Are you a leader? Do you want to grow your leadership influence? Do you want to understand new ways to effectively lead others? If so, then you’ll enjoy The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell. Upon further review, my first question should have been: Do you have a pulse? Because if you do, then you will get something out of this book!

About the Author

For the past 40 years, Jon C. Maxwell has been one of the world’s most well-renowned voices in leadership literature. He began his leadership journey as a pastor where he honed his philosophies & began his work as an author. Today Maxwell focuses on developing leaders around the globe through speaking, coaching, and writing. 

About the Book

In 1998, Maxwell wrote one of the all-time great leadership books: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. It’s on my Mount Rushmore of leadership books alongside: How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.

As the title alludes to, the book is divided into 21 sections which include Maxwell’s personal experience, popular leadership examples (some of which are slightly dated given the publishing date), and direct advice for leaders to follow. 

Personal Takeaways

A few Laws that resonated with me: 

Law #5: The Law of Addition. Do you know the people whom you serve? Truly effective leadership has a lot less to do with giving great speeches and sending well-crafted emails. It has a lot more to do with the unpredictable and exciting business of relationships. In this chapter Maxwell emphasizes how leaders need to get to know their people and find out about their lives & dreams. Then, use this learning to formulate organizational direction.

In 2020, I had the opportunity to experience a great example of the Law of Addition. Dr. Brian Modarelli became the head of schools at the International Christian School, Hong Kong where I was working. Instead of coming in and immediately making changes, Dr. M took the time to meet with many staff members. He asked key questions like: What could ICS do to help you do your job more effectively? If you could change one thing about our organization, what would it be? What is the single most valuable part of our school?

In 2021, I put my learning into practice by taking over the high school homeroom program. During the previous school year, I noticed a need related to the direction & organization of the program. I took time to gather data from students and faculty members, formulated a few ideas that I felt could help the program, and then presented these to my principal. Thankfully, he gave me the green light. This gave me the opportunity to successfully lead the homeroom program with the mindset of adding value to my students and co-workers. I continued to seek feedback from all stakeholders, using it as a measuring stick of the success of the project. It was key in my leadership development and key to the development of student care & mentorship at ICS.

Law #20: The Law of Explosive Growth. Want to know one of the biggest keys to enabling your organization to flourish? Here’s a hint, the answer to the question is more effective than shrewd marketing, good programs, or research & development. The answer is: find and develop the leaders around you. This is a key to organizational success that has come up in a few of my recent articles (What Are You FOR?; Develop Your People; and The Mentorship Mindset). And for good reason. As a leader there is nothing more exciting than having a veteran leader invest in you. I have benefitted from this law in action at schools in Canada, Thailand, and Hong Kong. Gaining knowledge and insight that would have taken years to glean on my own. In turn, I’ve paid some of my learning forward to student and peer leaders that I am in contact with.

Law #21: The Law of Legacy. How will you be remembered? As a person? As a leader? Maxwell advises that everyone determine their priorities and distill them down to one sentence. He calls it your “life sentence”. One that you want to be engraved on your tombstone. In some ways this is a harrowing thought. Death is the darkest of topics and scary to think about. But Maxwell uses the finality of the funeral to remind leaders that they are finite beings who only have so long to make a positive impact. He implores us to live with intention. As of today, my ‘life sentence’ is to reach thousands for God through excellent education.

Next Steps

• Want to know one of the biggest keys to enabling your organization to flourish?
• Do you know the people whom you serve?
• How will you be remembered?

These are important leadership questions. Each of which can reveal answers of varying complexity. Doing the work in digging into these topics and the rest of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership will help you to grow as a leader. If I had a money back guarantee, I would insert it right here… 

To find out more about this title check out Goodreads.com. To purchase, see Amazon.ca or your local bookstore. To find out more about John C. Maxwell’s company, follow this link to MaxwellLeadership.com.   

References

Carnegie, D. (1936). How to Win Friends & Influence People. Simon & Schuster.  

Goodreads. (2022). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/815716.The_21_Irrefutable_Laws_of_Leadership

Lencioni, P. (2002) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable. Jossey-Bass. 

Maxwell, J. C. (2012). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. HarperCollins Leadership. 

McLennan Community College. (2022). John C. Maxwell Biography. McLennan Community College. https://www.mclennan.edu/john-maxwell/biography.html#:~:text=Maxwell%20is%20a%20No.,in%20the%20world%20by%20Inc.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. It was a pleasure spending time with you today.

Peace & Blessings, 

– Josiah