ACCORDING TO AMERICA ’ S NO . 1 LEADERSHIP AUTHORITY , JOHN C . MAXWELL
LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
6 IRREFUTABLE WAYS TO BE A MORE EFFECTIVE , INFLUENTIAL AND SUCCESSFUL LEADER
ACCORDING TO AMERICA ’ S NO . 1 LEADERSHIP AUTHORITY , JOHN C . MAXWELL
“ How you lead determines how well you succeed .” — John Maxwell
I f you ’ re like much of the population , at some point in your life , you ’ ve experienced poor leadership . Either you ’ ve had a boss that made you dread coming to work , or you have been part of an organization where the leader was difficult and focused on your shortcomings . If you ’ re fortunate , you ’ ve also experienced working with a great leader . One who valued you , listened to you , motivated and inspired you .
The former leader leads to low morale , high turnover and a below-average company while the latter leader leads to a team of highly motivated and talented employees , company growth and an organization that is continually achieving new levels of success .
So , what makes one person a great leader and another a poor one ? During a private , closed-door training , John Maxwell answered that question . He discussed the laws of leadership that make a great leader . He also revealed the good news that , even if you are a poor leader today , you can develop your leadership skills to become a great leader .
Maxwell , who has been studying , speaking , teaching , training and writing about leadership for more than five decades , is the founder of the largest leadership training organization in the world . He has trained six million leaders — in every country in the world . He wrote the first book ever written on leadership that said you can develop yourself as a leader . The book , “ The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership ,” immediately became a bestseller and is the all-time bestselling leadership book ever written . It ’ s been printed in 56 different languages and sold millions of copies . In China alone , it ’ s sold over 10 million copies .
The reason Maxwell ’ s laws of leadership are so popular is because they work . And the reason they work is because they are foundational laws . For a law of leadership to be included in the book , it had to meet specific criteria : It had to work in any culture , anywhere in the world . And it had to work regardless of time . In other words , it worked 100 years ago , it works today and it will work 100 years from now .
Here are key takeaways from John Maxwell ’ s presentation that will help you lead your company better so that your business can reach its full potential :
The law of the lid . Maxwell defines this law by saying , “ Leadership ability is the lid that determines a person ’ s level of effectiveness . The lower an individual ’ s ability to lead , the lower the lid on his potential .” In other words , “ How you lead determines how well you succeed .” On a scale of one to 10 , if your leadership skills are at a level five , your company will never rise above that . At most , Maxwell says , your company will be at a level four . In other words , if you are an average leader , you ’ ll have a slightly below average organization . Your company can never rise above your level of leadership .
Says Maxwell : “ Everything rises and falls on leadership . It works in the business world . It works in government . It works in education . It works in religion . How well you lead is going to determine how well you succeed . Your leadership is your lid . The great news is , you can learn to lead , and not only can you learn to lead , your people can learn to lead .”
YOUR LEADERSHIP LID IS YOUR LID .
If you want to grow your company , you must do two things . You must develop yourself and you must develop others to grow them into leaders . When you develop yourself , you begin to add to your life . When you develop others , you begin to multiply the value you add to others . Once you add value to a leader , that leader turns around and influences a lot of people .
“ This law is the most important law ,” Maxwell said . “ Not because it ’ s more important than the others , but if you understand this law , you will begin to spend the rest of your life with a passion to learn how to lead better than you do now .”
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