I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, as I was busy getting ready for the Fathers and Sons camp-out in the afternoon, but after finishing The Richest Man in Babylon, I've moved on to the next book in my doTERRA Book of the Month list, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Interestingly, there are a few different versions of the book floating around; the original was written over ten years ago, in fact it's closer to 15 years back -- my copy is an updated and revised 10th anniversary edition from 2007, and in fact it's the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Workbook. That last word apparently means there is some space added for you to write stuff down, and the book could be used in a classroom setting; I don't know if anything was cut in the process or it it's simply a slightly longer version of the book, but looking at the information from Amazon it does appear that there are a few minor differences in the text from the regular book. But I digress....
Unlike the last book that was filled with typos and other errors and relied on allegories, this book is written for the modern world and uses real stories. That's a good thing in my opinion -- not that Babylon doesn't have useful information, but the style just feels rather dated and silly, like something written by the actual Babylonians! In fact, it's a collection of stories distributed in the 1920s and bound into book from in 1926, which might explain something of it's old style of writing. Anyway, I'm still off track, so let's get on to talking about the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership!
The book begins with a short overview of "the Laws" and then moves on to a self evaluation section of the 21 Laws. Each Law has three areas where you can rate yourself 0 to 3, with 0 being the worst. I tried to be honest, and came up with scores ranging from 3 to as high as 7 in the various areas, which means I could use improvement in every aspect of leadership -- not really surprising to me. After that, we get into the meat of the 21 Laws, and since I've read through the first three now I thought I'd post them here with a short quote from each that I liked:
The Law of the Lid: Leadership Ability Determines a Person's Level of Effectiveness
Maxwell begins with a story of two brothers, Dick and Maurice, and their story of moderate success. They saw an opportunity and started up a restaurant, then improved upon it and became more efficient, but their attempts to build a franchise didn't do very well at all. "Dick and Maurice were good single-restaurant owners. They understood how to run a business, make their systems efficient, cut costs, and increase profits. They were efficient managers. But they were not leaders. Their thinking patterns clamped a lid down on what they could do and become. At the height of their success, Dick and Maurice found themselves smack-dab up against the Law of the Lid."
Then they brought in a business partner (who had supplied their milkshake machines), and he ended up buying out their shares of the company for $2.7 million before taking it on to worldwide success. The name of the business partner was Ray Kroc, and the restaurant: McDonald's. The "Lid" on the leadership ability of the two brothers was substantially lower than Kroc's lid, which was virtually unlimited as a leader.
The Law of Influence: The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence
The short synopsis is that if you're leading but no one is following, you're not really leading. Maxwell gives five myths regarding leadership: the Management Myth (management and leadership are not the same), Entrepreneur Myth (all entrepreneurs are leaders), Knowledge Myth (knowledge and intelligence make you a leader), Pioneer Myth (anyone first out in front of a crowd is a leader), and Position Myth ("It's not the position that makes the leader; it's the leader that makes the position.").
"I love the leadership proverb that says, 'He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.' If you can't influence people, then they will not follow you. And if people won't follow, you are not a leader. That's the Law of Influence. No matter what anybody else may tell you, remember that leadership is influence -- nothing more, nothing less."
The Law of Process: Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day
Out of all the Laws listed, I think this is the one where I'm currently doing the best -- not because I'm there, but because right now I'm doing the things that will eventually get me where I want to be. Leadership is a skill that can be learned, but it's learned in the same way that one learns to become a great athlete: hour after hour, day after day, of practice and self-improvement. Stop exercising, and you will quickly revert to a less than impressive physique.
Maxwell talks a lot about Theodore Roosevelt in this chapter, as a man who became an amazing leader through process -- and a man who started out as a timid, weak, nearsighted, puny, asthmatic boy whom his parents thought might not live. Yet he became one of the most dynamic and powerful leaders of the United State, with numerous other accomplishments besides. I'm reminded of the story of Gattica, in which science reaches the point where our genes can help people predict quite accurately how long a person will live and what sort of problems they might have. The main character rejects such notions and becomes an astronaut, through painstaking effort and diligence. I'd guess part of the idea for the movie came from the life of Theodore Roosevelt.
"In a study of ninety top leaders from a variety of fields, leadership experts Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus made a discovery about the relationship between growth and leadership: 'It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.' Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance. The goal each day must be to get a little better, to build on the previous day's progress."
Priesthood Leadership
After all that talk about leadership, I think it only fitting to end with a quote from a talk on the priesthood by Elder Tad R. Callister: The Power of the Priesthood in the Boy. Several of the points he makes in his talk are basically the spiritual applications of leadership principles discussed in 21 Laws. I like this part a lot, and it makes me want to be a better father to my children and a better husband to my wife:
"You leaders lift these deacons quorum presidents best when you let them lead out and you step back from the spotlight. You have magnified your calling best not when you give a great lesson but when you help them give a great lesson, not when you rescue the one but when you help them do so. There is an old saying: do not die with your music still in you. In like manner I would say to you adult leaders, do not get released with your leadership skills still in you. Teach our youth at every opportunity; teach them how to prepare an agenda, how to conduct meetings with dignity and warmth, how to rescue the one, how to prepare and give an inspired lesson, and how to receive revelation. This will be the measure of your success—the legacy of leadership and spirituality you leave ingrained in the hearts and minds of these young men."
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