In this 21 part series, based on John Maxwell’s book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I’m taking you on a journey towards better leadership. I share with you my own leadership lessons and insights. As a John Maxwell Team Member I’ll be happy to deliver transformational leadership training for your team or organization. See the details below.
Part 9 of 21: The Law of Magnetism
The Law of Magnetism: Who you are is who you attract. ~ John C. Maxwell
Effective leaders are always on the lookout for good people. I think each of us carries around a mental list of what kind of people we would like to have in our organization or department. Think about it. Stop right now and make a list of what would your (next) ideal team member be like. What age? How about commitment level? What characteristics should that person have?
There is only one key that will unlock the door to your success. Believe it or not, who you attract is not determined by what you WANT, but by who you ARE.
This works both ways – when you are looking the right person for your team as well as when you’re looking for the right job. Like attracts like.
John Maxwell in his book 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership identifies 7 key areas where we share common ground:
1. Generation
Most of the time when people hire others, they hire people similar in age to themselves. This occurs within departments, but sometimes even company-wide.
2. Attitude
Positive people won’t work well with negative people and other way around. People not only attract others with similar attitudes, but their attitudes tend to become alike. Beware, your attitude is contagious!
3. Background
Before I immigrated to Canada, I was a director of a non-profit organization that I founded. Most of my volunteers were women. Some had higher education – college or above. After some time spent around me, those who didn’t have higher education started to talk about continuing their education.
4. Values
People are attracted to leaders whose values are similar to their own. Since I can remember, I honored integrity, hard work and people. It was very difficult for me to follow leaders without these values. Remember, your values will determine what type of individuals will follow you.
5. Energy
If you’re a high energy person, you’ve most likely noticed that low-energy individuals drive you crazy. It works the other way around too.
6. Giftedness
People aren’t looking for mediocre leaders to follow. People are attracted to talent and excellence, especially in their area of giftedness. Whenever you’re looking to learn and improve, I’m pretty sure that you’re looking for the best in that industry. This might sound pretty obvious, but for you as a leader this means that you need to constantly be improving to attract highly talented people to your company or organization.
People are attracted to talent and excellence. Click To Tweet7. Leadership Ability
When we look back at the Law of Respect, people naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves. But let’s add Law of Magnetism to the equation, which states that who you are is who you attract. If you are a level 7 leader, when it comes to leadership, you are more likely to draw 5s and 6s to you than 2s and 3s. The leaders you attract will be similar in style and ability to you.
After discovering this law, you can be in one of the two situations.
- You might be disappointed with people you’re attracting. If you’re dissatisfied with the leadership ability of the people you are attracting, then embrace the Law of Process and work to increase your leadership skill. If you want to grow an organization, grow the leader. Examine your character, improve and you will transform your results.
- You might be happy with people you’re attracting. If this is you, it’s wonderful! Now it might be time to take the next step in effective leadership and start recruiting people who are different from you to staff your weaknesses. It is possible for a leader to go out and recruit people unlike himself, but those are not the people he will naturally attract. Attracting people unlike yourself requires a high level of intentionality. To do this, people must believe in you, and your vision must be compelling. You will be able to learn more about it in Law of Buy-In (coming up).
This article is part of a 21-part leadership series.
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To your success,
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