John C. Maxwell offers lively stories about the foibles and successes of Lee Iacocca, Abraham Lincoln, Princess Diana, and Elizabeth Dole in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Readers can expect a well-crafted discussion that emphasizes the core attitudes and visions of leadership. Maxwell uses the same tell-it-like-it-is approach that he honed in the bestselling Developing the Leader Within You. For instance, when explaining "The Law of Influence," Maxwell states that "job titles don't have much value when it comes to leading. True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed or assigned. It comes only from influence and that can't be mandated." Even after Princess Diana was stripped of her title, Maxwell says she was still able to lead a global effort toward banning land mines because of her sophisticated ability to influence others.

A Book for Keeps

though im in my twenties. i realize some of the ideas or "laws" may not be very new. but the author neatly compiles all those things that make leaders what they are for those of us who wish for something more or aspire for something better. quite simply, he points us in the best possible direction. idiosyncrasies, if any, cannot be avoided. the guy is still human anyway. however, its best to just take the book with a grain of salt and try to make the best use of the "laws" for perhaps better outcomes in your group or organization. in all, its a good book.

An inspirational book on leadership

Before I read this book, I wondered how someone with a pastoral background can be an expert on leadership. As I read through the chapters, John C. Maxwell slowly convinced me that he is in fact an expert on leadership. His strong association with the church makes him even stronger advocate of leadership. His 21 irrefutable laws are worthy to be taken seriously, although there are some laws that may not be significant to all leadership scenarios. Maxwell illustrates many good examples of leadership like those of Henry Ford, Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill and Jimmy Carter.

I recommend this book to new and experienced leaders.

Pocket-change theory is great

Whether the rest of this book is good or bad, what Maxwell says on p. 57 is priceless and can be applied far beyond the concept of leadership. His idea is that when a leader makes good decisions, he puts "change" in his "pocket," but when he makes bad decisions, he pays out some of that change. If he makes too many bad decisions, he finds he has no more change and is out as a leader.

This can be applied to many things. In particular, it can be applied to the Democratic party, which once had a majority of the voters in its ranks and now has less than 40% of them. How did this happen? They kept making decisions that some in their ranks didn't like, but they didn't care, and they refused to compromise. They just kept making those kinds of decisions, and the voters just kept drifting away. In the last election, they reached deep into their pockets for voters, and came up short. They couldn't find enough even to beat a weak candidate like Bush.