Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The Law of Influence (21 Laws of Leadership - Chapter 2)

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership - John Maxwell Chapter 2 - The Law of Influence

The true measure of leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less

Leadership is about influence.   
Leadership is having enough influence to where people are willing to follow you.  There are factors that impact your level of influence on others, but at the core of leadership is your level of influence.


'He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.'

If you can't influence people, then they won't follow you.  And if people won't follow you, you are not a leader.

Leadership and influence is something that must be earned.  
You can't gain true influence simply through your position.  Leadership through your title is management; anybody can have influence when they are in a position of power and have leverage.  A true leader can influence others to act without having any leverage to hold over their heads.  The only thing a title can buy is a little time - either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it.  It's not the position that makes the leader but the leader that makes the position.  A leader must not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.

A surefire way to measure leadership of someone is to see how they lead a volunteer group.  In this situation, there is no leverage as people are volunteering their time and energy to a cause. As psychologist Harry A. Overstreet stated,  "The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person to participate.


When leaders speak, people listen.  When they make a suggestion, people respect it.  When they lead, others follow.

Key Characteristics of Leadership Are:
Character
Relationships
Knowledge
Intuition
Experience
Past Success
Ability

It's always good to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses in terms of the key characteristics of leadership.  Try to grow and leverage your strengths and try to grow in your weakness so that you can become a complete leader who can success lead in all positions.

No comments:

Post a Comment