The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C Maxwell - Book Report/Review Example

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Introduction The book d ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You’ has been authored by John C. Maxwell, the New York Times bestselling author. The foreword for the 10th anniversary edition of the book has been written by Stephen R. Covey, a well-renowned author and writer of the immensely popular book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. As the name suggests, Maxwell’s book details the 21 laws of leadership that have stood test of time and find relevance even today. At the outset, the author highlights four key ideas regarding these laws. First, these laws can be learnt. Second, these laws can stand alone, independent of each other. Third, the laws carry consequences with them and fourth, these laws are the foundation of leadership. Maxwell notes that the fundamentals principles of leadership remain the same irrespective of the region, territory, culture or technology. The author claims that while teaching these laws during the last ten years he has concluded that leaders need to have the ability to do more than one thing well. The crux is to learn and apply all the 21 laws to become an excellent leader. The author also appreciates the fact that a single person cannot do everything well. The key for the leader is to identify areas where the leader is weak or average. After this self analysis, the leader must build a team that has people with strong skills where the leader himself is weak. These team members will thus complement the leader and lead to the creation of a winning team. Explanation of the Laws The 21 irrefutable laws put forth by John C. Maxwell have been explained in detail in the ensuing sections. The Law of the Lid This law states that the leadership ability of the person determines the level of effectiveness. If the ability increases, the effectiveness increases manifold without the need to increase in the amount of effort put in to accomplish the task. The Law of Influence The level of influence is one of the most important aspects that determine a leader’s effectiveness. The author claims that leadership is different from both management and entrepreneurship. Managers are good at maintaining systems and processes. Entrepreneurs identify business opportunities and make money from them. Leaders however exert influence and provide direction to the followers. The level of education and the person’s title has little to do with leadership qualities and influence. The Law of Process This law states that becoming a leader is a process. The author relates leadership to investing in stock markets. One cannot expect results overnight. The leader must invest in personal development and learn to improve with every experience. The Law of Navigation Leadership is not about steering the ship, rather it is about charting the course. Thus leaders should have the end in mind and be aware of what all it takes to reach that goal. Effective leaders rely on past experiences and listen to others. They know the difference between fact and faith and therefore make correct assumptions. The Law of Additions The Law of Addition states that leadership is about making things better for the followers. Leaders do not advance themselves; they advance others by adding value for them. The Law of Solid Ground It is important for the leader to build trust. This can be done through demonstrating competence and character. Followers have more faith and trust in leaders who have strong character. Effective leaders communicate very well, demonstrate a lot of honesty and integrity and thereby build trust in the team. The Law of Respect Leaders will command respect if they respect the opinion of others. Loyal leaders, who have accomplished a lot, are respected by their followers. The true measure of gauging how much the followers respect the leader is to check whether they are willing to take risks and put in long working hours to accomplish the task. The Law of Intuition Successful leaders rely on intuition. They can sense opportunities and decipher trends. Good leaders can read people’s minds pretty well and sense their moods. The Law of Magnetism The Law of Magnetism states that leaders attract like-minded people. The leader is able to attract people because of ‘who they are’ and not because of ‘what they want.’ The Law of Connections Leaders have to be emotionally attached with followers to get the best out of them. People who give hope to others tend to be more effective as leaders. The Law of the Inner Circle The Law of the Inner Circle refers to the team that the leader builds. This team should have high influence and value to the organization. The inner circle members too should display excellence, maturity and character. The Law of Empowerment True leaders empower their members and help them flourish. The main barriers to empowerment are desire for job security, resistance to change and lack of self-worth. The Law of the Picture The followers always look towards the leader for guidance and direction. It is the duty of the leader to present a vision for the better future. The dictum ‘be the change you want to see’ holds true for leaders. They need to change themselves and lead by example before trying to change others. The Law of Buy-In This law states that people do not follow causes. The leaders should therefore not believe that people will buy in automatically if the cause is good. The Law of Victory Leaders thrive under pressure. They perform best under difficult circumstances. For the leaders, losing is unacceptable and victory is inevitable. The Law of the Big Mo This law states that momentum is a leader’s best friend. Momentum helps the leader tide over big problems. Momentum also helps followers to perform at their apex. The onus of creating momentum rests with the leader. The Law of Priorities Leaders need to set priorities by taking into consideration three Rs; requirement, return and reward. The Pareto Principle can also be used to set priorities. The Law of Sacrifice Leadership is not about power and perks. It is about sacrifice. Leaders have to give up more than the others. Moreover, the sacrifice is not a one-time exercise, it is an ongoing process. At higher levels of leadership, more sacrifices have to be made. The Law of Timing Doing the right thing at the right time is critical to success. Wrong action at an inappropriate time can lead to disaster. The Law of Explosive Growth Leaders should groom future leaders so as to achieve explosive growth. A good leader has to identify other leaders. This may not be an easy task. Gathering them may be even harder. An excellent leader will continue to grow while grooming the other leaders. The Law of Legacy Leaders should be futuristic and think of legacy they want to leave. Good leaders must choose who will carry on their legacy and pass on the baton to them. Critique of the Book The book provides a detailed account of traits and skills that effective managers must possess. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership can be viewed from different perspectives as they cover all aspects of leadership. Some of the text given in the book is very relevant to the real world. However, at times it appears that the author has painted a very rosy picture of excellent leadership. The ensuing paragraphs are an analysis of what has been written in the book. The good points as well as the limitations have been mentioned. The critique includes a modest attempt to relate the theoretical framework with the content of the book and find points of convergence and divergence. The Points of Convergence Real Corporate Life Examples The book is full of examples that provide a better understanding of what the author is trying to explain. For example, The Law of the Lid has been explained with the help of McDonald’s example. The fast food chain is well-known throughout the world. Few people however know about the actual history and growth of McDonald’s. The genesis of McDonald’s can be traced back to the venture started by Dick and Maurice. These two brothers did a fantastic job in creating efficient systems, cutting costs and streamlining kitchen operations. They were wonderful when it came to single-restaurant owners. However, when it came to expansion, they proved to be failures. A person named Ray Kroc bought franchising rights of business and took it to dizzy heights. Kroc was successful because his lid was higher and so was his potential for achievement. Kroc worked extremely hard and sacrificed a lot to achieve his vision. To explain the Law of Influence, the author cites the example of Mother Teresa who had a small stature but a big impact. She was able to set up and lead the Missionaries of Charity because of her tremendous influence. Balancing Stakeholders Interest Stakeholders are people/institutions/organizations that affect and are affected by the operations of a firm. The shareholders, customers, employees, government and the community are typical stakeholders of a company. At times, the interests of these stakeholders may clash. The organization will prosper only if it caters to the conflicting interests of these stakeholders. The book cites the example of Jim Sinegal, the co-founder of Costco. Sinegal takes good care of the employees and treats them with respect and dignity. Costco pays above average wages to employees. As a as of this, Costco has the lowest turnover rate in the industry. Satisfied employees are more productive because of which Costco is in the pink of health. Good profits satisfy the shareholders. This demonstrates that Jim Sinegal has used The Law of Addition to good effect. Complementary Skills I could not agree more with the law of the inner circle. Organizational success thrives on team work. Teams that have members with complementary skills are bound to perform better than teams that do not possess this feature. The author too, through the law of the inner circle has stated that the right kind of staff has the potency to take the organization to dizzy heights. Delegation and Empowerment Leaders may end up in an activity trap if they do not delegate routine, non essential tasks to others. Delegation is akin to what Maxwell terms as the Law of Empowerment. Leaders will be able to rise further only if there is someone who can fill the vacuum below. The author refers to passing on the baton in the Law of Legacy which is nothing but succession planning. Companies that plan their future well in advance especially with regard to who will be at the helm are well paced even in difficult business conditions. Pareto Principle The Pareto Principle, popularly known as 80/20 rule applies to many aspects in life. For example one application of the principle is that twenty percent of the customers generate eighty percent of the revenue for any firm. Likewise, twenty percent of the organs; brain, heart, lungs, liver and kidney perform majority of the functions in the human body. The author has categorically stated that leaders have to follow this principle to prioritize their activities. While doing so, the responsibilities towards self, family, followers and the organization has to be kept in mind. The Points of Divergence Like-Mindedness I do not completely agree with The Law of Magnetism. This law has a lot of similarity with the idiom ‘Birds of a feather flock together.’ I agree to the extent that like-minded people will attract each other and would want to work together. However, in large organizations, it will not be possible to hire all employees that think, act and behave on the same wave-length. Moreover, the opinion and attitude of people will vary with age and life experiences. Employees at different hierarchy levels will have different education levels and different thought processes. Leadership Styles The different leadership styles that exist in organizations are Laissez-Faire Leadership, Autocratic Leadership, Participative Leadership, Transactional Leadership and Transformational Leadership. The laissez-faire leadership style, wherein the leader does not indulge in regular and direct supervision and does not provide regular feedback, may prove effective if the followers are highly experienced and trained. This style can alienate employees who need constant direction, may result in low controls and also increase costs. An autocratic leader takes all the decisions and ensures that the followers obey orders. The participative leader values the opinion of the team members and consults them before taking a final call. A transactional leader uses rewards or punishments to drive followers to accomplish a certain task. The transformational leader is responsible for identifying the change needed in the organization and then motivating the followers to adopt the requisite changes with zeal and zest. These leadership styles work best under a given set of circumstances. Different situations may warrant a change in the leadership style. The book is silent on which laws will be most effective for what style of leadership. The author appears to have assumed that all laws can be applied under different settings. In reality, this may not be possible. Sixth Sense Intuition indeed plays a vital role in decision making. However with the present day techniques which rely heavily on quantitative information and flawless calculations, intuition alone cannot help determine the right course of action. Thus a leader has to make an informed intuition. While some leaders may be blessed and may have a great sixth sense, most of the leaders have to be nurtured to do so. In reality, it is easier to teach someone to take business decisions based on data and trends rather than on intuition. Innate Skills Maxwell argues that it takes a lifetime of hard work, dedication and commitment to become an excellent manager. It is noteworthy to mention that innate skills play a vital role in determining the effectiveness of a leader. People born with leadership qualities are bound to do well than people who spend a lot of time learning the art of leadership. Application of Concepts The book carries a special section on applying the law to one’s life. There are simple exercises and tasks listed at the end of each chapter that the reader has to carry out. The scoring pattern or real life experiences, as the case may be, provide valuable insights into one’s own hold on each of the leadership laws explained in the book. For example, to apply the Law of Addition the author recommends that an individual should perform certain tasks that may be below his dignity or position but are meaningful and make a positive impact on the society. The individual should neither feel impatient nor seek credit while performing these tasks. In the second step, the individual should make a list of all people who matter and pen down what those persons value most. The individual should then assign a score from 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent) on each of those values. Wherever the score is less than 8, the individual should spend time to improve on that value. Conclusion The book is a must read for all aspiring leaders. The author’s real life experiences that have been incorporated in the book have made the content very rich. The book is replete with examples that make understanding easy. Practicing the laws put forth by Maxwell in daily life can make a monumental positive difference in the effectiveness of a leader. The checklist provided to apply the laws in real life can go a long way in grooming the individual leader. References Maxwell, J.C. (2007, 10th Anniversary Ed). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Read More