Book Review: "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"

"The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You", by John C. Maxwell, is an incredible book on leadership and the many roadblocks that stand before individuals and successful leadership. The book extols that there is no single secret to being a great leader, but rather by following a myriad of steps to build trust and rapport, you will gain influence with your team over time. I listened to three classic leadership books at the time, and this book really jumped out to me as a practical book with real tools and strategies for increasing influence, so it's the one I'm recommending over others in the field (that said, if you know other great leadership books, please leave them in the comments). I listened to the book on Audible for $10 at 3.5 hrs. It was a fun listen with powerful lessons and lots of small stories as examples. I recommend it those who are looking to influence others, lead a team, or just get better at understanding social dynamics. It's the kind of book that really makes you think about team dynamics and how these lessons apply to your own leadership style. Even if you don't read the book, I highly encourage you to look over the chapters and video below and see if you find value in the laws. The following are the chapters of the book, or the 21 laws of leadership in this case:

Foreword by Stephen Covey
Acknowledgements
INTRODUCTION
1. THE LAW OF THE LID
Leadership Ability Determines a Person's Level of Effectiveness
2. THE LAW OF INFLUENCE
The True Measure of Leadership Is Influence; Nothing More, Nothing Less
3. THE LAW OF PROCESS
Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day
4. THE LAW OF NAVIGATION
Anyone Can Steer the Ship, but It Takes a Leader to Chart the Course
5. THE LAW OF ADDITION
Leaders Add Value by Serving Others
6. THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND
Trust Is the Foundation of Leadership
7. THE LAW OF RESPECT
People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves
8. THE LAW OF INTUITION
Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias
9. THE LAW OF MAGNETISM
Who You Are Is Who You Attract
10. THE LAW OF CONNECTION
Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand
11. THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE
A Leader's Potential Is Determined by Those Closest to Him
12. THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT
Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others
13. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE
People Do What People See
14. THE LAW OF BUY-IN
People Buy into the Leader, Then the Vision
15. THE LAW OF VICTORY
Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win
16. THE LAW OF THE BIG MO
Momentum Is a Leader's Best Friend
17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES
Leaders Understand That Activity Is Not Necessarily Accomplishment
18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE
A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up
19. THE LAW OF TIMING
When to Lead Is As Important As What to Do and Where to Go
20. THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH
To Add Growth, Lead Followers; To Multiply, Lead Leaders
21. THE LAW OF LEGACY
A Leader's Lasting Value Is Measured by Succession
CONCLUSION
Appendix A: 21 Laws Leadership Evaluation
Appendix B: 21 Laws Growth Guide

I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons, but the paramount reason is these laws really rang true when I thought about my own teams and social dynamics. Most social engineering texts focus on individual interactions, but rarely team or group dynamics. This book really gives many tools to influencing groups of people, large or small. The example stories were all richly described classics, such as McDonalds, Disney, and Apple, but despite knowing them well they were still entertaining and insightful the way Maxwell told them. One of my favorite lessons from the book was that leaders aren't always out front or managers, but rather leaders were just the people with the most influence in the group, even if they never spoke up much or hid in the back. It's also the kind of book that has a lot of "reread" value, as both the lessons and stories are timeless and fairly hard to master. I think the following video is an awesome summary, let me know what you think in the comments: