I'm into my part III of my laws. All thanks to John who keep his analogy interesting and relevant. If not, I don't know how am I going to carry on these laws for so long. Here, presenting you the next 5 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
11) Law of the Inner Circle - A Leader's Potential is determined by those closest to him
Challenging as it is, we need to admit that we all work better with people who we know. As the saying goes, "It's lonely at the top, so you better take someone with you." And it's true. Therefore people within the circle will be brought, or you can call it dragged, along. A person can stretch to his full potential when he has best people around him. Success doesn't come from what you know, but from who you know how you present yourself to each of those people.
12) Law of Empowerment - Only secure leaders give power to others
I recalled my poly days when I assumed command as a Chief Instructor when I have a team of 9 instructors. I did nothing to empowers them and did most of the chores myself. John says that people's capacity to achieve is determine by their leader's ability to empower. I'm sure that my team of instructors were capable to achieve greater things but i did almost nothing to empower them. This episode has taught me to empower others in my working life, even though i still fall back onto working things out myself. The greatest things happen only when you give others the credit
13) Law of Reproduction - It takes a leader to raise up a leader
John says 85% of leaders are influenced by another leader. I agree to this statistics because you need someone who has been there to bring you there. But what if there's no leader to influence another? Well, we have to wait for a natural leader to start something because the rest of the people will be waiting for something to happen. I'm convinced by this law because I'm one of those who were raised by another leader. I mean a few of them, not just one.
14) Law of Buy-In - People buy into the Leaders, then the Vision
If you separate a CEO of the company and the Vision of the company into 2, which one will convince you to work for the company? For me, both are just as important. In terms of priority, John says that the people find the leader first and then the dream. Gandhi gets his people to buy into him so well that they refused to fight back as soldiers mowed them down. He went that low to be with his people so much so that people buy into him. So whatever he said or do his people will follow, even till the death. In retrospect, if you manage to buy into someone else, they will do anything you set to do. Hitler is a classic example, too, when so many of them listen to what he says
15) Law of Victory - Leaders find a Way for the Team to Win
Leaders don't win alone. He would want his team to win even if he is not in the picture. Should the latter experience any setback, he would stand up and not give up. A true leader always want to win. John says that when the pressure is on, great leaders are at their best. I like to put my students in tough times so that the best among them will emerge. These people will not see failures as failures because they will improve themselves after that and bring his team forward. If you happened to watch soccer, even though I hate Man Utd, Sir Alex Ferguson, always make a comeback after his side fails to win. There were a match whereby his team were down by 1 goal and his side scored 2 goals at 89 and 91min respectively to win the game.
Part IV will have 6 laws, which is also my last blog for the laws of leadership. Hope it benefits you so far.
Cheers,
Justin
