The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell - Essay Example

The book is awesome, written by an expert in leadership who learned from successful leaders. 
Maxwell identified twenty-one laws of leadership, each one showing a unique aspect of a complex human quality that only a true leader can fully possess.  With humor, Maxwell agrees that all leaders are born (23) because they started as babies, but they became leaders, working at it day by day.  Leadership does not happen overnight but is the result of a process of desire, learning, trying things out, and growing in skills and qualities. After going over and reflecting on each of the laws, I can summarize five lessons that apply to my future goals as a human being, an engineer, and a leader.

First, I will work on improving my leadership skills every day. The fourth law (21-24) states that leadership is a daily process, and it takes time to achieve one’s full potential as a leader. I have to learn from every experience, good or bad, not be afraid to try things out and think outside the box so I can attract great people to work with me, following the law of magnetism (90-91). Part of this daily grind to work on my leadership skills is to earn the trust of others so that our working partnership will have a solid and human ground (55) to stand on.

Second, I will help those I work with, especially those who need it most, improve their leadership skills. Maxwell (11) says the true measure of leadership is influence, nothing more, and nothing less. People always respond positively to a helping hand because everyone wants to do a good job. This is how I can connect and touch the hearts of others so work becomes almost frictionless. This is easier said than done, but I will do my best. It takes a leader to raise other leaders (134-135), and only a true leader can reproduce other leaders.

Third, I will demand excellence from myself so that I can demand it from others. Maxwell’s Law of the Lid drove home the point that leadership is personal. Others can help, but if I don’t help myself by demanding from myself, all my good intentions are wasted. My priority is to aim at doing the best in everything I do, and the way to do it is to set goals each day and aim for them. I learned that my desire to be a leader is worth as much as my ability to lead myself. How can I give what I do not have, and how can I ask others to sacrifice if I am not willing to do so? I can empower others if I am secure in the thought that I am practicing personal leadership, starting with myself, and then learning from the examples of other leaders in the company.

Fourth, I must learn to articulate visions, goals, and objectives so others can follow. As Maxwell’s fifth law states, it takes a leader to chart the course (33). Leaders package the vision, so I have to work on my skills to set the vision and goals and make it easy for others to follow.

And fifth, I must aim high, be ambitious, but with the good of the company, my work, and everyone in mind. Having great goals for myself and my work is good, as long as I make sure my team wins. The examples (153-157) of Churchill winning the war and Jordan winning championship games helped me see the importance of guts, heart, and single-mindedness to win. Winning may not be everything, but just the same, I hate to lose. Jaime Escalante’s example (166) shows that if you expect people to do well, they will deliver. That’s leadership.