The subtitle of Maxwell’s book is “Follow them and the people will follow.” Every time I read that, I hear a reply in my head: “Don’t follow them and people won’t follow you.” This book, revised and updated in 2007 to mark the 10th anniversary of The 21 Irrefutable Laws, is rightly considered a seminal piece of leadership literature.
As the title indicates, Maxwell presents 21 laws of leadership, all of them independent and yet mutually supportive. You can learn a lot just by reviewing the 21 laws with Maxwell’s brief explanation of each:
1. The law of the cap: Leadership ability determines the level of effectiveness of a person
2. The law of influence: The true measure of leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less
3. The law of process: Leadership is developed daily, not in a day
Four. The law of navigation: Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to turn the tide
5. The law of addition: Leaders add value by serving others
6. The law of the land: Trust is the foundation of leadership
7. The law of respect: People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves
8. The law of intuition: Leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias
9. The law of magnetism: Who you are is who you attract
10. The law of connection: Leaders touch a heart before asking for a hand
eleven. The law of the inner circle: A leader’s potential is determined by those closest to him
12. The law of empowerment: Only confident leaders empower others
13. The law of the image: People do what people see
14. The law of purchase: People buy from the leader, then from the vision
fifteen. The law of victory: Leaders find a way for the team to win
sixteen. The Law of Big Mo: Momentum is a leader’s best friend
17. The law of priorities: Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily an achievement
18. The law of sacrifice: A leader must give up to climb
19. The law of time: When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go
twenty. The law of explosive growth: To add growth, lead followers – To multiply, lead leaders
twenty-one. The law of the legacy: The lasting worth of a leader is measured by succession
My favorite law, the umbrella under which all other laws fall, is the Law of Process. Leadership cannot be developed in a day or a week. Instead, it grows and refines itself through a life of self-management, skill acquisition, and relationships:
If you continually invest in your leadership development, letting your “assets” compose, the inevitable result is growth over time. What can you see when you look at a person’s daily schedule? Priorities, passion, skills, relationships, attitude, personal disciplines, vision and influence. See what a person is doing every day, day after day, and you will know who that person is and what they are becoming.
Often times when I speak to new attorneys about leadership development, someone in the group will ask me why a recent graduate or an attorney in the early years of practice should care about leadership development as they are at the bottom of the totem pole. . . My answer is threefold.
First, it is essential to lead yourself and develop a solid foundation in self-management. Second, usually even “bottom of the totem” attorneys soon have the opportunity to lead something, be it a document review team or a subcommittee. And third, as Maxwell writes, “Champions don’t become champions in the ring, they are simply recognized there.” If an attorney waits until a leadership position is on the horizon to begin developing good leadership skills, the position may never show up, or if it does, the attorney will lack the skills necessary to thrive in that position. (By the way, point 3 is well illustrated in Maxwell’s first law, the Law of the Cap.)
What’s in it for lawyers? While each of the 21 irrefutable laws is important to leadership development, perhaps none refer to the profession in the same way as the Law of Explosive Growth. That law holds that leaders who develop leaders create an organization that can achieve explosive growth, since “for every leader they develop, they also receive the value of all of that leader’s followers.” Imagine the potential for huge, sustainable growth in a law firm that develops leaders.
Read one chapter a week and apply what you learn. You will undoubtedly grow as a leader and see a difference in your everyday life and practice, with clients, and in the leadership roles you can play.
