This post is an export of the notes I took while watching a YouTube lecture series by John C. Maxwell on what he calls The 21 Immutable Laws of Leadership.
1. The Law of the Lid
Leadership determines the highest level of effectiveness. Everything rises and falls based on leadership.
Maxwell tells a story about the first thing a certain hedge fund does after taking over a bankrupt company: they train all the leaders and fire the president. The reason?
“If the president was good, the company wouldn’t be bankrupt”
Rank yourself, and rank the lid numbers of those around you.
2. The Law of Influence
The true measure of leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.
- Position – lowest level of leadership. “Rights” are granted to you and people follow you because they have to.
- Permission – relationships. People follow you because they want to.
- Production – results. People follow you because of what you’ve done for the organization
- People – reproduction. People follow you because of what you’ve done for them.
- Personhood – respect. You’ve done it for so long that people respect you. The highest level of leadership.