THE LAW OF THE LID despite all their efforts, the brothers just couldn’t make the

business profitable. In the four years they ran the theater, they
weren’t able to consistently generate enough money to pay the
LeadershipAbility Determines a one hundred dollars a month rent that their landlord required.
Person’s Level of Effectiveness

I often open my leadership conferences by explaining the Law A NEW OPPORTUNITY

of the Lid because it helps people understand the value of
leadership. If you can get a handle on this law, you will see the The brothers’ desire for success was strong, so they kept
incredible impact of leadership on every aspect of life. So here looking for better business opportunities. In 1937, they finally
it is: leadership ability is the lid that determines a person’s level struck on something that worked. They opened a small drive-in
of effectiveness. The lower an individual’s ability to lead, the restaurant in Pasadena, located just east of Glendale. People in
lower the lid on his potential. The higher the individual’s Southern California had become very dependent on their cars,
ability to lead, the higher the lid on his potential. To give you and the culture was changing to accommodate that, including
an example, if your leadership rates an 8, then your its businesses.
effectiveness can never be greater than a 7. If your leadership is
only a 4, then your effectiveness will be no higher than a 3. The drive-in restaurant was a phenomenon that sprang up in
Your leadership ability—for better or for worse—always the early thirties, and it was becoming very popular. Rather
determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your than being invited into a dining room to eat, customers would
organization. drive into a parking lot around a small restaurant, place their
orders with carhops, and receive their food on trays right in
Let me tell you a story that illustrates the Law of the Lid. In their cars. The food was served on china plates complete with
1930, two young brothers named Dick and Maurice moved glassware and metal utensils. It was a timely idea in a society
from New Hampshire to California in search of the American that was becoming faster paced and increasingly mobile.
Dream. They had just gotten out of high school, and they saw
few opportunities back home. So they headed straight for Dick and Maurice’s tiny drive-in restaurant was a great
Hollywood where they eventually found jobs on a movie studio success, and in 1940, they decided to move the operation to San
set. Bernardino, a working-class boomtown fifty miles east of Los
Angeles. They built a larger facility and expanded their menu
After a while, their entrepreneurial spirit and interest in the from hot dogs, fries, and shakes to include barbecued beef and
entertainment industry prompted them to open a theater in pork sandwiches, hamburgers, and other items. Their business
Glendale, a town about five miles northeast of Hollywood. But exploded. Annual sales reached $200,000, and the brothers
found themselves splitting $50,000 in profits every year—a THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
sum that put them in the town’s financial elite.
It’s true that the McDonald brothers were financially secure.
In 1948, their intuition told them that times were changing, Theirs was one of the most profitable restaurant enterprises in
and they made modifications to their restaurant business. They the country, and they felt that they had a hard time spending all
eliminated the carhops and started serving only walk-up the money they made. Their genius was in customer service
customers. And they also stream-lined everything. They and kitchen organization. That talent led to the creation of a
reduced their menu and focused on selling ham-burgers. They new system of food and beverage service. In fact, their talent
eliminated plates, glassware, and metal utensils, switching to was so widely known in food service circles that people started
paper and plastic products instead. They reduced their costs and writing them and visiting from all over the country to learn
lowered the prices they charged customers. They also created more about their methods. At one point, they received as many
what they called the Speedy Service System. Their kitchen as three hundred calls and letters every month.
became like an assembly line, where each employee focused on
service with speed. The brothers’ goal was to fill each That led them to the idea of marketing the McDonald’s
customer’s order in thirty seconds or less. And they succeeded. concept. The idea of franchising restaurants wasn’t new. It had
By the mid1950s, annual revenue hit $350,000, and by then, been around for several decades. To the McDonald brothers, it
Dick and Maurice split net profits of about $100,000 each year. looked like a way to make money without having to open
another restaurant themselves. In 1952, they got started, but
Who were these brothers? Back in those days, you could their effort was a dismal failure. The reason was simple. They
have found out by driving to their small restaurant on the lacked the leadership necessary to make a larger enterprise
corner of Fourteenth and E Streets in San Bernardino. On the effective. Dick and Maurice were good single-restaurant
front of the small octagonal building hung a neon sign that said owners. They understood how to run a business, make their
simply McDonald’s Hamburgers. Dick and Maurice McDonald systems efficient, cut costs, and increase profits. They were
had hit the great American jackpot, and the rest, as they say, is efficient managers. But they were not leaders. Their thinking
history, right? Wrong. The McDonalds never went any further patterns clamped a lid down on what they could do and
because their weak leadership put a lid on their ability to become. At the height of their success, Dick and Maurice found
succeed. themselves smack-dab against the Law of the Lid.
THE BROTHERS PARTNER WITH A LEADER entity. The “lid” in the life and leadership of Ray Kroc was
obviously much higher than that of his predecessors.
In 1954, the brothers hooked up with a man named Ray Kroc,
who was a leader. Kroc had been running a small company he In the years that Dick and Maurice McDonald had attempted
founded, which sold machines for making milk shakes. He to franchise their food service system, they managed to sell the
knew about McDonald’s. The restaurant was one of his best concept to just fifteen buyers, only ten of whom actually
customers. And as soon as he visited the store, he had a vision opened restaurants. And even in that size enterprise, their
for its potential. In his mind he could see the restaurant going limited leadership and vision were hindrances. For example,
nationwide in hundreds of markets. He soon struck a deal with when their first franchisee, Neil Fox of Phoenix, told the
Dick and Maurice, and in 1955, he formed McDonald’s brothers that he wanted to call his restaurant McDonald’s,
Systems, Inc. (later called the McDonald’s Corporation). Dick’s response was, “What . . . for? McDonald’s means
nothing in Phoenix.”
Kroc immediately bought the rights to a franchise so that he
could use it as a model and prototype. He would use it to sell In contrast, the leadership lid in Ray Kroc’s life was sky
other franchises. Then he began to assemble a team and build high. Between 1955 and 1959, Kroc succeeded in opening 100
an organization to make McDonald’s a nationwide entity. He restaurants. Four years after that, there were 500 McDonald’s.
recruited and hired the sharpest people he could find, and as his Today the company has opened more than 31,000 restaurants in
team grew in size and ability, his people developed additional 1
119 countries. Leadership ability—or more specifically the
recruits with leadership skill.
lack of leadership ability— was the lid on the McDonald
In the early years, Kroc sacrificed a lot. Though he was in brothers’ effectiveness.
his midfifties, he worked long hours just as he had when he
first got started in business thirty years earlier. He eliminated
many frills at home, including his country club membership, SUCCESS WITHOUT LEADERSHIP
which he later said added ten strokes to his golf game. During
his first eight years with McDonald’s, he took no salary. Not I believe that success is within the reach of just about everyone.
only that, but he personally borrowed money from the bank and But I also believe that personal success without leadership
against his life insurance to help cover the salaries of a few key ability brings only limited effectiveness. Without leadership
leaders he wanted on the team. His sacrifice and his leadership ability, a person’s impact is only a fraction of what it could be
paid off. In 1961, for the sum of $2.7 million, Kroc bought the with good leadership. The higher you want to climb, the more
exclusive rights to McDonald’s from the brothers, and he you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make,
proceeded to turn it into an American institution and global the greater your influence needs to be. Whatever you will
accomplish is restricted by your ability to lead others.
The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater to success and excellence—to work toward becoming a 10. It’s
the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be. possible that you could make it to that level, though the Law of
Diminishing Returns says that the effort it would take to
Let me give you a picture of what I mean. Let’s say that increase those last two points might take more energy than it
when it comes to success, you’re an 8 (on a scale from 1 to 10). did to achieve the first eight. If you really killed yourself, you
That’s pretty good. I think it would be safe to say that the might increase your success by that 25 percent.
McDonald brothers were in that range. But let’s also say that
leadership isn’t even on your radar. You don’t care about it, But you have another option. You can work hard to increase
and you make no effort to develop as a leader. You’re your level of leadership. Let’s say that your natural leadership
functioning as a 1. Your level of effectiveness would look like ability is a 4 —slightly below average. Just by using whatever
this: God-given talent you have, you already increase your
effectiveness by 300 percent. But let’s say you become a real
student of leadership and you maximize your potential. You
SUCCESS WITHOUT LEADERSHIP take it all the way up to a 7. Visually, the results would look
like this:

To increase your level of effectiveness, you have a couple of

choices. You could work very hard to increase your dedication
SUCCESS WITH LEADERSHIP TO CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF THE ORGANIZATION,
CHANGE THE LEADER

Leadership ability is always the lid on personal and

organizational effectiveness. If a person’s leadership is strong,
the organization’s lid is high. But if it’s not, then the
organization is limited. That’s why in times of trouble,
organizations naturally look for new leadership. When the
country is experiencing hard times, it elects a new president.
When a company is losing money, it hires a new CEO. When a
church is floundering, it searches for a new senior pastor.
When a sports team keeps losing, it looks for a new head
coach.

The relationship between leadership and effectiveness is

perhaps most evident in sports where results are immediate and
obvious. Within professional sports organizations, the talent on
the team is rarely the issue. Just about every team has highly
talented players. Leadership is the issue. It starts with a team’s
owner and continues with the coaches and some key players.
By raising your leadership ability—without increasing your When talented teams don’t win, examine the leadership.
success dedication at all—you can increase your original
Personal and organizational effectiveness is proportionate to the strength
effectiveness by 600 per-cent. Leadership has a multiplying of leadership.
effect. I’ve seen its impact again and again in all kinds of
businesses and nonprofit organizations. And that’s why I’ve
Wherever you look, you can find smart, talented, successful
taught leadership for more than thirty years.
people who are able to go only so far because of the limitations
of their leadership. For example, when Apple got started in the
late 1970s, Steve Wozniak was the brains behind the Apple
computer. His leadership lid was low, but that was not the case
for his partner, Steve Jobs. His lid was so high that he built a
world-class organization and gave it a nine-digit value. That’s
the impact of the Law of the Lid.
 In the 1980s, I met Don Stephenson, the chairman of Global
Hospitality Resources, Inc., of San Diego, California, an
international hospitality advisory and consulting firm. Over
lunch, I asked him about his organization. Today he primarily
does consulting, but back then his company took over the
management of hotels and resorts that weren’t doing well Applying
financially. His company oversaw many excellent facilities,
such as La Costa in Southern California. THE LAW OF THE LID
To Your Life
Don said that whenever his people went into an organization
to take it over, they always started by doing two things. First,
they trained all the staff to improve their level of service to the
1. List some of your major goals. (Try to focus on
customers, and second, they fired the leader. When he told me significant objectives—things that will require a year or longer
that, I was surprised. of your time. List at least five but no more than ten items.)
Now identify which ones will require the participation or
“You always fire him?” I asked. “Every time?” cooperation of other people. For these activities, your
Leadership ability will greatly impact your effectiveness.
“That’s right. Every time,” he said.
2. Assess your leadership ability. Complete the leadership
“Don’t you talk to the person first—to check him out to see evaluation in Appendix A at the back of this book to get an
if he’s a good leader?” I said. idea of your basic leadership ability.

“No,” he answered. “If he’d been a good leader, the 3. Ask others to rate your leadership. Talk to your boss,
organization wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in.” your spouse, two colleagues (at your level), and three people
you lead about your leadership ability. Ask each of them to rate
And I thought to myself, Of course. It’s the Law of the Lid. you on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high) in each of the following
To reach the highest level of effectiveness, you have to raise areas:
the lid—one way or another.
People skills
The good news is that getting rid of the leader isn’t the only
way. Just as I teach in conferences that there is a lid, I also Planning and strategic thinking
teach that you can raise it—but that’s the subject of another law
of leadership.
 Vision One of the most effective leaders of the late twentieth
century was any-thing but impressive upon first appearance.
Results When most people think of Mother Teresa, they envision a frail
little woman dedicated to serving the poorest of the poor. That
Average the scores, and compare them to your own she was. But she was also a tremendous leader. I say that
assessment. Based on these assessments, is your leadership because she had an amazing amount of influence with others.
skill better or worse than you expected? If there is a gap And if you don’t have influence, you will never be able to lead
between your assessment and that of others, what do you think others.
is the cause? How willing are you to grow in the area of
leadership?
SMALL STATURE—BIG IMPACT
2
Lucinda Vardey, who worked with Mother Teresa on the book
The Simple Path, described the nun as “the quintessential,
energetic entrepreneur, who has perceived a need and done
something about it, built an organization against all odds,
formulated its constitution, and sent out branches all over the
world.”
THE LAW OF
INFLUENCE The organization Mother Teresa founded and led is called
the Missionaries of Charity. While other vocational orders in
the Catholic Church were declining, hers grew rapidly,
The True Measure of Leadership Is reaching more than four thousand members during her lifetime
Influence—Nothing More, Nothing Less (not including numerous volunteers). Under her direction, her
followers served in twenty-five countries on five continents. In
What do leaders look like? Do they always look powerful, Calcutta alone, she established a children’s home, a center for
impressive, charismatic? And how do you measure the people with leprosy, a home for people who were dying and
effectiveness of a leader? Can you put two people side by side destitute, and a home for people suffering with tuberculosis or
and instantly tell which is the better leader? These are questions mental disorders. That kind of organizational building can be
people have asked for hundreds of years. accomplished only by a true leader.
If you don’t have influence, you will never be able to lead others.
 Mother Teresa’s impact reached far beyond her immediate They would have booed, jeered, or stormed out. But the
environment. People from all walks of life and from nations speaker was Mother Teresa. She was probably the most
around the globe respected her, and when she spoke, people respected person on the planet at that time. So everyone
listened. Author and former presidential speechwriter Peggy listened to what she had to say, even though many of them
Noonan wrote about a speech Mother Teresa gave at the violently disagreed with it. In fact, every time that Mother
National Prayer Breakfast in 1994. It illustrates her level of Teresa spoke, people listened. Why? She was a real leader, and
influence with others. Noonan observed: when the real leader speaks, people listen. Leadership is
influence—nothing more, nothing less.
The Washington establishment was there, plus a few thousand
born-again Christians, orthodox Catholics, and Jews. Mother
Teresa spoke of God, of love, of families. She said we must love
one another and care for one another. There were great purrs of LEADERSHIP IS NOT . . .
agreement.
Leadership is often misunderstood. When people hear that
But as the speech continued, it became more pointed. She
spoke of unhappy parents in old people’s homes who are “hurt someone has an impressive title or an assigned leadership
because they are for-gotten.” She asked, “Are we willing to give position, they assume that individual to be a leader. Sometimes
until it hurts in order to be with our families, or do we put our that’s true. But titles don’t have much value when it comes to
own interests first?” leading.
The baby boomers in the audience began to shift in their
seats. And she continued. “I feel that the greatest destroyer of True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned.
peace today is abortion,” she said, and told them why, in It comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It
uncompromising terms. For about 1.3 seconds there was silence, must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time—
then applause swept the room. But not everyone clapped; the either to increase your level of influence with others or to
President and First Lady [Bill and Hillary Clinton], the Vice
President and Mrs. Gore looked like seated statues at Madame
undermine it.
Tussaud’s, moving not a muscle. Mother Teresa didn’t stop there
either. When she was finished, there was almost no one she
1 FIVE MYTHS ABOUT LEADERSHIP
hadn’t offended.

At that time if just about any other person in the world had There are plenty of misconceptions and myths that people
made those statements, people’s reactions would have been embrace about leaders and leadership. Here are five common
openly hostile. ones:

1. THE MANAGEMENT MYTH

A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing Sir Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” If you believe
are one and the same. Up until a few years ago, books that power to be the essence of leadership, then you might naturally
claimed to be on leadership were often really about assume that those who possess knowledge and intelligence are
management. The main difference between the two is that therefore leaders. That isn’t necessarily true. You can visit any
leadership is about influencing people to follow, while major university and meet brilliant research scientists and
management focuses on maintaining systems and processes. As philosophers whose ability to think is so high that it’s off the
former Chrysler chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca wryly charts but whose ability to lead is so low that it doesn’t even
commented, “Sometimes even the best manager is like the little register on the charts. Neither IQ nor education necessarily
boy with the big dog, waiting to see where the dog wants to go equates to leadership.
so that he can take him there.”
4. THE PIONEER MYTH
The best way to test whether a person can lead rather than
just manage is to ask him to create positive change. Managers
Another misconception is that anyone who is out in front of the
can maintain direction, but often they can’t change it. Systems
crowd is a leader. But being first isn’t always the same as
and processes can do only so much. To move people in a new
leading. For example, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to
direction, you need influence.
reach the summit of Mount Everest. Since his historic ascent in
The only thing a title can buy is a little time—either to increase your level 1953, hundreds of people have “followed” him in achieving
of influence with others or to undermine it. that feat. But that doesn’t make Hillary a leader. He wasn’t
even the official leader on the expedition when he reached the
summit. John Hunt was. And when Hillary traveled to the
2. THE ENTREPRENEUR MYTH
South Pole in 1958 as part of the Commonwealth Trans-
Antarctic Expedition, he was accompanying another leader, Sir
Frequently, people assume that all entrepreneurs are leaders.
Vivian Fuchs. To be a leader, a person has to not only be out
But that’s not always the case. Entrepreneurs are skilled at
front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him,
seeing opportunities and going after them. They see needs and
following his lead, and acting on his vision. Being a trendsetter
understand how to meet them in a way that produces a profit.
is not the same as being a leader.
But not all of them are good with people. Many find it
necessary to partner with someone skilled at the people part of
the equation. If they can’t influence people, they can’t lead. 5. THE POSITION MYTH

As mentioned earlier, the greatest misunderstanding about

3. THE KNOWLEDGE MYTH
leadership is that people think it is based on position, but it’s
not. Think about what happened several years ago at Cordiant,
the advertising agency formerly known as Saatchi & Saatchi. title. Check his influence. The proof of leadership is found in
In 1994, institutional investors of Saatchi & Saatchi forced the the followers.
board of directors to dismiss Maurice Saatchi, the company’s
CEO. What was the result? Several executives followed him I personally learned the Law of Influence when I accepted
out. So did many of the company’s largest accounts, including my first job out of college. I went in with all the right
British Airways and Mars, the candy maker. Saatchi’s credentials. I had the proper college degree. I had a great deal
influence was so great that his departure caused the company’s of insight into the work because of the training given to me by
2 my father. I possessed the position and title of leader in the
stock to fall immediately from $85.8 to $4 per share. What
organization. It made for a goodlooking résumé—but it didn’t
happened is a result of the Law of Influence. Saatchi lost his make me the real leader. At my first board meeting, I quickly
title and position, but he continued to be the leader. Stanley found out who the real leader was—a farmer named Claude.
Huffty affirmed, “It’s not the position that makes the leader; When he spoke, people listened. When he made a suggestion,
it’s the leader that makes the position.” people respected it. When he led, others followed. If I wanted
“It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the to make an impact, I would have to influence Claude. He, in
position.”, turn, would influence everybody else. It was the Law of
—STANLEY HUFFTY Influence at work.
The proof of leadership is found in the followers.

WHO’S THE REAL LEADER?

Many years ago, there was a game show on television called To LEADERSHIP IS . . .
Tell the Truth. Here’s how it worked. At the opening of the
show, three contestants claimed to be the same person. One of The true measure of leadership is influence—nothing more,
them was telling the truth; the other two were actors. A panel nothing less. Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime
of celebrity judges took turns asking the three people questions, minister, observed, “Being in power is like being a lady. If you
and when time was up, each panelist guessed which per-son have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” If you watch the
was the real truth-teller. Many times, the actors bluffed well dynamics that occur between people in just about every aspect
enough to fool the panelists and the members of the audience. of life, you will see some people leading and others following,
and you will notice that position and title often have little to do
When it comes to identifying a real leader, that task can be with who is really in charge.
much easier. Don’t listen to the claims of the person professing
to be the leader. Don’t examine his credentials. Don’t check his
 That being the case, why do some people emerge as leaders Leadership requires more than just a command of data. It
while others can’t influence people no matter how hard they demands an ability to deal with numerous intangibles. In fact,
try? I believe that several factors come into play: that is often one of the main differences between managers and
leaders. Leaders seek to recognize and influence intangibles
CHARACTER—WHO THEY ARE such as energy, morale, timing, and momentum.

True leadership always begins with the inner person. That’s EXPERIENCE—WHERE THEY’VE BEEN
why someone like Billy Graham is able to draw more and more
followers to him as time goes by. People can sense the depth of The greater the challenges you’ve faced as a leader in the past,
his character. the more likely followers are to give you a chance in the
present. Experience doesn’t guarantee credibility, but it
RELATIONSHIPS—WHO THEY KNOW encourages people to give you a chance to prove that you are
capable.
You’re a leader only if you have followers, and that always
requires the development of relationships—the deeper the PAST SUCCESS—WHAT THEY’VE DONE
relationships, the stronger the potential for leadership. In my
career, each time I entered a new leadership position, I Nothing speaks to followers like a good track record. When I
immediately started building relationships. Build enough of the went to my first leadership position, I had no track record. I
right kinds of relationships with the right people, and you can couldn’t point to past successes to help people believe in me.
become the real leader in an organization. But by the time I went to my second position, I had a positive
track record. Every time I extended myself, took a risk, and
KNOWLEDGE—WHAT THEY KNOW succeeded, followers had another reason to trust my leadership
ability—and to listen to what I had to say.
Information is vital to a leader. You need a grasp of the facts,
an understanding of dynamic factors and timing, and a vision ABILITY—WHAT THEY CAN DO
for the future. Knowledge alone won’t make someone a leader,
but without knowledge, no one can become one. Whenever I The bottom line for followers is what a leader is capable of.
was new to an organization, I always spent a lot of time doing They want to know whether that person can lead the team to
homework before I tried to take the lead. victory. Ultimately, that’s the reason people will listen to you
and acknowledge you as their leader. As soon as they no longer
INTUITION—WHAT THEY FEEL believe you can deliver, they will stop listening and following.
LEADERSHIP WITHOUT LEVERAGE to ask candidates to lead a volunteer organization for six
months. If those leaders can get people to follow them when
I admire and respect the leadership of my good friend Bill they have no leverage—recruiting employees to volunteer,
Hybels, the founding pastor of Willow Creek Community serve the community, work with the United Way, and so on—
Church in South then you know that they can influence others. That is the mark
Barrington, Illinois, one of the largest churches in North of true leadership ability.
America. Bill says he believes that the church is the most
leadership-intensive enterprise in society. A lot of
businesspeople I know are surprised when they hear that FROM
statement, but I think Bill is right. What is the basis of his COMMANDER TO
belief? Positional leadership often doesn’t work in volunteer PRIVATE TO
organizations. There is no leverage. In other organizations, the COMMANDER IN
person who has position has incredible leverage. In the CHIEF
military, leaders can use rank and, if all else fails, throw people
into the brig. In business, bosses have tremendous leverage in One of my favorite stories that illustrates the Law of Influence
the form of salary, benefits, and perks. Most followers are concerns Abraham Lincoln. In 1832, decades before he became
pretty cooperative when their livelihood is at stake. president, young Lincoln gathered together a group of men to
fight in the Black Hawk War. In those days, the person who put
“The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person
to participate.”
together a volunteer company for the militia often became its
—HARRY A. OVERSTREET leader and assumed a commanding rank. In this instance,
Lincoln was given the rank of captain. But Lincoln had a
problem. He knew nothing about soldiering. He had no prior
But in voluntary organizations the thing that works is
military experience, and he knew nothing about tactics. He had
leadership in its purest form: influence. Psychologist Harry A.
trouble remembering the simplest military procedures.
Overstreet observed, “The very essence of all power to
influence lies in getting the other person to participate.” By the end of his military service, Abraham Lincoln found his rightful
Followers in voluntary organizations cannot be forced to get on place, having achieved the rank of private.
board. If the leader has no influence with them, then they won’t
follow.
For example, one day Lincoln was marching a couple of
dozen men across a field and needed to guide them through a
Recently at a meeting where I was speaking to a group of
gate into another field. But he couldn’t manage it. Recounting
company presidents and CEOs, one participant asked for advice
the incident later, Lincoln said, “I could not for the life of me
on finding the best leaders in his organization. My advice was
remember the proper word of command for getting my To Your Life
company endwise. Finally, as we came near [the gate] I
shouted: ‘This company is dismissed for two minutes, when it
3 1. Which of the myths in the chapter have you bought into
will fall in again on the other side of the gate.’” in thepast: management, entrepreneur, knowledge, pioneer, or
As time went by, Lincoln’s level of influence with others in position? Why have you been susceptible to that myth? What
the militia actually decreased. While other officers proved does that say about your perception of leadership up until now?
themselves and gained rank, Lincoln found himself going in the What must you change in your current thinking to make you
other direction. He began as a captain, but title and position did more open to improving your leadership in the future?
him little good. He couldn’t overcome the Law of Influence.
By the end of his military service, Abraham Lincoln had found 2. What do you usually rely upon most to persuade people
his rightful place, having achieved the rank of private. to followyou? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 for each of
the seven factors named in the chapter (a 1 means it’s not a
Fortunately for Lincoln—and for the fate of the United factor while a 10 means you rely on it continually):
States—he overcame his inability to influence others. Lincoln
followed his time in the military with undistinguished stints in Character—who you are
the Illinois state legislature and the U.S. House of
Representatives. But over time and with much effort and Relationships—who you know
personal experience, he became a person of remarkable
influence and impact, and one of the nation’s finest presidents. Knowledge—what you know

I love the leadership proverb that says, “He who thinks he Intuition—what you feel
leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.” If you can’t
influence people, then they will not follow you. And if people Experience—where you’ve been
won’t follow, you are not a leader. That’s the Law of Influence.
No matter what anybody else may tell you, remember that Past success—what you’ve done
leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.
Ability—what you can do

Applying How can you optimize or better utilize the ones with low
scores?
THE LAW OF THE INFLUENCE
 3. Find an organization for which to volunteer. Pick “She was treated very, very shabbily,” said Benjamin Clark,
something youbelieve in—for example, a school, soup kitchen, who knew her as well as anyone did. “She really had to fend
or community project —and offer your time and energy. If you for herself in every way. It was really quite a struggle.”
believe you have leadership ability, then try leading. You will
learn to lead through influence. Scheiber was the model of thrift. She didn’t spend money on
herself. She didn’t buy new furniture as the old pieces she
owned became worn out. She didn’t even subscribe to a
3 newspaper. About once a week, she used to go to the public
library to read the Wall Street Journal.

WINDFALL!

Imagine the surprise of Norman Lamm, the president of

THE LAW OF PROCESS Yeshiva University in New York City, when he found out that
Anne Scheiber, a little old lady whose name he had never heard
—and who had never attended Yeshiva—left nearly her entire
Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day estate to the university.

Anne Scheiber was 101 years old when she died in January “When I saw the will, it was mind blowing, such an
1995. For years she had lived in a tiny, run-down, rent- unexpected wind-fall,” said Lamm. “This woman has become a
controlled studio apartment in Manhattan. The paint on the legend overnight.”
walls was peeling, and the old book-cases that lined the walls
were covered in dust. Rent was four hundred dollars a month. The estate Anne Scheiber left to Yeshiva University was
1
Scheiber lived on Social Security and a small monthly worth $22 million!
pension, which she started receiving in 1943 when she retired
as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Service. She hadn’t done How in the world did a spinster who had been retired for
very well at the IRS. More accurately, the agency hadn’t done fifty years build an eight-figure fortune? The answer is, she did
right by her. Despite having a law degree and doing excellent it one day at a time.
work, she was never promoted. And when she retired at age
fifty-one, she was making only $3,150 a year. By the time she retired from the IRS in 1943, Anne Scheiber
had man-aged to save $5,000. She invested that money in
stocks. By 1950, she had made enough profit to buy 1,000
shares of ScheringPlough Corporation stock, then valued at and you’ll know who that person is and what he or she is
$10,000. And she held on to that stock, letting its value build. becoming.
By the time she died, those original shares split enough times to
2 When I teach leadership at conferences, people inevitably
produce 128,000 shares, worth $7.5 million.
ask me if leaders are born. I always answer, “Yes, of course
The secret to Scheiber’s success was that she spent most of they are . . . I’ve yet to meet an unborn leader! How else would
her life building her worth. Whether her stock’s values went up you expect them to come into the world?” We all laugh, and
or down, she didn’t sell it off with the thought, I’m finished then I answer the real question—whether leadership is
building; now it’s time to cash out. She was in for the long something a person either is born with and possesses or is not
haul, the really long haul. When she earned dividends—which born with and doesn’t.
kept getting larger and larger—she reinvested them in Becoming a leader is a lot like investing successfully in the stock market. If
additional stocks. She spent her whole lifetime building. While your hope is to make a fortune in a day, you’re not going to be successful.
other older people worry that they may run out of funds before
the end of their lives, the longer she lived, the wealthier she Although it’s true that some people are born with greater
became. When it came to finances, Scheiber understood and natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection
applied the Law of Process. of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved. But
that process doesn’t happen overnight. Leadership is
LEADERSHIP IS LIKE INVESTING—IT COMPOUNDS
complicated. It has many facets: respect, experience, emotional
strength, people skills, discipline, vision, momentum, timing—
Becoming a leader is a lot like investing successfully in the
the list goes on. As you can see, many factors that come into
stock market. If your hope is to make a fortune in a day, you’re
play in leadership are intangible. That’s why leaders require so
not going to be successful. There are no successful “day
much seasoning to be effective. That’s why I felt that only after
traders” in leadership development. What matters most is what
reaching age fifty was I truly beginning to understand the many
you do day by day over the long haul. My friend Tag Short
aspects of Leadership with clarity.
maintains, “The secret of our success is found in our daily
agenda.” If you continually invest in your leadership
LEADERS ARE LEARNERS
development, letting your “assets” compound, the inevitable
result is growth over time. What can you see when you look at In a study of ninety top leaders from a variety of fields,
a person’s daily agenda? Priorities, passion, abilities, leadership experts Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus made a
relationships, attitude, personal disciplines, vision, and discovery about the relationship between growth and
influence. See what a person is doing every day, day after day, leadership: “It is the capacity to develop and improve their
skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.”
Successful leaders are learners. And the learning process is If I want to improve, then I’ll engage in a process and stick
ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance. The goal with it.
each day must be to get a little better, to build on the previous
day’s progress. THE PHASES OF LEADERSHIP GROWTH
“It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes
What does the leadership growth process look like? Every
leaders from their followers.”
—BENNIS AND NANUS person’s is different. However, whether or not you possess
great natural ability for Leadership, your development and
progress will probably occur according to the following five
The problem is that most people overestimate the
phases:
importance of events and underestimate the power of processes.
We want quick fixes. We want the compounding effect that
PHASE 1: I DON’T KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW
Anne Scheiber received over fifty years, but we want it in fifty
minutes.
Many people fail to recognize the value of leadership. Some
don’t recognize its importance. Others believe that leadership is
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate events. They can be
only for a few—for the people at the top of the corporate
effective catalysts. But if you want lasting improvement, if you
ladder. They have no idea of the opportunities they’re passing
want power, then rely on a process. Consider the difference
up when they don’t learn to lead. This point was driven home
between the two:
for me when a college president shared with me that only a
handful of students signed up for a leadership course offered by
AN EVENT A PROCESS the school. Why? Only a few thought of themselves as leaders.
Encourages decisions Encourages development If they had understood that leadership is influence, and that in
Motivates people Matures people the course of each day most individuals usually try to influence
Is a calendar issue Is a culture issue at least four other people, their desire might have been sparked
to learn more about the subject. It’s unfortunate because as
Challenges people long as a person doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, he isn’t
Changes going to grow.
people Is easy
Is difficult As long as a person doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, he isn’t going to
grow.
If I need to be inspired to take steps forward, then I’ll attend
an event. PHASE 2: I KNOW THAT I NEED TO KNOW
At some point in life, many people find themselves placed in a that day to now, I have made it a practice to read books, listen
leadership position only to look around and discover that no to tapes, and go to conferences on leadership.
one is following them. When that happens, we realize that we
need to learn how to lead. And of course, that’s when it’s Around the time I met with Kurt, I also had another idea: I
possible for the process to start. Benjamin Disraeli, former wrote to the top ten leaders in my field and offered them one
British prime minister, wisely commented, “To be conscious hundred dollars for a half hour of their time so that I could ask
that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge.” them questions. (That was quite a sum for me back then.) For
the next several years, Margaret and I planned every vacation
That’s what happened to me when I took my first leadership around where those people lived. If a great leader in Cleveland
position in 1969. I had captained sports teams all my life and said yes to my request, then that year we vacationed in
had been the student government president in college, so I Cleveland so that I could meet him. I can’t explain how
already thought I was a leader. But when I tried to lead people valuable those experiences were for me. Those leaders shared
in the real world, I found out the awful truth. Being put in insights with me that I could have learned no other way.
charge is not the same as being a leader.
PHASE 4: I KNOW AND GROW, AND IT STARTS TO
PHASE 3: I KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW SHOW

I struggled for a while in that first leadership position. To be When you recognize your lack of skill and begin the daily
honest, I relied on my extremely high energy and whatever discipline of personal growth, exciting things start to happen.
charisma I possessed. But there came a moment when I
realized that leadership was going to be the key to my Several years ago I was teaching leadership to a group of
professional career. If I didn’t get better at leadership, my people in Denver, and in the crowd I noticed a really sharp
career would eventually bog down, and I would never reach the nineteen-year-old named Brian. For a couple of days, I watched
goals I had set for myself. Fortunately at that time, I had as he eagerly took notes. I observed him interacting with
breakfast with Kurt Kampmeir of Success Motivation, Inc. At others. And I talked to him a few times during breaks. When I
that breakfast, he asked a question that would change my life. got to the part of the seminar where I teach the Law of Process,
I asked Brian to stand up so that I could talk to him, and I
“John,” he asked, “what is your plan for personal growth?” wanted everyone else in the audience to listen in.

I fumbled for an answer and then finally admitted that I “Brian, I’ve been watching you here,” I said, “and I’m very
didn’t have one. That night my wife, Margaret, and I decided to impressed with how hungry you are to learn and glean and
make financial sacrifices so that I could get on the program grow. I want to tell you a secret that will change your life.”
Kurt offered. That was an intentional step toward growth. From Everyone in the whole auditorium seemed to lean forward.
 “I believe that in about twenty years, you can be a great that’s when the payoff is incredible. But the only way to get
leader. I want to encourage you to make yourself a lifelong there is to obey the Law of Process and pay the price.
learner of leadership. Read books, listen to tapes regularly, and
keep attending seminars. And when-ever you come across a
golden nugget of truth or a significant quote, file it away for the TO LEAD TOMORROW, LEARN TODAY
future.
Leadership is developed daily, not in a day. That is the reality
“It’s not going to be easy,” I said. “But in five years, you’ll dictated by the Law of Process. Benjamin Disraeli asserted,
see progress as your influence becomes greater. In ten years, “The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his
you’ll develop a competence that makes your leadership highly time when it comes.” What a person does on a disciplined,
effective. And in twenty years, when you’re only thirty-nine consistent basis gets him ready, no matter what the goal.
years old, if you’ve continued to learn and grow, others will
likely start asking you to teach them about leadership. And You can see the effect of the Law of Process in any walk of
some will be amazed. They’ll look at each other and say, ‘How life. NBA Hall of Fame player Larry Bird became an
did he suddenly become so wise?’ outstanding free-throw shooter by practicing five hundred shots
each morning before he went to school. Demosthenes of
“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his time when it
comes.”
ancient Greece became the greatest orator by reciting verses
—BENJAMIN DISRAELI with pebbles in his mouth and speaking over the roar of the
ocean’s waves—and he did it despite having been born with a
speech impediment. You need to have the same dedication. To
“Brian,” I concluded, “you can be a great leader, but it
become an excellent leader, you need to work on it every day.
won’t happen in a day. Start paying the price now.” What’s true
for Brian is also true for you. Start developing your leadership
today, and someday you will experience the effects of the Law
FIGHTING YOUR WAY UP
of Process.
There is an old saying: champions don’t become champions in
PHASE 5: I SIMPLY GO BECAUSE OF WHAT I KNOW
the ring—they are merely recognized there. That’s true. If you
want to see where someone develops into a champion, look at
When you’re in phase four, you can be pretty effective as a
his daily routine. Former heavyweight champ Joe Frazier
leader, but you have to think about every move you make.
stated, “You can map out a fight plan or a life plan. But when
However, when you reach phase five, your ability to lead
the action starts, you’re down to your reflexes. That’s where
becomes almost automatic. You develop great instincts. And
your road work shows. If you cheated on that in the dark of the
morning, you’re getting found out now under the bright A MAN OF ACTION
3
lights.” Boxing is a good analogy for leadership development
TR (Roosevelt’s nickname) is remembered as an outspoken
because it is all about daily preparation. Even a person with man of action and proponent of the vigorous life. While in the
natural talent has to prepare and train to become successful. White House, he was known for regular boxing and judo
Champions don’t become champions in the ring—they are merely sessions, challenging horseback rides, and long, strenuous
recognized there. hikes. A French ambassador who visited Roosevelt used to tell
about the time that he accompanied the president on a walk
One of this country’s greatest leaders was a fan of boxing: through the woods. When the two men came to the banks of a
President Theodore Roosevelt. In fact, one of his most famous stream that was too deep to cross by foot, TR stripped off his
quotes uses a boxing analogy: clothes and expected the dignitary to do the same so that they
could swim to the other side. Nothing was an obstacle to
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how Roosevelt.
the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have
done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually
At different times in his life, Roosevelt was a cowboy in the
in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; Wild West, an explorer and big-game hunter, and a rough-
who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and riding cavalry officer in the Spanish-American War. His
spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows in the end enthusiasm and stamina seemed boundless. As the vice
the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he presidential candidate in 1900, he gave 673 speeches and
fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall
traveled 20,000 miles while campaigning for President
never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither
victory nor defeat. McKinley. And years after his presidency, while preparing to
deliver a speech in Milwaukee, Roosevelt was shot by a would-
be assassin. With a broken rib and a bullet in his chest,
Roosevelt, a boxer himself, was the ultimate man of action.
Roosevelt insisted on delivering his one-hour speech before
Not only was he an effective leader, but he was one of the most
allowing him-self to be taken to the hospital.
flamboyant of all U.S. presidents. British historian Hugh
Brogan described him as “the ablest man to sit in the White
House since Lincoln; the most vigorous since Jackson; the most
ROOSEVELT STARTED SLOW
bookish since John Quincy Adams.”
Of all the leaders this nation has ever had, Roosevelt was one
of the tough-est—both physically and mentally. But he didn’t
start that way. America’s cowboy president was born in
Manhattan to a prominent wealthy family. As a child, he was Roosevelt’s list of accomplishments is remarkable. Under
puny and very sickly. He had debilitating asthma, possessed his leadership, the United States emerged as a world power. He
very poor eyesight, and was painfully thin. His parents weren’t helped the country develop a first-class navy. He saw that the
sure he would survive. Panama Canal was built. He negotiated peace between Russia
and Japan, winning a Nobel Peace Prize in the process. And
When he was twelve, young Roosevelt’s father told him, when people questioned TR’s leadership—since he had first
“You have the mind, but you have not the body, and without become president when McKinley was assassinated—he
the help of the body the mind cannot go as far as it should. You campaigned and was reelected by the largest majority of any
must make the body.” Make it he did. He lived by the Law of president up to his time.
Process.
Ever the man of action, when Roosevelt completed his
TR began spending time every day building his body as well second term as president in 1909, he immediately traveled to
as his mind, and he did that for the rest of his life. He worked Africa where he led a scientific expedition sponsored by the
out with weights, hiked, ice-skated, hunted, rowed, rode Smithsonian Institution. A few years later, in 1913, he co-led a
horseback, and boxed. In later years, Roosevelt assessed his group to explore the uncharted River of Doubt in Brazil. It was
progress, admitting that as a child he was “nervous and timid. a learning adventure he said he could not pass up. “It was my
Yet,” he said, “from reading of the people I admired . . . and last chance to be a boy,” he later admitted. He was fifty-five
from knowing my father, I had a great admiration for men who years old.
were fearless and who could hold their own in the world, and I
4 On January 6, 1919, at his home in New York, Theodore
had a great desire to be like them.” By the time TR graduated
Roosevelt died in his sleep. Then Vice President Marshall said,
from Harvard, he was like them, and he was ready to tackle the “Death had to take him sleeping, for if Roosevelt had been
world of politics. awake, there would have been a fight.” When they removed
him from his bed, they found a book under his pillow. Up to the
NO OVERNIGHT SUCCESS very last, TR was still striving to learn and improve him-self.
He was still practicing the Law of Process.
Roosevelt didn’t become a great leader overnight, either. His
road to the presidency was one of slow, continual growth. As If you want to be a leader, the good news is that you can do
he served in various positions, ranging from New York City it. Everyone has the potential, but it isn’t accomplished
police commissioner to president of the United States, he kept overnight. It requires perseverance. And you absolutely cannot
learning and growing. He improved himself, and in time he ignore the Law of Process. Leadership doesn’t develop in a
became a strong leader. That was further evidence that he lived day. It takes a lifetime.
by the Law of Process.
 leadership development are valued, resourced, and rewarded,
then growth will explode. And the environment you created
will begin attracting high achievers and people with great
potential.

Applying 4
THE LAW OF PROCESS
To Your Life
1. What is your personal plan for growth? If you are like I
was whenKurt Kampmeir asked me this question, you have a THE LAW OF
vague intention to grow, not a specific plan. Write out a plan. I
recommend that you read one book a month, listen to at least NAVIGATION
one CD, tape, or streaming message a week, and attend one
conference a year. Select the materials in advance, set aside Anyone Can Steer the Ship, but It
time for growth on your calendar, and start immediately. If
Takes a Leader to Chart the Course
developing a plan from scratch seems difficult, you may want
to read my book Today Matters. It contains the personal
In 1911, two groups of explorers set off on an incredible
growth plan I have used for years.
mission. Though they used different strategies and routes, the
leaders of the teams had the same goal: to be the first in history
2. One thing that separates great leaders from good leaders to reach the South Pole. Their stories are life-and-death
is theway they invest in those who follow them. Just as you illustrations of the Law of Navigation.
need a growth plan to improve, so do those who work for you.
You can take groups of employees through books, bring in One group was led by Norwegian explorer Roald
trainers, mentor people one-onone—anything that works. Make Amundsen. Ironically, Amundsen had not originally intended
providing opportunities for growth your responsibility. to go to Antarctica. His desire was to be the first man to reach
the North Pole. But when he discovered that Robert Peary had
3. If you are the leader of a business, an organization, or a beaten him there, Amundsen changed his goal and headed
department, you can create a culture of growth. When people toward the other end of the earth. North or south—he knew his
in your sphere of influence know that personal growth and planning would pay off.
AMUNDSEN CAREFULLY CHARTED HIS COURSE trip. The ponies didn’t fare well either in those frigid
temperatures. When they reached the foot of the Transantarctic
Before his team ever set off, Amundsen had painstakingly Mountains, all of the poor animals had to be killed. As a result,
planned his trip. He studied the methods of the Eskimos and the team members themselves ended up hauling the
other experienced Arctic travelers and determined that their twohundred-pound sledges. It was arduous work.
best course of action would be to transport all their equipment
and supplies by dogsled. When he assembled his team, he Scott hadn’t given enough attention to the team’s other
chose expert skiers and dog handlers. His strategy was simple. equipment either. Their clothes were so poorly designed that all
The dogs would do most of the work as the group traveled of the men developed frostbite. One team member required an
fifteen to twenty miles in a six-hour period each day. That hour every morning just to get his boots onto his swollen,
would afford both the dogs and the men plenty of time for daily gangrenous feet. Everyone became snowblind because of the
rest prior to the following day’s travel. inadequate goggles Scott had supplied. On top of everything
else, the team was always low on food and water. That was also
Amundsen’s forethought and attention to detail were due to Scott’s poor planning. The depots of supplies Scott
incredible. He located and stocked supply depots all along the established were inadequately stocked, too far apart, and often
intended route. That way they would not have to carry every bit poorly marked, which made them very difficult to find.
of their supplies with them the whole trip. He also equipped his Because they were continually low on fuel to melt snow,
people with the best gear possible. Amundsen had carefully everyone became dehydrated. Making things even worse was
considered every possible aspect of the journey, thought it Scott’s last-minute decision to take along a fifth man, even
through, and planned accordingly. And it paid off. The worst though they had prepared enough supplies for only four.
problem they experienced on their trip was an infected tooth
that one man had to have extracted. After covering a grueling eight hundred miles in ten weeks,
Scott’s exhausted group finally arrived at the South Pole on
January 17, 1912. There they found the Norwegian flag
SCOTT VIOLATED THE LAW OF NAVIGATION flapping in the wind and a letter from Amundsen. The other
well-led team had beaten them to their goal by more than a
The other team of people was led by Robert Falcon Scott, a month!
British naval officer who had previously done some exploring
in the Antarctic area. Scott’s expedition was the antithesis of
Amundsen’s. Instead of using dogsleds, Scott decided to use IF YOU DON’T LIVE BY THE LAW OF NAVIGATION . . .
motorized sledges and ponies. Their problems began when the
motors on the sledges stopped working only five days into the
Scott’s expedition to the Pole is a classic example of a leader unable to live by the Law of Navigation, he and his
who could not navigate for his people. But the trek back was companions died by it.
even worse. Scott and his men were starving and suffering
from scurvy, yet Scott, unable to navigate to the very end, was Followers need leaders able to effectively navigate for them.
oblivious to their plight. With time running out and the food When they’re facing life-and-death situations, the necessity is
supply desperately low, Scott insisted that they collect thirty painfully obvious. But even when consequences aren’t as
pounds of geological specimens to take back— more weight to serious, the need is also great. The truth is that nearly anyone
be carried by the worn-out men. can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. That
is the Law of Navigation.
The group’s progress became slower and slower. One
member of the party sank into a stupor and died. Another,
Lawrence Oates, a former army officer who had originally been NAVIGATORS SEE THE TRIP AHEAD
brought along to take care of the ponies, had frostbite so severe
that he had trouble doing anything. Because he believed he was Former General Electric chairman Jack Welch asserts, “A good
endangering the team’s survival, he purposely walked out into leader remains focused . . . Controlling your direction is better
a blizzard to keep from hindering the group. Before he left the than being con-trolled by it.” Welch is right, but leaders who
tent and headed into the storm, he said, “I am just going navigate do even more than control the direction in which they
outside; I may be some time.” and their people travel. They see the whole trip in their minds
before they leave the dock. They have vision for getting to their
Because Robert Falcon Scott was unable to live by the Law of Navigation,
he and his companions died by it.
destination, they understand what it will take to get there, they
know who they’ll need on the team to be successful, and they
recognize the obstacles long before they appear on the horizon.
Scott and his final two team members made it only a little Leroy Eims, author of Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be,
farther north before giving up. The return trip had already taken writes, “A leader is one who sees more than others see, who
two months, and still they were 150 miles from their base sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do.”
camp. There they died.
“A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than
We know their story only because they spent their last hours others see, and who sees before others do.”
updating their diaries. Some of Scott’s last words were these: —LEROY EIMS
“We shall die like gentlemen. I think this will show that the
Spirit of pluck and power to endure has not passed out of our The larger the organization, the more clearly the leader has
1 to be able to see ahead. That’s true because sheer size makes
race.” Scott had courage but not leadership. Because he was midcourse corrections more difficult. And if there are errors in
navigation, many more people are affected than when a leader Every past success and failure you’ve experienced can be a
is traveling alone or with only a few people. The disaster valuable source of information and wisdom—if you allow it to
shown in James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic was a good be. Successes teach you what you’re capable of doing and give
example of that kind of problem. The crew could not see far you confidence. However, your failures often teach greater
enough ahead to avoid the iceberg altogether, and they could lessons. They reveal wrong assumptions, character flaws,
not maneuver enough to change course once the object was in errors in judgment, and poor working methods. Ironically,
view because of the size of the ship. The result was that more many people hate their failures so much that they quickly cover
than one thousand people lost their lives. them up instead of analyzing them and learning from them. As
I explain in my book Failing Forward, if you fail to learn from
your mistakes, you’re going to fail again and again.
WHERE THE LEADER GOES . . .
Why do I even mention something that seems so basic?
First-rate navigators always have in mind that other people are Because most natural leaders are activists. They tend to look
depending on them and their ability to chart a good course. I
forward—not backward—make decisions, and move on. I
read an observation by James A. Autry in Life and Work: A
Manager’s Search for Meaning that illustrates this idea. He know this because that is my tendency. But for leaders to
writes that occasionally you hear about the crash of four become good navigators, they need to take time to reflect and
military planes flying together in a formation. The reason for learn from their experiences. That’s why I have developed the
the loss of all four is this: When jet fighters fly in groups of
four, one pilot—the leader—designates where the team will discipline of reflective thinking. I write about it in detail in my
fly. The other three planes fly on the leader’s wing, watching book Thinking for a Change, but allow me to give you some
him and following him wherever he goes. Whatever moves he advantages of reflective thinking here. Reflective thinking
makes, the rest of his team will make along with him. That’s
gives you true perspective, gives emotional integrity to your
true whether he soars in the clouds or smashes into a
mountaintop. thought life, increases your confidence in decision making,
clarifies the big picture, and takes a good experience and
Before good leaders take their people on a journey, they go
2
through a process in order to give the trip the best chance of makes it a valuable experience.
being a success:
Each benefit gives a leader a great advantage when planning
NAVIGATORS DRAW ON PAST EXPERIENCE next steps for a team or organization.
NAVIGATORS EXAMINE THE CONDITIONS grassroots level. And they spend time with leaders from outside
BEFORE MAKING COMMITMENTS the organization who can mentor them. They always think in
terms of relying on a team, not just themselves.
Drawing on experience means looking inward. Examining
conditions means looking outward. No good leader plans a NAVIGATORS MAKE SURE THEIR CONCLUSIONS
course of action without paying close attention to current REPRESENT BOTH FAITH AND FACT
conditions. That would be like setting sail against the tide or
plotting a course into a hurricane. Good navigators count the Being able to navigate for others requires a leader to possess a
cost before making commitments for themselves and others. positive attitude. You’ve got to have faith that you can take
They examine not only measurable factors such as finances, re- your people all the way. If you can’t confidently make the trip
sources, and talent, but also intangibles such as timing, morale, in your mind, you’re not going to be able to take it in real life.
momentum, culture, and so on. (I’ll discuss this more in the
Laws of Intuition and Timing.) On the other hand, you also have to be able to see the facts
realistically. You can’t minimize obstacles or rationalize your
No matter how much you learn from the past, it will never tell you all you
challenges and still lead effectively. If you don’t go in with
need to know for the present.
NAVIGATORS LISTEN TO WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO your eyes wide open, you’re going to get blindsided. As Bill
SAY Easum, president of Easum, Bandy, and Associates, observes,
“Realistic leaders are objective enough to minimize illusions.
No matter how much you learn from the past, it will never tell They understand that selfdeception can cost them their vision.”
you all that you need to know for the present. No matter how Balancing optimism and realism, intuition and planning, faith and fact can
good a leader you are, you yourself will not have all the be very difficult. But that’s what it takes to be effective as a navigating
answers. That’s why topnotch navigators gather information leader.
from many sources. For example, before Roald Amundsen’s Jim Collins confirmed this balance between faith and fact in
expedition to the South Pole, he had learned from a group of his 2001 book Good to Great. He calls it the Stockdale
Native Americans in Canada about warm clothing and Arctic Paradox. He writes, “You must retain faith that you will prevail
survival techniques. Those skills and practices meant the in the end and you must also con-front the most brutal facts of
difference between failure and success for his team in 3
your current reality.” Balancing optimism and realism,
Antarctica.
intuition and planning, faith and fact can be very difficult. But
that’s what it takes to be effective as a navigating leader.
Navigating leaders get ideas from many sources. They listen
to members of their leadership team. They talk to the people in
their organization to find out what’s happening on the
A LESSON IN NAVIGATION A NAVIGATION STRATEGY

I remember the first time I really understood the importance of I should probably confess at this point that I am not a strong
the Law of Navigation. I was twenty-eight years old, and I was navigator. I don’t take joy in getting into details, and I tend to
leading the second church in my pastoral career. Before my go with my gut instinct—sometimes a little too quickly for my
arrival there in 1972, the church had experienced a decade-long own good. In the last fifteen to twenty years, I’ve often staffed
plateau in its growth. But by 1975, our attendance had gone my weaknesses and hired good navigating leaders to help my
from four hundred to more than a thousand. I knew we could organizations. For example, for many years when I was a
keep growing and helping more people, but only if we built a church leader, Dan Reiland was on my staff as executive
new auditorium. pastor. He is an excellent navigator. Currently at EQUIP, the
nonprofit organization I founded in 1996, John Hull works as
The good news was that I already had some experience its president, and he is a fantastic navigating leader. However,
leading a construction project because I had taken my first back in 1975, I had to take responsibility for the navigation
church through the process. The bad news was that the first one process myself. To help me do that, I developed a strategy that
was really small in comparison to the second one. This was I have used repeatedly in my leadership. I wrote it as an
going to be a multimilliondollar project more than twenty times acrostic so that I would always be able to remember it:
larger than my first one. But even that was not the greatest
obstacle. Predetermine a course of action.
If the leader can’t navigate the people through rough waters, he is liable to
Lay out your goals.
sink the ship.

Adjust your priorities.

Right before I came on board as leader of the church, there
had been a huge battle over another building proposal, and the Notify key personnel.
debate had been vocal, divisive, and bitter. For that reason, I
knew that I would experience genuine opposition to my Allow time for acceptance.
leadership for the first time. There were rough waters ahead,
and if I as the leader didn’t navigate us well, I could sink the Head into action.
ship.
Expect problems.

CHARTING THE COURSE WITH Always point to the successes.

 Daily review your plan. several weeks, I met with about a hundred leaders. I cast the
vision for what we needed to do and fielded their questions.
That became my blueprint as I prepared to navigate this And any time I could sense that a person was hesitant about the
change for my organization. project, I planned to meet individually with him again. Then I
allowed time for those key leaders to influence the rest of the
I had a strong sense of what our course of action needed to people and help them accept the coming changes.
be. If we were going to keep growing, we needed to build a
new auditorium. I had looked at every possible alternative, Major barriers to successful planning are fear of change, ignorance,
uncertainty about the future, and lack of imagination.
and I knew that was the only viable solution. My goal was
to design and build the facility, pay for it in ten years, and
unify all the people in the process—no small feat. When the time arrived for the congregational meeting, we
were ready to head into action. I took two hours to present the
Any plan I introduced would have to be voted on in a project to the people. I handed out my twenty-page report with
congregational meeting, so I scheduled one a couple of months the floor plans, financial analysis, and budgets. I tried to answer
ahead to give me time to get everything ready. The next thing I every question the people would have before they even had a
did was direct our board members and a group of key financial chance to ask it. I also asked some of the most influential
leaders to conduct a twentyyear analysis of our growth and people in the congregation to speak.
financial patterns. It covered the previous ten years and
projections for the next ten years. Based on that, we determined I had expected opposition, but when I opened the floor for
the requirements of the facility. questions, I was shocked. There were only two questions: one
person wanted to know about the placement of the building’s
We then formulated a ten-year budget that carefully water fountains, and the other asked about the number of
explained how we would handle financing. I also asked that all restrooms. That was when I knew we had navigated the tricky
of the information we were gathering be put into a twenty-page waters successfully. When it was time for the motion asking
report to be given to the members of the congregation. I knew everyone to vote, the church’s most influential layperson made
that major barriers to successful planning are fear of change, it. And I had already asked a leader who had previously
ignorance, uncertainty about the future, and lack of opposed the building project to be the one to second the
imagination. I was going to do everything I could to prevent motion. When the final count was tallied, 98 percent of the
those factors from hindering us. people had voted in favor.

My next step was to notify the key leaders. I started with the Once we navigated through this tricky part of the process,
ones who had the most influence, meeting with them the rest of the project was pretty straightforward. I continually
individually and sometimes in small groups. Over the course of kept the vision in front of the people by giving them good news
reports. I made sure we celebrated successes. And I either case, write down what you learn during that discovery
periodically reviewed our plans and their results to make sure process.
we were on track. The course had been charted. All we had to
do was steer the ship. 2. Navigating leaders do their homework. For some
project or majortask that you are currently responsible for,
That was a wonderful learning experience for me. Above draw on your past experience, hold intentional conversations
everything else, I found out that the secret to the Law of with experts and team members to gather information, and
Navigation is preparation. When you prepare well, you convey examine current conditions that could impact the success of
confidence and trust to people. Lack of preparation has the your endeavor. Only after taking these steps should you create
opposite effect. In the end, it’s not the size of the project that your action plan.
determines its acceptance, sup-port, and success—it’s the size
of the leader. That’s why I say that anyone can steer the ship,
but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good
3. Which way do you naturally lean—toward facts or
navigators are capable of taking their people just about faith? Rarely isa leader especially talented in both areas. (I’m a
anywhere. faith person. I am highly visionary and believe that anything is
possible. I often rely on my brother, Larry, to help me with
In the end, it’s not the size of the project that determines its acceptance, realistic thinking.) Yet good navigators must be able to do
support, and success. It’s the size of the leader. both.

To successfully practice the Law of Navigation, you must

Applying know your own bent. If you’re not sure, ask trusted friends and
THE LAW OF NAVIGATION colleagues. Then make sure you have someone with the
opposite bent on your team so that you can work together.
To Your Life
1. Do you make it a regular practice to reflect on your
positive andnegative experiences? If not, you will miss the
potential lessons they have to offer. Do one of two things: Set
aside a time to reflect every week, examining your calendar or
journal to jog your memory. Or build reflection time into your
schedule immediately after every major success or failure. In