Here’s a quick review on a book that had great impact on me.
The Basics
- Category: Personal Development
- Originally Published: 1998
- Pages: 268
Book Summary / What This Book Is About
This book teaches you how to be a leader. John Maxwell defines leadership and provides all the characteristics or laws of a leader. It advocates that you become a leader. John Maxwell wants you and me, the readers, to be leaders.
Main Takeaway / The First Thing I Think About When I Think About This Book
This book had particular impact on me because I am a leader in many capacities. I’m a father, a husband, I participate in various groups, and I own a business. My business funds the lives my team and myself, so having a successful business is of paramount importance. My main takeaway is therefore that my leadership skills are ultimately what will allow my business to thrive long term. Not my salesmanship, not my customer service, but the way I lead my team. The questions I asked myself throughout the reading were: am I an effective leader? Can I be one? Can I improve? With each of the 21 laws I asked myself: how am I doing on this one? I was relived by the the third law, The Law of Process, which states that leadership develops daily, not in a day, so I think there’s hope for me yet.
Final Thoughts
This was the second time I read this book. The first time was in 2017 and I can’t believe how little I retained from the first reading. I remember it was good and I liked it, but at the time, I felt like I had too many insurance agency tasks in front of me to think about higher level things like leadership. I also never thought of myself as a leader. I’ve never particularly liked being in charge or telling people what to do. I’ve always thought of myself as more of a loner or an independent, not a leader (or even a follower). But the second law, The Law of Influence, states that the true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less, and that showed me that there’s a difference between leadership and management, and much of the negative feelings I had about what I thought was leadership, was really management.
This was of the most impactful books I’ve read, ever, and it inspires me to want to be a better leader. This book has shown me the importance of leadership and how it is the skill I need to work on the most. The first law of leadership, The Law of The Lid, which states that a person’s level of effectiveness is determined by their leadership ability, is convicting. I truly desire to be effective and I want my people and my teams to thrive. John Maxwell has convinced me that improving my leadership ability is the best route to making these things happen.
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