Reviewed by Katie Cahill
“Follow them and people will follow you.” That is, follow the laws of leadership proposed by author John C. Maxwell, and you’re golden. Maxwell’s laws do not read as a laid-out plan for bettering oneself as a leader, but rather, as individual strategies that when applied altogether, can improve leadership.
According to Maxwell, there are four important ideas to consider as you go through the laws. One, the laws can be learned by anyone, regardless of prior leadership skills. Two, the laws can stand alone; you do not need to know one to understand another. Three, the laws carry consequences with them, meaning if you violate them, you will have a hard time leading others. Finally, these laws are the foundation of leadership, and must be put into practice if they are to be effective.
Some of the laws deal with important characteristics and qualities a leader should have. One example of this is the law of respect: people naturally follow those who are respectable. The greatest test of respect comes when a leader makes a major change to their organization. If their followers stand behind them and respects the major change, it means they respect the leader as well. The law of respect is relatable to the law of solid ground, which says that truth is the foundation of leadership. Without trust, nothing can be accomplished because a follower will not follow an untrustworthy individual. A final law that deals with qualities is the law of intuition. A leader must have good intuition in order to plan ahead and foresee future problems that other have not yet realized. The law of intuition is not the only law that deals with guiding followers in the right direction.
Good leadership requires good guidance. This is demonstrated in the law of navigation. In the law of navigation, Maxwell says, “Anyone can steer a ship, but only a leader can chart the course.” This implies that leaders must constantly remind themselves that when they redirect their organization, they are redirecting their trusting followers as well. Another law that deals with guidance is the law of timing. Why and how leaders make a change is just as important as when. Proper action at the wrong time can still be met with resistance by followers.
Another set of laws involves the types of people a leaders surround themselves with. One such law is the law of magnetism: who you are is whom you attract. Basically, whatever characteristics you possess you will likely find in the people who follow you. If you think the people you attract to your organization could be better, than you need to improve yourself. A similar law is the law of the inner circle, which states that only secure leaders are comfortable giving power to others. A follower’s capacity to achieve great things is limited by their leader’s ability to empower them. Maxwell provides another law called the law of explosive growth. It says that if an organization is to experience significant expansion, a leader must mentor not only followers, but other leaders as well, so those leaders can go out and mentor more leaders, as well as followers. Though these are not all the laws Maxwell covers, but the aforementioned laws do cover a broad range of the types of laws Maxwell considers irrefutable for strong leadership.
Maxwell’s book is great at providing tips for being a good leader; however, there are a few problems with the presentation of the book. As previously mentioned, the laws are presented as individual strategies, rather than as an overall plan or method for leadership. This might make it complicated for a manager to directly apply these leadership techniques to the everyday management process. The laws lack specificity on how they can be put into action sometimes, and they often fail to provide a sound approach to making goals and objectives. Additionally, Maxwell views management as inferior to leadership. Management is seen almost solely as a job or a task, while leadership is seen as more of a skill or an art form. This may come across as insulting to someone in a managerial position and make the book less appealing to read.
That said, I would recommend The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership to other public relations students. It is an insightful read, and each chapter does a thorough job of explaining the meaning and implications of the law it discusses. It is a great reference for learning the qualities a good leader should have and the tactics they need to know. Also, the book is filled with many examples of good leaders and their practices in the past couple of decades, which gives insight as to what we as public relations practitioners should look for in a good leader in the future. Another way this book is helpful to PR students is the special attention it pays to communication and what a huge role it plays in leadership. Maxwell claims that nearly forty percent of his time in a leadership role is spent communicating with his followers, and he stresses the importance of communicating with followers and other leaders throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone hoping to increase their knowledge of the importance of leadership and how it influences people in their daily lives.
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