LEADERSHIP

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

 

In 2013, as I lay in my bed, unable to go to sleep due to the stresses and worries on my mind, I grabbed my phone and decided to look through Facebook to take my mind off things. As I scrolled through, I came across a post by John C. Maxwell.

 

John is an author, speaker, trainer and the world’s most highly regarded leadership guru. I have read many of John’s books (he has written over 70!) during my life, and he would be the one author I have followed and read more of than any other author. John is generous beyond compare and through him I have learned more about myself and leadership than from any other single source (or possibly even combined).

 

As I read the Facebook post, it asked if I wanted to make a life-changing decision and become part of the ‘John Maxwell Team’. Amidst everything that was going on in my life and the challenges we were facing, I didn’t even hesitate when I clicked the link and began the process. I felt such an overwhelming need and pull towards this that the many reasons why now were not a good time did not even enter my mind.

 

After being accepted into the ‘John Maxwell Team’, I had to study and learn a large amount of online content on much of John’s teachings and books, after which I had to travel to Orlando, Florida, for three weeks and mentor with John and his team.

 

This process was the pinnacle of my leadership journey and the many years I had learned leadership through books and mentorship with others. John is an incredible man, so generous and giving in nature, whose purpose is to leave a legacy with those who share his passion for serving others, to raise leaders throughout the world.

 

When I returned to Sydney, I was committed and determined to make this my life’s work. I knew my journey and purpose was to serve others, in particular those in business, to live a life of purpose and fulfilment.

 

 

 

John has written many outstanding books, and there are so many that will change your life once you have read them. One of his most famous is The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. It has sold over one million copies worldwide and is on all the best sellers lists. There are 21 laws throughout the book, and I would like to share with you three laws that I feel have had the most significant impact in my business and my life. It is important to understand though, that the laws all work on their own, but by applying all of them to your business and life, they will have a profound and significant effect on your success, not only in your ability to lead, but every area of your life. I have already shared The Law of the Lid in Chapter One; here are three more:

 

• Law 3: The Law of the Process
• Law 11: The Law of the Inner Circle
• Law 16: The Law of the Big Mo

 

Law 3: The Law of the Process

The law of process states that leadership develops daily, not in a day. What John is saying is that learning and developing in the area of leadership, or really any aspect of your life, is a process. it doesn’t happen overnight. There are no overnight successes, merely the payoff being recognised. It’s the countless hours, days, nights, months and maybe years of hard work that went in beforehand, that created an overnight success.

 

One of my favourite quotes by Joe Frazier is:

 

“Champions aren’t made in the ring; they’re merely recognised there.  What you cheat on in the early light of the morning will show up in the ring under the bring lights.”

 

If you want to learn how to become a better leader, you need to put in the hard yards of learning and development in the area of leadership for years and decades. Every day you will become a better leader, but over a decade you will become a leader.

 

When I hold leadership or professional development events, I see many people get excited and make decisions, and write down actions about how they are going to implement and make changes. This is great, but the issue is that we often overestimate the importance of events and underestimate the power of process. Events motivate people, encourage decisions and require little resilience and determination. A process, however, develops people, is long-term, requires commitment and is hard work. Think of it like this − if you are stuck and need motivation or inspiration, go to an event. If you want to improve and develop yourself, then you’ll need a process of development that you commit to, long-term.

 

In my business, Bx, we understand this. We don’t run one-off events, without the option for people to engage in a process following the event. We know that people who are serious about personal and professional growth, and truly want to see results in their business and life, will join us in the process − not just for a bit of motivation at a one-off event.

 

Law 11: The Law of the Inner Circle

The Law of the Inner Circle states that, “A leader’s potential is determined by those closest to him.” Who is in your inner circle? Most of us will instinctively think about the people that report to us; however, this law goes beyond that.

 

Did you know that you are the average of the seven people you spend the most amount of time with? I guess you could say you are what you eat OR you are who you associate with. This applies to those in your business and also in your life. Who do you spend the most amount of time with? Do they add value to your life? As we grow, mature and go through life, sometimes we need to make decisions to move on from people. When someone no longer serves your life’s purpose or adds value to you, it is time to re-evaluate your relationship.

 

In your small business, you may have few (or even no) people on your team or that report to you, but it is not just about the people on your team, it’s about who you have that contributes to the success or otherwise of your business and your life.

 

In my businesses, I have always tried to have the best people around me. I haven’t always been successful at this and, upon reflection, I can measure the success of my businesses and life by the calibre of the people I’ve had around me. In fact, I could graph the results and write people’s names against the highs and lows. Now this may seem harsh (which is why I am not going to publish the graph in the book!), but the truth of the matter is that our success is measured by those we have around us − our inner circle.

 

It is important to consider who you are bringing into your inner circle. Human nature would have most people surround themselves with people similar to themselves. This is because, subconsciously, they feel safe and secure. However, as a leader, we need to find people who make us whole, who make up for our shortcomings and complement the team.

 

“You can do what I cannot do, I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”

~ Mother Theresa

 

John Maxwell says to find the right people for your inner circle, you need to answer “yes” to the following questions about candidates for your inner circle:

 

1. Do they have high influence with others?
2. Do they bring a complimentary gift to the table?
3. Do they hold a strategic position in the organisation?
4. Do they add value to me and the organisation?
5. Do they positively impact other inner circle members?

 

If you want your business and life to be successful, intentionally surround yourself with the right people. Stephen Covey, in his book Good to Great, says leaders of companies that go from good to great start not with ‘where’, but with ‘who’. They start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. And they stick with that discipline − first the people, then the direction − no matter how dire the circumstances.

 

Law 16: The Law of the Big Mo

The Law of Momentum states, “Momentum is a leader’s best friend.” In Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, he demonstrates the Law of the Big Mo, by referring to a flywheel.

 

“Picture a huge, heavy flywheel. It’s a massive, metal disk mounted horizontally on an axle. It’s about 100 feet in diameter, 10 feet thick, and it weighs about 25 tons. That flywheel is your company. Your job is to get that flywheel to move as fast as possible, because momentum − mass times velocity − is what will generate superior economic results over time.

 

Right now, the flywheel is at a standstill. To get it moving, you make a tremendous effort. You push with all your might, and finally you get the flywheel to inch forward. After two or three days of sustained effort, you get the flywheel to complete one entire turn. You keep pushing, and the flywheel begins to move a bit faster. It takes a lot of work, but at last the flywheel makes a second rotation. You keep pushing steadily. It makes three turns, four turns, five, six. With each turn, it moves faster, and then− at some point, you can’t say exactly when − you break through. The momentum of the heavy wheel kicks in your favour. It spins faster and faster, with its own weight propelling it. You aren’t pushing any harder, but the flywheel is accelerating, its momentum building, its speed increasing.

 

This is the Flywheel Effect. It’s what it feels like when you’re inside a company that makes the transition from good to great.”

 

 

 

Momentum is a leader’s best friend for a number of reasons, as outlined by John C. Maxwell. These are:

 

1. Momentum is the great exaggerator.

Have you ever played a game of sport in a team and your team was on fire, you were on a roll and nothing could stop you? This is momentum. On the flip side, you may have been on the losing side and the opposite was true, and you just couldn’t catch a break. Perhaps you have even noticed one of these scenarios in your business. This is the power of momentum, it magnifies the results and efforts of the team. When you are experiencing momentum, success and results, you don’t sweat the small stuff, but, without momentum, most of the small stuff seems insurmountable.

 

2. Momentum makes leaders look better than they are.

When a leader has momentum on their side, you overlook the shortcomings of the leader, you forget their past mistakes and you glorify their current success. Momentum changes people’s perceptions of a leader, and people love to be associated with them.

 

3. Momentum helps followers perform better than they are.

When an organisation has great momentum, the team is inspired and motivated to perform to their absolute best. They often achieve beyond their ability. Even ‘average’ people will perform far above average in an organisation with great momentum.

 

4. Momentum is easier to steer than to start.

Like the flywheel, momentum takes massive effort and energy to start, but once it starts moving and momentum sets in, it requires little to no effort to maintain. An organisation with momentum can be steered easily and effectively and can achieve great things.

 

 

 

5. Momentum is the most powerful change agent.

If change is required in an organisation, momentum is your greatest ally. With momentum, successes and a winning environment, followers are much more inclined to accept and embrace change.

 

6. Momentum is the leader’s responsibility.

Momentum takes energy, perseverance, vision and commitment. The leader needs to be the person to crank the flywheel. Creating momentum is the leader’s responsibility − to motivate, inspire, energise and create vision for the organisation.

 

7. Momentum begins inside the leader.

When the leader believes with all their being in the vision, momentum is breathed to life through the leader. It all starts within the leader’s passion, enthusiasm and vision for the organisation to ignite the fire within the organisation.

 

In 2015, I launched my business Bx. My purpose was defined in that business and my ability to serve and help other business owners achieve success in both business and life. I had a fire within me, and I could feel the momentum shifting. Things started to happen, things fell in my favour and the Law of the Big Mo took hold.

 

In August of 2015, we held our first event for Bx, called Bxponential. I was committed to it being a massive success, and the launching pad for the Bx business. We had been turning the flywheel with huge amounts of effort for about 18 months, and now I could feel the momentum taking hold. All of a sudden (as if by some overnight success story!), the following occurred within a very short space of time:

 

• Terry Hawkins, Australia’s most in-demand and amazing keynote speaker, accepted our invitation to headline our event;
• The venue that was previously booked for the date and time we wanted became available;
• The media picked up a story about me, which featured a front page newspaper article as well as about six other newspaper articles in the coming two months;
• The Prime Minister met with me for over thirty minutes, in private, to discuss how he could support me in my quest to serve small business;
• I opened a nationally broadcasted press conference with the Prime Minister;
• I won Business Person of the Year;
• I won Most Outstanding Professional Services;
• I met with the Federal Minister for Small Business to discuss Bx and small business in Australia;
• I met with the NSW Treasurer to discuss Bx and small business in Australia;

 

I don’t mention any of this to ‘big-note’ myself. On the contrary, it demonstrates the power of the Law of the Big Mo. I understand it, and it has proven to be critical to the launch of our new business. Once you’re on it − don’t fall off, enjoy the ride!

 

Leading Yourself, Leading Others and Leading Leaders

 

I started learning about leadership when I was in my late teens, probably about 19. Throughout my early 20s, I had a very limited understanding of leadership. I was more of a position-based leader − I thought that my position and title carried the influence needed (and it did, to a degree), but it was limited.

 

As I continued my development over the next few years and into my late 20s, I began to see the results of almost ten years of leadership development. My team began to respond to my influence, I no longer had to be somewhere to wield influence with those team members as they carried out their roles. However, it wasn’t enough.

 

Into my 30s and mid-30s, I moved into a different level of leadership. I was now beginning to understand that developing in the area of leadership myself was only the first step in becoming a top leader. Top leaders understand that leadership has many levels, and if you want to climb those levels, actually developing the levels of leadership in those around you is the next crucial step.

 

The next level of leadership is legacy. Creating my legacy has only just begun. I have realised that if I truly want to make a difference on this planet, I need to create something that is not only beyond my reach, but beyond my lifetime.

 

My legacy is to empower business owners across the globe to achieve business growth and success, to live a life of fulfilment and prosperity, and to be able to choose to live life as they want, not by what the constraints of their business allows.

 

If you are new to your leadership journey, then you need to start at ‘level one’, developing the leader within you. Leadership development is a process, it takes time, energy and perseverance. Above all things in your life, if you spend time developing your leadership ability, it will pay dividends across every other area of your life. Your leadership development will require spending time reading, listening to audio, watching DVDs and YouTube videos on leadership, attending conferences, workshops and seminars.

 

Personal development takes self-discipline. The fundamentals of leadership development are no different than what was discussed in the very first chapter. To become a top level leader, you need to first develop yourself, your mindset, and then (and only then) can you start to lead others.

 

The second level of leadership is developing the leaders around you. The pathway to growing a successful business is to grow its leaders. This process is a journey and takes many years to reach fruition. What is great about the journey, though, is that there are many great rewards along the way. Success isn’t just realised at the end of the journey, it is a growing momentum of continued success and achievement. Developing the leaders around you is an incredibly rewarding and gratifying experience, and if you want to take your business to the next level, it is also critical.

 

The flow chart below demonstrates the process of developing the leaders in your business. The process never ends, and the continued future success of your business depends on the success of the continued cycle of leadership development.

 

 

 

1. Create a Culture of Leadership

The culture of your organisation is important to the long-term success of your business, as outlined in chapter 2. Creating a culture of leadership is now different. Potential leaders need to know they are in an environment where being able to excel, to put your head up high and stand out will not result in ‘being knocked down a peg or two’. It is crucial in your business that you encourage leaders to stand up, stand out and make a difference.

 

2. Identify Potential Leaders

Not all potential leaders, though, will stand up and stand out. It’s up to the leaders in the business to recognise potential leaders in their varying forms. If you want to create a long-term and successful business with an incredible team of leaders, don’t pick all the ‘I’ and ‘D’ type personalities (DISC profiling[1]). Don’t look just at performance, look at their level of influence. Often, the most influential people are not the high performers, and often we promote the highest performers at a particular task or duty. They may not, however, be a leader. Identify your potential leaders, and then start to develop them.

 

3. Develop Potential Leaders

Once you have found your potential leader, you must spend time building trust, offering your time, building respect and nurturing them, or build a relationship with them. Impart your vision and continue to build on the relationship. The development process for a potential leader helps them build and refine their character and qualities, and helps them achieve their full potential.

 

4. Build Your Inner Circle

When you begin to form your inner circle, the magic starts to happen. Synergies begin to emerge, growth occurs within the company and momentum builds. Things happen without you and the Law of the Big Mo kicks in. Your inner circle needs to be created so there are no shortfalls, and your team of leaders is driving and pushing the success of your organisation.

 

Continue to add value and develop your leaders through this level and beyond.

 

5. Reproduce Future Leaders

The Law of Multiplication. The testament of leadership is at this level, when leaders you have nurtured and developed are now reproducing other leaders. The cycle starts again, and the future of your organisation now extends beyond you and your leadership. The leadership team has achieved momentum and can overcome challenges, and drives growth. Leaders who reproduce themselves in others multiply their influence beyond their own surroundings and influence, and into the far reaches of the organisation and beyond. Their influence now extends generations into the future.

 

 

Create a Legacy

 

The third level of leadership is legacy. What are we going to leave behind when we move on?

 

This third level of leadership is one that not many people consider early in life (I know I certainly didn’t). However, as time marches forward, we begin to wonder what we will leave behind in the world. Will my time here be just that; my time here? Have I made a difference?

 

To make a difference for future generations, we need to decide what is important to us and how we would like to create the best legacy around this.

 

To develop your legacy, follow these steps:

 

1. What legacy would you like to leave? Write down how you would like people to summarise your life, in a few sentences.
2. Live out the legacy you want to leave. Start to live and act the statement you created in point one.
3. Legacy is succession. Who are you going to handover to? Develop leaders to carry out your legacy without you.
4. Lead today with tomorrow in mind. “What we do in life echoes in eternity”, states Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator. We need to lead today to create the tomorrow we envisage.

 

There have been many incredible leaders throughout history. Unfortunately, while some achieve amazing things in their lifetime, they don’t create and leave a legacy.

 

 

 

“A leader’s lasting value is measured by succession.”

~ John C. Maxwell

 

 

 

[1] DISC Profiling is a form of personality profiling. ‘D’ type personalities are direct and driven. They are big picture thinkers and very results focused. ‘I’ type personalities, are not afraid to be the centre of attention. They are enthusiastic, optimistic,