A Segue - Leadership - The Motivational Golf Blog

I was listening to one of my favourite Authors today John C. Maxwell. His book "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" is one of my all time best resources. I have always strived to be a leader that builds realtionships and instills a sense of "value" in those who i have had work for me over the years. There are those who would be judgemental and possibly contrite with how I manage and lead others. But the one great thing I learned along the way was that I might not have been everyone's favourite, or I may not have always got it right. I did however realize quite early on that if I was going to be better I needed to always be willling to improve.

Maxwell touches on perhaps one of the great accomplishments all great leaders have in his chapter on the Law of Respect. Respect is a powerful word. It's meaning can go both ways for a leader. If you have no respect for those you are trying to lead then your ability to lead them will be difficult. In fact Maxwell listed the 5 top things essential for a leader needs to have in order to build respect (notice I said "build" as respect is not something you inherit or are given). I have listed them below:

1. Natural Leadership Ability - some are just born leaders, and people want to follow them.
2. Respect for Others - You don't know EVERYTHING so show the respect for others who might show you a thing or two
3. Courage - don't be worried about making a mistake you are NOT perfect and should not try to be. You learn from mistakes.
4. Success - do you have a history of being a leader? Is this your first time leading a ship? Time builds the opportunity to be successful which makes people want to follow.
5. Loyalty - having those stick with you when the going gets tough, while being willing to "take one for the team" shows the ability to build loyalty both from the leader and the followers.

These 5 points are AWESOME! I have been privileged to have read this book early on in my carer and I recommend it to anyone who is moving into a management or leadership role.

Your ideas may be great. Your ideals might be strong. You might be thinking "Now it's my turn". But what happens if you don't have the road map? What happens if those qualities aren't what the followers believe in?

Ahhh I love a challenge. That is why I love the challenge to make people better. I hope you have enjoyed this bit. forward it to someone who you think might learn from it. They may thank you like I do.