The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell

WHO Comes To Mind When You Think Of Amazing Leadership?

Photo: Courtesy Jim Bowen on Flickr

In this book, John C. Maxwell writes as though his life purpose is to develop your leadership abilities and qualities.  His style makes him both approachable and trustworthy, as someone you might seek out as a mentor.  It is obvious that his life passion is to pass along these "laws of leadership" in an effort to encourage and build up those who are looking to improve their lives in this area.

In writing this 10th Anniversary updated edition, Maxwell explains that while he hasn't changed the laws he wrote about so many years ago, that he has definitely found ways to expand on and improve on those laws that have effectively proven, over and over again, to help so many throughout the years.

He gives some advice for those who decide to read and study his 21 laws of leadership:

Leadership principles are unchanging and stand the test of time.  As you read the following chapters, I'd like you to keep in mind four ideas:

1.  The laws can be learned.  Some are easier to understand and apply than others, but every one of them can be acquired.
2. The laws can stand alone.  Each law complements all the others, but you don't need one in order to learn another.
3. The laws carry consequences with them.  Apply the laws, and people will follow you.  Violate or ignore them, and you will not be able to lead others.
4.  These laws are the foundation of leadership.  Once you learn the principles, you have to practice them and apply them to your life.

Whether you are a follower who is just beginning to discover the impact of leadership or a natural leader who already has followers, you can become a better leader...No matter where you are in the leadership process, know this:  the greater number of laws you learn, the better leader you will become.  Each law is like a tool, ready to be picked up and used to help you achieve your dreams and add value to other people.  Pick up even one, and you will become a better leader.  Learn them all, and people will gladly follow you.

Every single person has a leadership role in one way or another.  To say that this subject on leadership development is useless is ignorant on our part.  Every single day, whether directly or indirectly, we are leading and impacting people around us.  

Look around you today and ask yourself who is watching you, and what you need to do to improve the natural leader within.

In case you missed it:   9 Ways To Improve Your Luck in Small Business!

To Sell Is Human: Business Book Review

Don't Be Stubborn When It Comes To Embracing Change

Book Review: To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink

According to the author, we are all trying to sell something all the time: whether convincing our kids to accomplish their tasks, or persuading a friend to accompany us on an adventure, or even presenting all the beneficial reasons our neighbor should help invest in a joint wall.  

Daniel Pink explains that whether your job is in full-time sales or not, we are all in the business of selling.  He knows that this idea is not widely accepted; in fact, he believes that most people would balk at the idea that their lives frequently revolve around selling in one way or another.

Sales?  Blecch.  To the smart set, sales is an endeavor that requires little intellectual throw weight - a task for slick glad-handers who skate through life on a shoeshine and a smile.  To others it's the province of dodgy characters doing slippery things--a realm where trickery and deceit get the speaking parts  while honesty and fairness watch mutely from the rafters.  Still others view it as the white-collar equivalent of cleaning toilets--necessary perhaps, but unpleasant and even a bit unclean.  

I'm convinced we've gotten it wrong.

This is a book about sales.  But it is unlike any book about sales you have read (or ignored) before.  That's because selling in all its dimensions--whether pushing Buicks on a car lot or pitching ideas in a meeting--has changed more in the last ten years than it did over the previous hundred.  Most of what we think we understand about selling is constructed atop a foundation of assumptions that has crumbled.

Pink begins the book by explaining how the art and ideas behind "sales" (as it has always been known) have changed, even providing recent statistics showing that 40% of our time is used in trying to convince others to move in a certain direction, whether in our professional or personal life.

He continues by diving into key elements of workplace transformation:  Entrepreneurship (how intended barriers to sales jobs have actually turned into more opportunities), Elasticity (how we have found that our job skills must be flexible in moving across boundaries), and Ed-Med (a term coined by the author to describe the fastest growing industries around the world, combining educational services and health care and it's relevance).

Pink then goes even further to define the new ABCs of the sales trade, in order to better deal with situations that make us want to run and hide:

1. Attunement - Bringing yourself into harmony with other people, groups, and contexts.
2. Buoyancy - The necessary mindset to stay afloat even in the face of constant rejection.
3. Clarity - The ability to make sense of problematic and muddled situations.

The last section of the book is about What To Do, in terms of how this book is practical for you, divided into three chapters entitled:

1. Pitch - Learning ways to approach people in an age of limited attention spans
2. Improvise - Learn improvisation rules to enhance your ability to persuade others
3. Serve - Serving personally and with purpose, and why it matters

There is much more depth to this book than what could be barely touched on in a review.  Pink also gives a wonderful illustration on the art of storytelling and the impact it has on our ability to sell others our ideas.  He also draws from research to disprove a widely accepted assumption about extraverts being the best salespeople, which is something that most people believe makes a salesperson successful.

What changes have you had to embrace in the last year, in order to keep up with the pace of change in the business world?

Your comments on this subject are greatly appreciated!

You might have missed:  The Yin and Yang of Business: Is Education All You Really Need to Succeed?

Looking Out For #1: What It Could Mean For Your Life

Are You Doing What You Love the Most?

Looking out for Number One is the conscious, rational effort to spend as much time as possible doing those things which bring you the greatest amount of pleasure and less time on those which cause pain.  Everyone automatically makes the effort to be happy, so the key word is "rational."  

To act rationally, and thus experience pleasure and avoid pain on a consistent basis, you have to be aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it.  If you are not aware, you're not living life; you're merely passing through.                                       

-Robert J. Ringer

                             
In his book Looking Out For #1, Robert J. Ringer is not merely suggesting that people should be more egocentric in order to live more fulfilled lives.   With the rising and setting of the sun each day, we are given a new opportunity, but it comes with a choice of attitude and commitment:  

1. To get dragged and pulled through the day
2. To purposefully move through the day with intention

Ringer is presenting the philosophy that if you must choose the life you most want to live, and that if you are not making conscious choices to do what you want, then your life is out of control; he further explains that this kind of life approach requires an elevated awareness of your true desires.

While the high point on the Awareness Meter is taking action based only on your own rational choices, the absolute pits is taking action based on what others choose for you.  If you've been in the habit of doing the latter, the good news is that you only have one way to go from here:  up.

While it makes no sense to make decisions based on what others believe is best for us and our business, we often fall into the trap of allowing the ideas of others control and dictate the path we take in life.  But the question is, how did we get to this point?  How did we end up allowing someone else's dream take first place in our lives?  We have given up our own dream, and ultimately control over our own destiny, one decision at a time.

Ringer continues by posing the question:  What's the payoff for you?

Looking out for Number One is important because it leads to a simple, uncomplicated life in which you spend more time doing those things which give you the greatest amount of pleasure.  It's the discovery of where it's all at -- the realization that life is worth living and that it can and should be a joy rather than a dread.  The natural offspring of this realization are feelings of self-control and self-esteem, which in turn perpetuate still more joy in your life.

With this foundational perspective leading you through the book, each chapter describes the various hurdles every person faces in pursuing the dreams of life.  

Which hurdle most stops you from pursuing the life you always wanted, both in business and in personal affairs? 

1. The Perspective Hurdle
2. The Reality Hurdle
3. The People Hurdle
4. The Crusade Hurdle
5. The Financial Hurdle
6. The Friendship Hurdle
7. The Love Hurdle
8. The Starting Line

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

T. E. Lawrence 

What Choice Do You Need To Stop Making For Others and Start Making For Yourself Today?

  

We'd Love To Hear The Hurdles You've Jumped To Get Where You Are Today!

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Do You Have THESE Success Forces?

Success Forces, written by Joseph Sugarman back in the 80’s, is unfortunately out of print.  But if there is a way for you to get your hands on this book, you will greatly benefit from one of the most brilliant business minds of our time.  He achieved great success in the direct sales marketing business, selling millions of dollars worth of Blublocker Sunglasses, digital watches, and was even the pioneer of using the “800 number” to have customers call in to give their payment information.

Sugarman saw that every “force” he encountered in business could be learned from and utilized in a positive way.  Here are the main “forces” he pegged as key pillars in guiding his growth in business.

Always Be Honest  

Sugarman employed this principle by always telling the truth, no matter what embarrassing position he may be put in.  He explains that honesty is the best policy, even by acknowledging what might be the challenges of your particular product and finding a way to turn it into an opportunity.

Cherish Your Failures  

Failures are what most of us (especially in business) seem to avoid at all costs.  We see our successes as what we must focus on, so that we can repeat them.  However, Sugarman said in one of his talks that he was probably the one in the room who had failed the most.  He cherished his failures because he saw them as opportunities to create “success forces” for future possibilities.

Relish Your Problems  

Most of us look at problems as inconveniences or roadblocks keeping us from reaching the goals we desperately want to reach.  But Sugarman viewed them as opportunities to take a difficult situation and see what could be improved for the next time.  

Concentrate Your Powers  

Sugarman encourages you to focus on one particular aspect of your business that you need to improve.  The point is to not get sidetracked by other things that you need to improve on; otherwise, your attention is divided by too many things which ultimately prevent you from making any real change.  Focus on one aspect, one day at a time until you have mastered it.

Do It Differently 

This addresses the fact that many entrepreneurs are great at “copying” ideas from others, but Sugarman says that there will always be copycats.  The people you should be concerned about are those who are innovators, those who are taking steps to improve what is already a great product or service.  Be an innovator, he says; not a copycat.

Clean Your Desk  

Sugarman had an early experience of interviewing presidents of various companies his father did business with.  What stood out most to him was the fact that these companies were well organized at every level, but most importantly, it started from the president’s desk.  He admits that his own desk is messy and piled up all day long; but he adopted the discipline of cleaning off his desk at the end of every day and putting every item in its own place.  He even went as far as requiring his employees to do the same.  He recounts having had people write to him about this “force” saying that this one discipline changed their entire lives.

The last "success force" presents a challenge to all of us.  Whether you have a desk or area of your home that you work from day in and day out, what would happen if you purposed to clean it at the end of your work day, every day for the next 30 days?  We'd love to hear the results of incorporating this simple discipline into your life.

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Your Daily Choices: Thoughtless or Purposeful?

You must weed your mind as you would weed your garden. ~Terri Guillemets

Seeds of Greatness, written by Denis Waitley, has inspired many to examine their personal and professional lives and ask:  What am I doing today that will determine my life tomorrow?  We make hundreds of thousands of choices every single day, but the question is whether they are thoughtless or purposeful.  

We are faced with life altering decisions on a daily basis, but most of us don’t realize it.  We believe our purpose is to put out fires and to work tirelessly to prevent new fires from erupting.  But if we take the time to evaluate the “seeds” we are sowing in the various aspects of our lives, then we open the door enough to peek at the future and what will “grow” from those seeds.  

To give you a glimpse into Waitley’s Seeds of Greatness, read on to see how his book is divided.

1. The Seed of Self-Esteem:  From Self-Love to Self-Worth
2. The Seed of Creativity:  Releasing Your Creative Energy
3. The Seed of Responsibility:  We Become What We Do
4. The Seed of Wisdom:  What it Means to Live Without Wax
5. The Seed of Purpose:  The Gold Mine in Your Goals
6. The Seed of Communication:  Reach Out and Touch Someone
7. The Seed of Faith:  The Power of Positive Believing
8. The Seed of Adaptability:  Turning Problems Into Opportunities
9. The Seed of Perseverance:  The Will to Win is Everything

There are areas in both personal and professional life that we are excellent at.  Maybe you have fostered your creativity in a way that you have found fulfilling.  Others may be excellent communicators, and have seen the positive results from practicing active listening and body language skills.  

But every person, no matter their circumstance of life, has areas of life which they are unwilling to look at.  Why?  If there are aspects of our personality or daily habits that are destructive to ourselves, others, our future, our business, then why wouldn't we be willing to look at them squarely and work on them?  

Do You Have What It Takes To Change?
We all have hang-ups to changing, and yet, the cycle continues: mismanaging finances, yelling when we don't get our way, trying to control others, worrying about the what-ifs instead of appreciating today.  Tony Schwartz, President and CEO of The Energy Project and author of "Be Excellent At Anything", wrote a blog post some time back on Six Keys To Changing Almost Anything.  He writes, 

In order to make change that lasts, we must rely less on our prefrontal cortex, and more on co-opting the primitive parts of our brain in which habits are formed.  Put simply, the more behaviors are ritualized and routinized — in the form of a deliberate practice — the less energy they require to launch, and the more they recur automatically.

His six keys to change include:

1. Be Highly Precise and Specific
2. Take on One New Challenge at a Time
3. Not Too Much, Not Too Little
4. What We Resist Persists
5. Competing Commitments
6. Keep the Faith 

What specific steps have you taken to incorporate change into your life?  We'd love to hear what has worked in your journey to improve your personal and/or business life.

You will also want to read the post on How To Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Successful Entrepreneurs Actually Read

Have You Checked Out This Book List?

If you are an entrepreneur and you are hoping that success will just fall into your lap, you are greatly mistaken!  Building a successful business not only takes a creative mind and exciting vision, but it requires you to go back and find out what brilliant principles have been discovered and practiced over the years.  Yes, our society continues to evolve in areas of technology and entrepreneurial opportunities, but there are many fundamental truths that should not be passed over.

Reading renowned books on business success a major aspect in opening up the doors of opportunity that will challenge you not only to look at ways to improve your business; more importantly, you will be forced to look deep within yourself to determine what it is that is helping or hindering your success.

{Book 7} How To Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

Most entrepreneurs are probably professional “worriers” (if that’s even a word).  

• What if sales continue to drop?  
• How will you pay for the machine that just broke?  
• Would you be able to afford expanding your business?
• Can you really afford to hire extra help, even though you desperately need it?

This is not said in order to minimize the serious challenges and crises that business people must face on a regular basis.  However, the point that Carnegie is trying to make is that worrying has no value:  it does nothing but bring you down, and in turn, you will bring others down.

“How To Stop Worrying and Start Living” is basically a continuation from his first book, “How To Win Friends and Influence People,” but the difference lies in his specific focus on the problem of worrying and how to make small steps to overcome this debilitating habit.  The book is broken into 8 different sections, with the last section being a wonderful collection of successful men and women, and how they have conquered the problem of worry.  While written in 1948, the truths of these principles remain applicable to generations to come.

1. Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worry
2. Basic Techniques In Analyzing Worry
3. How To Break The Worry Habit Before It Breaks You
4. Seven Ways To Cultivate A Mental Attitude That Will Bring You Peace And Happiness
5. The Perfect Way To Conquer Worry
6. How To Keep From Worrying About Criticism
7. Six Ways To Prevent Fatigue And Worry And Keep Your Energy And Spirits High
8. “How I Conquered Worry”

The beauty of Carnegie’s books is that each concept is broken down into bite-sized portions to show that we can conquer worry in practical and manageable ways.  His writing is so simple and yet still eloquent:  

“Think of your life as an hourglass. You know there are thousands of grains of sand in the top of the hourglass; and they all pass slowly and evenly through the narrow neck in the middle. Nothing you or I could do would make more than one grain of sand pass through this narrow neck without impairing the hourglass. You and I and everyone else are like this hourglass...if we do not take [tasks] one at a time and let them pass...slowly and evenly, then we are bound to break our own...structure.”

Not only do we have a responsibility to stop worrying for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of those who work for us, around us, and especially for the benefit and well-being for those who are closest to us and love us anyway.

Choose to read an entrepreneur classic this month - then share it with someone.  Write down the areas you most want to focus your attention on improving in your personal and business life.  

And please share here, too....What book has been most life changing for you?

{Book #4} Required Entrepreneur Reading: Greatest Salesman in the World

What Do Habits and Thought Patterns Have To Do With Business Success Anyway?

Jim Rohn, motivational author and speaker, said it best.  "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."  What does this mean for the business person?  

Each person is pursuing something in life, but the differentiating factor is this:  Are you pursuing a particular goal, a certain dream and that is the basis of your daily decisions?  Or do you keep your goals and dreams in your back pocket, while you aimlessly pursue those things in life that are distracting you from what you really desire out of life?  If asked directly, most people don't have their life goals written out, in order to intertwine them with how they live out their life each day.  

Which leads to the next point of self-education.  Once you have made the decision to put your lifelong achievement goals onto paper, then you must commit yourself to taking all necessary steps to get there. With perfection in mind?  Hardly.  The reality is that you are more likely to achieve what you desire when it is at the forefront of your mind and decision making process.  

Thus, one of the best ways to fill our minds with thoughts that strengthen our resolve to continue in our endeavors and to think outside of the box is through books.  Which is why this blog series is so important: every person from every walk of life has been influenced in one way or another by a book.   

In our current exploration of the most influential books for everyday entrepreneurs, we are moving steadily down the list.

{Book #4}: Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

If you're looking for a book that will tell you how to make a lot of money by following 10 simple steps,  then this is probably not the book for you.  Written over four decades ago, Og Mandino's book has sold more than 3 million copies.  What is it that has drawn millions to read it?  Put very simply, Mandino wrote this to inspire you to train yourself to motivate and guide your life down the path you desire.  It will challenge you to look at how you think, the habits you are employing, and simple ways to assess the path you are taking.  It is a small, easy book to read.  Be prepared that while you will be able to apply the principles to your business life, this is a book that will explore the more complex issues that make you a unique individual.  

There have been mixed reviews on this book - have you ever read it?  What are your thoughts?