Dear friend,
With my team of translators, we’re getting ready to finalise the content of “The John Maxwell Team Français”, the version of the John Maxwell Team platform for French-speaking leaders, coaches, speakers and trainers. We will be bringing the whole content John has made available to certify his 20,000 coaches worldwide to people speaking Molière’s language.
As we go through this process, I am helping to translate, to review and to subtitle video content. This weekend I was working on the Maxwell Philosophy, the basics about leadership that John teaches on its book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”. And it appeared to me it would be good content for our Monday Morning Thought and Challenge this week. So, let me give you just the first three laws of that book, which create the basis for your whole development as a leader.
The first law is the “Law of the Lid”. Basically, it says that “your ability to lead is the cap of your effectiveness”. As John explains very well, no organisation can develop beyond its leader’s leadership level. It has never happened, and it won’t happen. If your leadership level is a 4, then your business or your organization can only reach a 3. If you want your business or your team to develop, you need to grow your leadership, to raise your lid. It’s the only way. By raising you lid to a 5, a 6 or a 7, your organization will be able to grow as well, and follow up to a 6 over time.
Bear in mind that a leader’s role is to see, walk and show the way. This is the reason why I told you last week that living on what you learned, on your current level of leadership, will only get you so far. If you need new, stronger results, it is not enough to demand more from your team. You need to be more yourself, so your team can grow to the new levels you require from them.
If you’re leading a team inside an organisation and they “outgrow” your leadership level, you will no more be relevant to them. It doesn’t mean that you need to be savvier than anyone in your team on every subject. That’s not the point. Leading is not about technical expertise. But you need to be able to add value to every team member on a continual basis and help them reach the next level on their potential.
The second law is the “Law of the Influence”, which says that “leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less”. And the way you gain influence over people, is by adding value to them. This means that, even if it may sound counter intuitive, you’re not there to be served by your followers (your team, your organization) but to serve them. To be more precise, you should be serving each other, in the area of your expertise. As the leader, you need to develop leadership expertise. This is what you can bring to your team. This is how you add value to them. How you serve them. How you will motivate them to serve you and how you’ll reach new levels on your results.
And the more people you’ll be able to influence (directly or indirectly), the higher your leadership lid will be. The more impact you’ll be able to have with your team. So, it is also in the interest of developing your team, to have your team members adding value to each other. Raising their leadership level with each other. Helping each other become better on the area of their expertise.
Remember that: if you have a title, but you’re not influencing anyone, if no one is following you, if you’re not effectively adding value to anyone, you’re just a positional leader. This is the Level 1 on “The 5 Levels of Leadership”. And you won’t get much from your team or organization, since they only “obey” based on your title.
The third law is the “Law of the Process”, which says “leadership develops daily, not in a day”. This is definitively one of my favourite laws. This is the law that gives you hope and allows for compassion with yourself. Let me explain. John is very clear on this: everyone can develop its leadership skills to higher levels. It’s true that there are people born with a giftedness for leadership. For them, many aspects of leadership will appear as natural. They will be more intuitive in this area. But even if you are not one of those natural born leaders, you still can improve your leadership and raise for a brilliant future for yourself, your team or organization, your family. Our leadership potential is huge. Our current circumstances only reflect our level of leadership until today. But we can improve it. We can increase it. We can raise our leadership lid.
The secret is in this law. It’s working everyday on it. It’s not easy, it’s not fast, it’s a long process. We’re playing for the long term here. There is no “leadership microwave oven” you can use to get the results quickly, by the push of a few buttons. No leadership gets developed by attending a keynote, following a training or reading a book. The key is in the follow-up action you take form there. Did you know that only 5% of the courses bought online are really used? This means 95% remain at the status of “I should”. Ask yourself what you will do, no what you should do, with what you learn. Create a process. Follow it.
You can do it by yourself, get the help of a group of like-minded people (mastermind) or an individual (coaching, mentoring). Whatever approach you take, it will only be as effective as you do the work. A coach can be an accountability partner but can’t make it happen for you if you’re not willing to actually do the work. You have to do the work. Despite “lack of time”, despite the “market pressure”, or the “management pressure”, or the “family circumstances” … those are all very real competing commitments. But at a certain point in time, you will have to decide. You will have to make a commitment to your development as a leader. To raising your lead. And that of your organization.
So my challenge to you today is the following:
Look at your team or your organisation and their level of effectiveness. If you’re not happy with it, or if you believe that there is room for more, for better, realize that:
The current results of your team are the product of the level of leadership you have applied until today
Your potential is higher than that. And so is theirs
You need to grow as a leader
List 3 things you would like your team to improve on. Then list 3 thinks you would like yourself to improve on.
We’re going to think now about ways to intentionally add value to people around you, so you can increase your influence (i.e. your leadership) with them. So, think about 5 people on your ecosystem. People inside your team or organization, but also people outside of it. Then, for each of them, think about one thing you can start doing consistently in order to add value to that person. Set a date on your calendar when you are going to do it for the first time and set recurrent dates (daily, weekly, monthly, depending on the type of action you’re thinking about) to review your progress and your consistency in doing it. Do it consistently and you will notice you start increasing your influence with them. If you fail to be consistent, stop immediately blaming yourself, and start over.
Finally, let’s think about how you’re going to develop your leadership skills daily. Do you have a specific action in mind? Maybe a course you just followed but have failed to put in practice so far? A mastermind group starting in a topic that could help you move your leadership lid up? A coach you have in mind that could help you stay accountable to that personal development action plan you’ve been delaying for weeks, maybe months now?
What would be a first, easy, step to get the ball rolling there? Is this related to any of the three things you listed above you would like to improve on? Again, take action immediately by putting in your calendar when you’re going to take that first action. Choose an accountability partner. Tell that person what you’re going to do and that you would like her to help you just by being your accountability partner. Then let that person know once you have taken the action. Let her know also what the next action is and when you’ll take it. Follow-up again when you have done it. Next action, next date, next follow-up. You get the idea.
So let me know how it goes. If you need me to be your accountability partner, I can help you with that. It is part of what I do with my clients.
If you are interested on joining my next Mastermind group on the subject “Developing the Leader Within You 2.0”, I can help you keep growing in that area, and give you keys also to help you mentor your people.
Whatever you decide to do, I congratulate you for your action and your commitment to become a better leader and for investing on you to secure better results for yourself and your organisation.
And don't hesitate to share this post with anyone around you who may need it. They are very much welcome in our community! Create an awesome week for you and those around you!
To your success,
Ezequiel
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