21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership{ A Must Read}

Leadership maybe defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this. It may also be defined as "a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." 
Leadership isn't just a title, many hold some measures of leadership position without wielding its power to positive advantage for the good of mankind or their followers. For instance, 'Positionally', a father is a leader, a first born is a leader, a class prefect is a leader, though this positions seems insignificant yet these are leaders in their own right. 

However, i believe we are all leaders as individuals not only by position or as a title.The leader in us is manifested daily in our relationships, friendship, groups, workplace, community etc. Leadership is generally about influence, therefore we are all expected to positively influence people we meet everyday, thus the need for our leadership skills to be sharpened daily. 

Thus, just as we are governed and guided  by laws and principles so also there are laws guiding Leadership. For any one to succeed as a Leader, these laws as posited by John c. Maxwell, will irrefutably help:
                    

1.      The law of the lid: leadership ability determines a person’s level of effectiveness. This laws state that to change the effectiveness of the team, lift up the leadership of the coach. Personal and organizational effectiveness is proportionate to the strength of leadership.

2.      The law of influence: leadership is not title. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that can’t be mandated. it must be earned. He who thinks he leads, but has no followers is only taking a walk. If you can’t influence others, they won’t follow you, and if they won’t follow you, you are not a leader. That is the law of influence.

3.      The law of process: leadership is complicated, it has many facets: respect, experience, emotional strength, people, skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing etc. All this factors are intangible that’s why leaders require so much seasoning to be effective. Successful leaders are learners, and the learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance. The goal each day is to get better. Therefore this law states leadership doesn’t develop overnight. It takes process. Champions don’t become champions in the ring, they are merely recognized there.

4.      The Law of Navigation: Followers need leaders able to effectively navigate for them. Nearly anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. This is the law of navigation. Therefore, a leader is one who sees more than others see. They are Navigators, they draw on past experience, listen to what others have to say, examine the conditions before making commitment and also make sure their conclusions represent both fact and faith.

5.      The Law of E.F Hutton: When the real leader speaks, people listen: the real leader holds the power, not just the position. If you have to tell people you are in power, then you aren’t

6.      The Law of Solid Ground: Trust in the foundation of leadership. You just can’t take shortcuts, no matter how long you’ve been leading your people. Therefore, to build trust, a leader must exemplify competence, connection and CHARACTER. Character makes trust possible, and trust makes leadership possible. That is the law of solid ground.

7.      The Law of Respect: states that people naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves. When people respect someone as a person, they admire her; when they respect her as a friend, they love her; when they respect her as a LEADER, they follow her.

8.      The Law of Intuition: States that leader evaluate everything with a leadership Bias. A leader has to read the situation and know instinctively what play to call. Leaders are readers of their situations, readers of trend, readers of resources, readers of people and readers of themselves. Leadership is really more art than science. The Principles of leadership are constant, but the application changes with every leader and every situation, that’s why it requires intuition

9.      The Law of Magnetism: States that who you are is who you attract. Most times, you draw people to you who possess the same qualities you do. However, it is possible for a leader to go out and recruit people unlike himself, but those are not the people he will naturally attract. So if a leader thinks his people are negative, he should first check his own attitude

10.   The Law of Connection: States that Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand. You can’t move people to action unless you first move them with emotion. The heart comes before the head. The Stronger the relationship and connection between leader and follower, the more likely the follower will want to help the leader. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

11.   The Law of the inner circle: States that a leader’s potential is determined by those closest to him. Every leader’s potential is determined by the people closest to him. If those people are strong, then the leader can make a huge impact and vice versa.

12.   The law of Empowerment: States that only secure leaders give power to others. The people’s capacity to achieve is determined by their leader’s ability to empower. Some leader’s may fail to empower because of lack of self-worth, desire for job security and resistance to change. However, the only way to make yourself indispensable is to make yourself dispensable, that is by empowering others and helping them develop, you become so valuable to the organization.

13.   The Law of reproduction: States that it takes a leader to raise up a leader. People cannot give to others, what they don’t have, followers simply cannot develop leaders.

14.   The Law of Buy-in: States that people buy into the leader, then the vision. The leader finds the dream and then the people. But the people find the leader and then the dream. People don’t at first follow worthy causes; they follow worthy leaders who promote worthwhile causes.

15.   The Law of Victory: States that leader find a way for the team to win. When the pressure is on, great leaders are at their best. Whatever is inside them comes to the surface.

16.   The Law of the Big MO: All leaders face the challenge of creating change in an organization. The key is Momentum. Just as every sailor knows that you can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving forward, strong leaders understand that to change direction, you have to create forward progress. Momentum really is a leader’s best friend. It makes a huge difference in organization. When you have no momentum, even the simplest tasks can seem to be insurmountable problems.

17.   The Law of priorities: First lesson that you need to ‘get’ is that busyness doesn’t equal productivity. Activity is not accomplishment.Second, in order to choose the right things to work on, you need to have a vision and understand what’s next. This isn’t easy. You need to start being intentional about constantly reviewing where you’re going, what’s going on, where you need to direct your focus and then align all of these pieces into an action plan.Third, prioritizing will cause you to do things that are uncomfortable and sometimes even painful. Once you implement this law into your daily routine, you will discover that to move ahead, you need to improve, step out of your comfort zone, change some of your habits and do what it takes to get the right things done.

18.   The Law of Sacrifice: A leader must give up to go up. This law demands that the greater the leader, the more he must give up.

19.   The Law of Timing: Reading a situation and knowing what to do are not enough to make you succeed in leadership. Only the right action at the RIGHT TIME will bring success. Anything else exacts a high price.

20.   The Law of Explosive Growth: You will go to the highest level only if you begin developing leaders instead of followers. Leaders who develop leaders experience an incredible multiplication effect in their organization that can be achieved in no other way- not by increasing resources, reducing costs, increasing profit margins, analyzing systems, implementing quality management procedures, or doing anything else.

21.   The Law of Legacy: A Leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. As a leader you will be judged by how well your people and your organization did after you were gone.

See you at the Top!