The Law of Process is for me this is one of the best and more inspiring chapters in the book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by author John Maxwell
You don’t make your fortune in a single day, betting all of your money in one stock. Similarly, you need to invest intentionally and wisely in your leadership development, over a long period of time, trusting that the “compound” effect will multiply your initial investment.
Effective leadership need time to develop, because it is a collection of different skills that need to be learned and improved constantly. Leaders need to be “seasoned”.
Leaders are Learners
Successful leaders are learners. According to leadership experts Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus,
It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.
As a leader, you should make it a practice to read or listen audio books, attend seminars and conferences, and “whenever you come across a golden nugget of truth or a significant quote, file it away for the future.”
The five phases of leadership growth
Phase 1: I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know – Not many think of themselves as leaders. They don’t realize that leadership is influence and we all influence someone. But “As long as a person doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, he isn’t going to grow.” (John C. Maxwell)
Phase 2: I Know That I Need to Know – It may happen that we are placed in a position of leadership and suddenly we realize that we don’t really know what to do. When we learn that we don’t know how to do something, we have two options: we can give up or we can decide to decide to learn and improve ourselves.
Phase 3: I Know What I Don’t Know – English Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said, “To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge”. If we want to become better leaders, we need to develop a plan for personal growth.
Phase 4: I Know and Grow and It Starts to Show – Growth doesn’t happen overnight, but if we persist in the daily discipline, exciting things start to happen. We get better and people even start noticing it.
Phase 5: I Simply Go Because of What I Know – When we have put enough efforts and practice, for long enough, finally our ability to lead will start becoming almost automatic and instinctive. This is when the payoff becomes larger than life.
Theodore Roosevelt
The chapter The Law of Process ends with the impressive story of Theodore Roosevelt, who served as the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. His philosophy of life is expressed with his famous quote,
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…
Roosevelt was a man of action and a fighter. His Vice President Marshall said that
Death had to take him in his sleep, for if he was awake there’d have been a fight.
But Roosevelt was also a learner. When they removed the body from the bed where he had died, they found a book under the pillow.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell
The book is divided in 21 main chapters, one for each of the 21 leadership laws. Below are the links to the chapters that I have reviewed or that I will review later.
- THE LAW OF THE LID
- THE LAW OF INFLUENCE
- THE LAW OF PROCESS
- THE LAW OF NAVIGATION
- THE LAW OF E.F.HUTTON
- THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND
- THE LAW OF RESPECT
- THE LAW OF INTUITION
- THE LAW OF MAGNETISM
- THE LAW OF CONNECTION
- THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE
- THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT
- THE LAW OF THE PICTURE
- THE LAW OF BUY-IN
- THE LAW OF VICTORY
- THE LAW OF THE BIG MO
- THE LAW OF PRIORITIES
- THE LAW OF SACRIFICE
- THE LAW OF TIMING
- THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
- THE LAW OF LEGACY
BUY ON AMAZON: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by author John Maxwell
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