The Law Of Respect

Law #7 of John Maxwell's The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is:

The Law Respect: People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves

This law says that people don’t follow others by accident. People tend to follow leaders stronger than themselves. When a group with various people comes together, the leaders in the group with initially go their own way. Soon, people start to change direction to follow the strongest leader, until ultimately they are all going in the same direction, following the strongest leader. The other strong leaders will either follow the strongest one, or leave and pursue their own goals.

Maxwell lists the top 6 ways that leaders gain others’ respect:

1. Natural Leadership Ability: Some people are born with more natural ability than others. But, anyone can learn and grow and become a better leader.

2. Respect For Others: “When leaders respect others, especially for those with less power than they have, they gain the respect of others. When people respect you as a person, they admire you; when they respect you as a friend, they love you; when they respect you as a leader, they follow you.”

3. Courage: “Good leaders do what’s right, even at the risk of failure, in the face of great danger and under the brunt of relentless criticism…courage gives followers hope.”

4. Success: “People are naturally drawn to success and respect accomplishments…. It’s hard to argue with a good track record.”

5. Loyalty: Maxwell talks about how loyalty is lacking today. People change jobs so often today. It seems rare for people to stick with something. “when leaders stick with the team until the job is done, remain loyal to the organization when the going gets rough, and look out for followers even when it hurts them, followers respect them and their actions.”

6. Value Added To Others: This may be the greatest source of respect –the dedication to adding value to others.

Applying the Law of Respect to Your Life

1. Gauge your leadership level by considering your followers’ response to the last time you asked them to make a commitment to something you were leading or to change something they were doing. How readily did they comply?
2. Evaluate yourself from 1 [low] to 10 [high] for each of the following leadership qualities and get your ‘leadership number.’ In one sentence for each, write a practice, habit or goal to help you improve in that area. Spend a month on each to make it part of your life:
1. Leadership ability[natural ability]
2. Respect for others
3. Courage
4. Success record
5. Loyalty
6. Value added to others
3. If you have the courage, ask those closest to you what they respect most about you and in which areas you need to grow. Then commit to improve based on their honest feedback.

Reference:

Maxwell, John. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Chapter 7- The Law of Respect.. Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN; 2007