. Thus, leaders should understand the importance of timing in order to lead a team or an organisation. It has been observed that most of the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants have concentrated on timing because being a restaurant business it is quite essential to be punctual in terms of timing. According to the analysis of Bob Spivak’s article, it has been observed that the company provides more emphasise to training of its employees immediately after the hiring process. This approach clearly suggested that the leaders of the restaurants followed the law of timing from John Maxwell’s leadership laws (Maxwell 1-256). Besides, the law of sacrifice is also a highly important trait for leadership. It has been observed that several leaders have sacrificed their own interests in order to accomplish the organisational goals. According to Maxwell, best leaders always are willing to sacrifice their self-interests for their teams. Similarly, the same approaches have been previewed during the analysis of the facts represented in the article. From the analysis, it has also been revealed that John Maxwells several irrefutable laws of leadership have been utilized by the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants significantly in order to ensure the effectiveness of the restaurants in the marketplace significantly. During the analysis, it has been evidently observed that the restaurants’ “PEOPLE” philosophy has been adequately followed internally and externally. And also, it has been also ascertained that leaders of the restaurants have demonstrated a number of principles of John Maxwell’s leadership laws. Apart from this, Bob Spivak’s article has ensured that the company has emphasized communication in order to enhance the efficiency of the organisation. In order to make it possible leaders need to take more responsibility. At the same time, the article of Bob Spivak has revealed that the company has focused on communicating the values and the culture of the organization during the training phase. In order to ensure such a value proposition, leaders need to play a crucial role in an organisation. Thus, it can be evidently asserted that the leaders of Grill Concepts’ restaurants have followed and utilised several traits of leadership from John Maxwells 21 irrefutable laws. CONCLUSION From the foregoing analysis, it has been determined that leaders are the most essential factor from an organizational viewpoint. According to the analysis and evaluation, it has been found that leaders can drive the performance of an organisation in both ways. Apart from this, it has been also witnessed through the evaluation that leaders must have certain qualities or it can be asserted as leaders need to understand and follow the philosophy of leadership model in order to accomplish profitability. Contextually, Bob Spivak, the CEO of Grill Concepts in his article highlighted the importance of leadership in the organization and also expressed that how he has developed leadership skills and qualities during working with Grill Concepts Inc and another organization through learning from his mistakes and gaining valuable insights from his senior comrades. Grill Concepts leaders have demonstrated the use of the philosophy of John Maxwells 21 irrefutable laws of leadership in its different approaches to ensure that the organizational employees take pride and satisfaction in delivering required outputs for the consumers. This in turn has enabled the consumers to derive an enjoyable experience altogether. Work Cited Maxwell, John. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. USA: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1998. Print. Read More