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The
21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
By John
Maxwell
Thomas Nelson, 1998 - 233 pages
"Leadership" is the ability of
a person to direct a group of people to attain a common goal.
The bigger the group of people and the more complex the
goal, the more leadership is required. By this definition, the
book is OK on tactics and not bad on strategy. As
Stephen Covey stated quite accurately in the immensely popular
The
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People “much of the
success literature of the past fifty years was superficial
.... [while] almost all the literature in the first 150 years
or so focused on .... the character ethic.”
This is a book more on tactics than on
ethics, which puts it in the first category.
Nothing at all wrong with studying tactics -- but even
the finest sense of tactics isn't going to do you much good
without a well-chosen goal.
If you are a leader of any kind - whether
a manager in a corporation or a volunteer for your local
church, this book will be helpful to you. Simple and
straightforward, Maxwell's 21 Laws are helpful in setting
priorities and goals. You'll be able to more clearly spot
problem areas, and opportunities to improve. Also, you'll have
a better idea of what steps to take in order to move your
organization forward.
Taken for what it is, the book is a fast
read -- and a good basic outline, albeit painted with a very
broad brush, for someone beginning a career, but it doesn't
stand up to the more critical scrutiny of a more experienced
person. Of his twenty-one laws, some are tautologies or ways
to recognize a leader, rather than ways to be one. The first
(leadership is influence) is a good example of a tautology;
the fifth (when a real leader speaks, people listen) is a
great way to recognize a leader. The key is law number seven:
people oftentimes follow leaders stronger than themselves.
Most of the other laws are tactics to increase your
influence, both during your tenure and after your departure.
For those seeking good leadership books I
would suggest “WEST POINT", by Norman Thomas Remick
(highly suggested by people I know) and Leadership
at the Speed of Growth by … Two other good
books for those people trying to build a better company or
organization are Peter Drucker’s The
Essential Drucker and Built
on Trust by Arky Ciancutti.
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About the
Author:
John C. Maxwell,
known as America’s expert on leadership, is
founder of the INJOY Group, an organization
dedicated to helping people maximize their
personal and leadership potential. Each year
Maxwell speaks in person to more than 250,000
people and influences the lives of more than one
million people through seminars, books and tapes.
He is the bestselling author of twenty-five books,
including The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,
Failing Forward, Developing the Leader Within You,
and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.
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