PDF Summary:The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell

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• The laws are the building blocks of leadership. Once you’ve learned the laws, you must practice them throughout your life.

(Shortform note: The original edition of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership was published in 1998. This ten-year-anniversary edition drops two laws (combining the principles with other existing laws) and adds two new ones. Some of the examples are also updated from the original edition.)

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• However, if you left your success at 8/10 and increased your leadership even by only one point to 2/10, you’d end up with a score of 16/100.
• Therefore, one of the fastest and best ways to improve your effectiveness is to work on your leadership skills.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: McDonald’s Franchise—Dick and Maurice

Two entrepreneurial brothers, Dick and Maurice, were looking for a business opportunity. Unfortunately, even though they were innovative, they were both lousy leaders.

The brothers opened a theatre but struggled to even make rent. Next, they opened a drive-through restaurant. The restaurant was successful; so successful that they were able to move to a larger location. In this new location, the brothers innovated: they changed the service method from drive-through to walk-up, focused on hamburgers, and sped up their service. They were skilled managers and had good ideas. Things were going so well they decided to franchise. However, franchising required leadership ability, which neither of them had. They only managed to sell franchises to 15 buyers, only ten of whom actually opened restaurants.

Example of Successful...

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• Myth #2: Entrepreneurs=Leaders. Entrepreneurs find and pursue opportunities. They aren’t necessarily the same people who lead the project that the opportunities present.
• Myth #3: Knowledgeable people=Leaders. It’s possible to be very knowledgeable in any field but have no leadership ability.
• Myth #4: Trendsetters=Leaders. Trendsetters are simply the first people to do something. Other people may copy them, but if they’re not intentionally following the trendsetter, the trendsetter isn’t acting as a leader.
• Myth #5: Titled people=Leaders. Rank, title, or credentials are not a substitute for influence.

Leading voluntary organizations is a good test of leadership abilities because the leader has no leverage. Military leaders or bosses can pull rank or dock salaries, but volunteers are only there because they want to be. If they don’t like the leader, they don’t have to follow, they can just leave.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Mother Teresa

At one point, Mother Teresa was one of the most influential people in the world. A good example of her influence was when she gave a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in...

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(Shortform note: Unlike in other chapters, no failed application is given.)

Leadership Actionables

The best leaders invest in their followers, so as a leader, you should create opportunities for your followers to learn this law alongside you. Create a culture that values personal growth and leadership development, and facilitate development activities such as getting trainers for your followers, or sharing your own expertise as a mentor. When you create an environment where growth is valued, it will exponentially increase. And this growth culture will start attracting high-potential people.

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1. Consider priorities
   1. Determine the requirements of the auditorium
   2. Consider budget constraints
2. Communicate with key members of your organization
   1. Meet with key leaders
   2. Create and distribute a report to the congregation
3. Allow time for everyone to get on board with the idea
   1. Schedule a congregational meeting for two months after starting step #4
4. Officially propose the project
   1. Present the project at the congregational meeting
5. There will be problems—accept and anticipate this
   1. Accept and anticipate problems, and cover questions before they’re asked
   2. Answer questions that come up
6. Keep successes in mind
   1. Write and share good news reports
7. Review and adjust your plan every day
   1. Periodically review the schedule and plans to make sure everything’s going smoothly

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Race to the South Pole—Roald Amundsen

In 1911, two explorations raced to the South Pole. One was led by Norweigan explorer Roald Amundsen.

Amundsen was a planner. He spoke with other Arctic explorers and copied their methods. He recruited skiers and dog handlers, selected the best...

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*   For example, Jesus once washed his disciples’ feet, showing that he cared deeply for his followers.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Fed-Mart—Unnamed Manager

Each week, the chairman of Fed-Mart schedules a meeting to purposely “raise hell” about problems in stores to see how his managers react. One manager took credit for his employees’ achievements and blamed them for problems. The manager was fired. The manager didn’t care about his employees, and the chairman knew that successes and failures don’t rest on a single person’s shoulders.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Costco—Jim Sinegal

Sinegal is the CEO of Costco. He was successful because he kept costs low, didn’t advertise, prioritized high volume sales, and offered a limited number of products. These ideas weren’t that revolutionary, though—where he stands out is in his treatment of employees.

Sinegal pays his employees well (42% more than the company’s chief rival pays) and offers good benefits. He has an open-door policy, knows all of his employees’ names, and once flew to San Francisco when a Costco exec was hospitalized. In short, he cares about his employees....

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Example of Failed Application of the Law: Vietnam War

Initially, the American population supported the Vietnam War, in spite of large casualties. Americans believed that the war was important to the fight against communism.

However, over time public support eroded. The war was handled badly, it dragged on even after leaders realized they couldn’t win, and McNamara and President Johnson misled or outright lied to the country about how things were going. Once people realized that they weren’t being told the truth, their faith in their leaders dissolved and they protested. McNamara resigned. Johnson didn’t run for reelection. But the distrust didn’t end with those specific leaders. Even today, Americans still distrust their political leaders. (Shortform note: this book was published in 2007).

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Skyline Church—John C. Maxwell

When John C. Maxwell was the senior pastor of Skyline Church, he accidentally broke trust with his congregation. He made three major decisions (fired someone, cancelled a service, and changed part of the Christmas show) without following proper processes. Usually, any decision-making...

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• Ask for change. Do your followers embrace it?

If you’re not respected, your followers will make excuses, avoid doing what you’ve asked, challenge you, or leave.

If people aren’t following you, it may not only be because you lack respect—it could also be because they’re stronger leaders than you. Even if you have a great vision or plan, you’re not going to be able to take charge of people who are better at leadership than you are. It’s very rare that a strong leader will choose to follow a weaker leader. In those cases, it’s typically out of respect for past accomplishments, or because of hierarchy.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Free Agency

These examples about free agency demonstrate a lack of loyalty:

• Professional athletes who switch teams every time someone offers them a better deal aren’t respected by their teammates or coaches.
• CEOs who bail out after negotiating high severance packages aren’t respected by their coworkers.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman had a lot of things working against her. She started life as a slave, suffered a serious head injury as a child, was a...

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Example of Failed Application of the Law: “Worst of the Sixth”—Outgoing Commander

One of the battalions in the Vietnam War was nicknamed “worst of the Sixth.” The troops were incompetent, morale was low, and the battalion had scored only 16/100 on its annual inspection. What had happened to this battalion? Poor leadership—particularly a failure to consider intangibles such as morale.

One of the battalion’s commanders never inspected his troops. The officers didn’t care about anything, men were dying, and no one was following security protocols. Instead of trying to turn this around, the commander left the battalion, blaming its failure on the troops.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: “Worst of the Sixth”—General H. Norman Schwarzkopf

U.S. Army General H. Norman Schwarzkopf was the incoming commander of the “worst of the Sixth” battalion. He quickly assessed the group and realized that most of the problems weren’t to do with the troops; they were the fault of the outgoing commander.

Schwarzkopf did everything the outgoing commander hadn’t—he studied the troops and used his leadership intuition to improve intangibles. He noticed the officers were...

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If you let this law run unchecked, you’ll end up with a team of people who all have the same strengths and weaknesses as you. Your team will be about as effective as a soccer team made up entirely of goalies.

To build a team of people who aren’t like you, you have to change yourself so you attract different people. Changing yourself may be just a matter of increasing your skills. For example, if you want to attract more and better leaders, become a better leader yourself. You may also need to take a look at your character. If you’re attracting negative, immoral people, consider your own values.

Example of “Successful” Application of the Law: Dr. Butcher and Adolf Hitler

This law is a phenomenon rather than a rule you can break or follow, so the rule will always apply itself unless you actively work against it. Here are two examples of the law at work, one with positive consequences, one with negative:

• Dr. Orval Butcher was an excellent musician. When he was pastor of Skyline Church, many of the other people who worked at the church were also musical. Because Dr. Butcher was a musician, he attracted other musicians. When John C. Maxwell (a...

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• Offer hope. Hope suggests a future. People follow leaders because they want to get to a certain future.

Pitfall alert! Connecting is not the responsibility of followers, it is the responsibility of leaders. Don’t expect your followers to come to you. Initiate contact yourself. Use a technique called “walking through the crowd”—literally walk through a crowd and get to know people. Learn names, listen to people, relate to them. Make time when you’re available to others. The stronger your relationships with others, the more you will connect with them.

Like Law #5 (serve others), when you’ve successfully connected with your followers, they will work harder for you and be loyal.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: George W. Bush—Aftermath of 9/11

Four days after 9/11, Bush went to visit Ground Zero. He talked to first responders and shook their hands. He thanked them for their work and listened to their stories. When he was speaking, the crowd shouted that they couldn’t hear him, and he responded, “I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” Americans were angry,...

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• Value. Is the potential teammate an asset to you and the organization? Have they got a successful track record?
  • Being valuable to you personally isn’t selfish—if your team members have a negative effect on you, and you’re leading the organization when you’re not at your best, the organization will suffer.
• Chemistry.
  • Does the potential teammate interact positively with other members of the team? Do they have a niche where they can uniquely contribute?
  • Do they make the other members of the team better, by encouraging them, helping them, or competing with them?
• Morally upstanding. This is a dealbreaker. Morally upstanding people shouldn’t automatically be added to your team, but morally suspect people should definitely not make the cut.

Once you’ve collected your leadership team, it’s time to develop the individuals by doing the following:

• Develop your relationship with your team members. Spend time with them and mentor them.
• Give them a chance to practice leadership. Give them responsibility and hold them to a high standard.
• Find meaning in their results. When things go well, give them credit. If...

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Ford wasn’t only protective of his designs. He didn’t like giving others authority over anything. He created a “sociological department” to keep an eye on his employee’s personal lives. He undermined his leaders, even his son Edsel, who was president of the company.

The company suffered. In 1914, Ford Motor Company had produced almost half the cars in the US, and by 1931, the company’s market share had almost halved. The best employees left.

The company got another chance when Henry Ford II, Henry Ford’s grandson, took over the company and convinced his grandfather to step away. Ford II knew he needed help to run the company and looked for talent. He hooked up with several strong leaders and they turned the company around. However, Ford II then made the same mistake as his grandfather—he failed to consider this law. He felt threatened by the strong leaders. He pitted them against each other and demoted them when they were most successful. He couldn’t share power with others, and the company and its employees suffered, just like they had under his grandfather.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Abraham Lincoln (as a President)

Most presidents...

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*   Example #2: If a boss comes in late, that sets a precedent. Employees feel they can come in late too.

• It’s easier to tell people what to do than it is to actually do it.
  • For example, many of the companies that teach ethics still have ethics problems. It’s not enough to teach ethical behavior; someone has to model it.
• Because people imitate leaders, you need to change yourself before you try to change anyone else. Leaders are responsible for their followers’ performance. If followers perform the same way a leader does, and a leader’s not very good, the followers’ performance won’t be very good either.
• People value leading by example more than other leadership traits such as strong ethics or knowledge.
  • Example #1: A survey by the Opinion Research Corporation for Ajilon Finance found that 26% of American workers thought that leading by example was the most important of six leadership characteristics.
  • Example #2: Most good leaders have been mentored by another good leader. Since good leaders lead by example, look at leaders who are stronger than you and copy what they do.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Easy...

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*   For example, few British people were on board with Tony Blair’s Iraq policy. However, they liked Blair, so they kept electing him anyway.

• People like the leader and the vision. This is the ideal situation—when followers are on board with everything, they will follow the leader no matter what.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Dot-Com Boom and Skyline Church

The author doesn’t provide an extended example of failure to follow this law. He mentions a few shorter examples:

• During the dot-com boom, many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs tried to start companies. Even when they had good ideas, they couldn’t get investors, because they hadn’t established themselves as leaders.
• When John C. Maxwell first arrived at Skyline Church, his vision was to build a new auditorium (see Law #4 for more detail). Since he was brand-new to the community, he knew that while the auditorium was a compelling vision, he wasn’t yet a compelling enough leader to successfully sell the idea to the congregation. (It wasn’t until two years later, after gaining credibility, that he shared...

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Before Winston Churchill became prime minister, he began expressing his opinions about the danger of Nazis. Because Churchill practiced Law #8 (leaders pay attention to intangibles), he anticipated that Great Britain was going to have to fight the Nazis at some point. Other British leaders didn’t listen or didn’t act, and eventually Churchill became prime minister. In his first speech, he said: “You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.” Churchill wouldn’t compromise. He wouldn’t accept a deal with Hitler. The only thing he would accept was winning.

To win, Churchill deployed troops against Mussolini, allied himself with Stalin even though he hated communism, and developed a relationship with President Franklin Roosevelt, who he believed would help him win. Roosevelt also practiced this law (for example, he dealt with the impossible situation that was the Great Depression), and his leadership, combined with Churchill’s, helped win the war.

(Shortform note: Unlike in other chapters, no failed...

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• Momentum is the best way to create change. When something is working, even if it’s new and different, everyone wants to be on the winning side.
  • For example, when a sports team starts winning, everyone starts supporting them, even if they weren’t previously interested in the sport, and sometimes even if they would normally cheer for a different team.
• Momentum is created by leaders. Creating momentum requires vision, motivation, and a good team, and leaders can encourage momentum by celebrating and rewarding accomplishments. Followers can get on board with momentum, and managers can use it, but leaders are the ones who start it.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Division

The cofounder of Pixar was Ed Catmull, a failed animator who studied physics and math and eventually found his calling in computer animation. Catmull developed new software and dreamed of making computer-animated full-length films. George Lucas hired Catmull and Catmull put together a strong team including John Lasseter, who had formerly worked at Disney. Catmull’s team produced the “Genesis” sequence in Star Trek II, and while it was...

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*   If you could delegate a task to someone who could do it 80% as well, give it to them.
*   If you don’t have people who can do things 80% as well as you can, then find someone you can train up to this standard.

• Reward. It’s worth spending time on things you love.
  • For example, if you love playing golf, you should make time for it no matter how many other things you need to do.

The very best application of this law is to address multiple priorities with a single action. If you can do one action but satisfy several priorities, then you’ll be able to increase your focus without using up any extra time.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: John C. Maxwell

For many years, John C. Maxwell lived in San Diego. He loved the city and planned to stay there for his entire life. Since his job involved speaking, he had to travel a lot. One day he asked his assistant to calculate how much time he spent on planes, and discovered that he was spending the equivalent of 27 days a year traveling just between San Diego and Dallas (to make connections). **He then came up against one of the barriers to prioritizing—doing something he didn’t want to do, which...

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Sports teams rarely win championships two years in a row. This is because their leaders often think that if the team wins one year, they can win the next by doing the same thing. Continuing to do what worked in the past is easier than making new sacrifices, but it never pays off. Often, the competition is fiercer the next year, and by staying stagnant, last year’s champions can’t compete.

Example of Successful Application of the Law: Martin Luther King Jr.

When Martin Luther King Jr. was studying at Crozer Seminary, he experienced two formative leadership moments: he learned about Gandhi’s work, and was elected president of his senior class. Soon after King moved to Montgomery, Alabama to work for a Baptist Church, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger. African American leaders arranged a one-day transit system boycott and created the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). King was elected president. King and the MIA organized and extended the transit boycott and negotiated with the city for rights for African Americans. King was arrested, indicted, and someone threw a bomb on his porch. Finally, the US Supreme...

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Leaders at other levels of government botching the timing too. It took days to get the federal government organized and the Superdome wasn’t evacuated until September 4. More than 1,836 people died, 86% of whom were from Louisiana, and 80% of those were from the Orleans and St. Bernard parishes.

Not all of Nagin’s decisions were wrong—evacuating people was a good call—but the timing of his decisions was so abysmal that the outcome was a disaster anyway.

(Shortform note: Unlike other chapters, no successful application was given.)

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• Spending time vs. investing time.
  • LWAF don’t develop their followers. Their followers don’t improve.
  • LWAL help their people become better leaders, which increases their value to the organization.
• Addition (direct) vs. multiplication (indirect).
  • LWAF only impact people directly. When a leader gains a follower, they gain a single person.
  • LWAL impact their people, and since their people are leaders and have their own followers, the top leader is therefore impacting a whole chain of followers.

There are three main challenges to applying this law:

1. It’s hard to find leaders. There aren’t that many people in the world who are capable of applying the laws of leadership.
2. It’s hard to amass leaders. Leaders often want to do their own thing. Your vision has to be more compelling and interesting than theirs if you want to bring them over. You also need to have an organization that will interest them. Most organizations want stability, structure, and rules. Leaders want the opposite.
3. It’s hard to keep leaders. You can only lead leaders if your leadership abilities are stronger than theirs (remember Law #7, leaders follow...

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• Create a succession plan. If you’re a good leader, and your successor is a good leader, that’s a good start, but there needs to be a handoff.
  • For example, Tom Mullins of EQUIP is training his son to be his successor. His son has already taken over many of Tom’s responsibilities, even though Tom is still the leader. This allows his son to practice under Tom’s guidance.

There are four phases of legacy development:

1. Solo. Leaders achieve things by themselves.
2. Add followers. Leaders are successful when followers do things for them.
3. Add other leaders. Leaders are significant when their leaders do things with them.
4. Remove original leader. Leaders create a legacy when their leaders are capable of doing things without them.

Example of Failed Application of the Law: Oscars “In Memoriam” Montage

Every year during the Oscars, the program shows clips of people who have died during the previous year. These people receive different amounts of applause during the montage, but after it’s over, everyone refocuses on the Oscar nominees. **People aren’t remembered for their accomplishments; they’re measured by how well their successors...

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• Do I practice what I preach?
• Do people follow me, even if I don’t have a good idea?
• Do I strive for victory at all costs?
• Do I regularly demonstrate enthusiasm, even if I’m not feeling that motivated?
• Do I regularly delegate tasks?
• When I have to give something up to achieve my goals, do I do so?
• Do I consider the current conditions before embarking on a project?
• Do I spend 80% of my time on the top 20% of my people?
• Do I know who will succeed me when I leave my position?