Empowering Others through the 21 Laws of Leadership

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

John Maxwell’s (1998) 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership looks at how to win over followers and identifies 21 specific factors that make great leaders. Some of it is ability, some of it is influence, some of it is the adherence to the process of development, and some of it is vision. There are several other factors as well as Maxwell spends a chapter on each one, providing anecdotal evidence to support his points.

Each of the laws that Maxwell (1998) identifies and discusses are well worthy of a leader. Some of the other laws include the notion that leaders should be stronger than their followers because followers want to follow someone who is greater or stronger than themselves. Leaders tend to be intuitive—at least the great ones do—and to emphasize this point Maxwell (1998) describes the intuition of Norman Schwarzkopf. Leaders also tend to attract others like themselves, so if a leader is devious he will attract devious followers. If he is ethical he will attract an ethical following. Leaders are relational and know how to connect with others in meaningful ways, which is why they are able to win over so many followers. Leaders also have an Inner Circle that helps to propel them forward and to the next level.

A good point that Maxwell (1998) makes is that leaders have to be secure enough to give power to others. Leaders who are micro-managers will never succeed long term because they do not empower others but rather try to control them. That is not the recipe for a healthy, functioning team. Leaders aim instead to raise up other leaders. Leaders also get others to buy into them first and then they get them to buy into the vision.

Finding a way to win, tapping into where the momentum is heading, prioritizing to make action meaningful and knowing when other actions are meaningless and wasteful—all these are qualities of a leader in Maxwell’s (1998) opinion, and none of them are wrong. Also, knowing when to lead and knowing how to lead followers as well as other leaders is essential to growth. Finally, a leader has to have a worthy successor and picking the successor is part of what makes the legacy of the leader.

Overall, the book is well written and shows by way of numerous examples how these 21 different qualities define the leader. However, what the book does not show is how any one leader manifests all of these qualities. Instead, each law is embodied by one individual leader. Thus, it might be unrealistic and asking too much for a person to try to live up to all 21 of these laws of leadership. Still, it is a worthwhile definition of leadership in terms of the various characteristics that leaders should possess.

True leadership is not something that can be contained in a simple statement or book. Leadership is complex and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to it (Northouse, 2016). As Stogdill (1948) notes there are many different personal factors that can be associated with leadership, from personality traits to background to experience and so on. Every leader is going to be unique, however, and appropriate for the situation in which he is in. Leaders do not necessarily have to fit a mold. There can be servant leaders like Christ or there can authoritarian leaders like Franco. There can democratic leaders like politicians or there can be charismatic leaders like Richard Branson. There can be transformational leaders and authentic leaders. There can be leaders of all shapes and sizes because leadership is not something that can be defined simply. However, one thing that all types and styles of leadership do have in common is that they empower others at some level (Conger, 1989). That above all else is what best characterizes leadership, and Maxwell (1998) shows that in his book.