John Maxwell's #3 Law of Leadership: The Law of Process

0:00So good, so good, so good. New markdowns up to 70 % off are at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Stock up and stay big on shoes, tops, dresses, accessories, and more must-haves for summer. Join the Nordi Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack.

0:30This is the Ed Mylan Show.

1:00Everybody seems to want overnight success, but leadership doesn't work that way. Welcome back to our leadership series on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Today's principle is the law of process. Leadership develops daily, not in one day. One of the biggest myths about success is that it happens in a single moment. You see these gurus go viral on social media all the time, showing you how overnight or in one moment or there's one key or one thing if you change. The fact of the matter is you are one decision away from changing your life. But leadership and building something is a process that takes time, especially if it's going to be sustainable and long-lasting.

1:36And so the 15 minutes of fame will be long gone after success actually shows its head. But if you study great leaders, you'll discover something very different. Literal leadership didn't appear overnight. It was built through daily growth, showing up one more day at a time, doing the reps, growing themselves, pouring into people, transferring skills to people, believing in people, increasing their vision. through learning themselves, through discipline, through reflection, through self-awareness, and through making mistakes, frankly. I know I've made more than I can count, but you know what the key is?

2:10Improving from those mistakes. Great leaders become great because they commit to getting better every single day, not because they're perfect, not because it happens overnight. You know, in my book, The Power of One More, I talk about when my father decided to get sober. He's not perfect all of his life. He had tried other times to get sober. When he finally pulled me over in the car one day on the way to a baseball game, and he said, Eddie, I'm going to try to get sober one last time. I asked him if he could actually do it, and he said, I remember him saying, I'm not sure, but I can promise you this.

2:42I'm not going to drink for one more day, and my dad stacked up those one more days. I think that's a lot like leadership. For the rest of my dad's life, he never had another drink one day at a time. I think becoming a leader is one day at a time. It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in one moment, but all of a sudden you start making invisible progress in your life that you never knew you were making until you look back someday and know you were stacking those wins daily. And my dad proved that to me. He changed the trajectory for my entire family, and he did it one day at a time. Leadership is not an event, it's a process, and that process sometimes can be difficult.

3:18Let's hear John Maxwell teach the foundation of this principle, the law of process. Have you noticed your sheets slipping off the corners lately? Or maybe your pillows just don't feel supportive like they used to. You want to get a better night's sleep and be healthier? Replace your bedding. That's why I upgraded our bed with Bowlin Branch. They make everything your bed needs. Their signature organic sheets, pillows, blankets, and comforters are all designed to be breathable, incredibly soft, and they actually get better over time. Bowlin Branch bedding from their organic cotton sheets to their breathable pillows and comforters is made with the ultra clean materials that are gentle on skin and free from harsh chemicals.

3:54Their fabrics are breathable soft and temp regulating so you're not overheating or tossing or turning too much. So upgrade your sleep with Bowl & Branch. Get 15 % off your first order plus free shipping at bowlandbranch.com slash mylet with code mylet. That's bowlandbranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D branch.com slash mylet. Code mylet to unlock 15 % off. Exclusions apply. So guys, the last eight weeks or so, I have not been feeling on my game. And I'm like, what the heck changed? What is it? And then I remembered we switched from one of the places we live to another and I stopped taking IM8. I'll never do that again.

4:37IM8 is unbelievable. IM8 is the way to simplify your supplement routine once and for all. It's got 16 supplements it replaces with 90 ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. And that's why when you're on it, you feel great. And if you stop, You feel the difference. I am eight's daily ultimate essentials has 16 supplements in one drink for two dollars and 61 cents a day So go to I am eight health dot com slash ed right now or click the link in the description here and use code ed For a free welcome kit five free travel sachets plus 10 % off your order. That's code ed at I am eight health Dot com slash ed these statements have not been evaluated with the food and drug administration that this product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

5:22The third law is the law of process. And the law of process says leadership develops daily, not in a day. This is an incredible law. I love to teach it, and the reason I love to teach it is because if a person can understand process, they're going to be very effective as a leader. But if they don't understand the process of becoming a leader, they're going to get very frustrated. Let me explain to you. Many times when I do leadership conferences, when we have a Q &A period of time, probably the most common question asked me when I do leadership conference, somebody raised their hand and said, John, here's a question.

6:07Are leaders born? And whenever they ask me the question, are leaders born? I always look at them and I always say, of course they are. Think about that question. I've never met an unborn leader. I don't particularly want to either, thank you very much. Now what they're really asking is, we're not asking are leaders born, what they're really asking is are there leaders that, are people when they're born, they kind of got it. You know what I'm saying? They got it and are there people when they're born, they don't got it. And I suppose if you got it, you lean. If you don't got it, you get in line.

6:43You know what I mean? And hope there's a water fountain at the end somewhere. Okay. That's a very important question because what I have found is this, and this is so huge. What I have found is there are a lot of people who just think you either have it or you don't have it. And I'm going to tell you right now, that is not true. There are people that have leadership leanings. Of course there are just like there are people when they're born, they have kind of musical leanings. So there are leanings toward leadership that some people have that other people don't have. But anyone can learn to be a leader.

7:11In fact, that's why I have such a passion to teach leadership. That's why I have such a passion to teach these laws. Because if you learn these laws, it becomes absolutely amazing how well you're going to be able to learn to lead. So let me take a moment and explain to you a couple important thoughts in this law. In your notes, we overestimate the event and we underestimate the process. I have found this to be very common with people in leadership. They overestimate what an event will do for them. They come to a leadership conference or they read a leadership book and they say, oh my goodness, this is so good and this is going to make me a leader.

7:50This is going to change me. Now, let me just explain to you the difference between the event and the process because this will help you understand the law process. For example, when you go to a leadership event, I'm talking about like going to a leadership conference, reading a leadership book, okay, listening to a leadership lecture, okay. When you go to a leadership event, that encourages decisions. That's what it does. In other words, you're going to say, oh, my goodness, I know it's important for me to lead, so I'm going to make a decision. For example, when I taught you the law of the lid and said that everything's going to rise and fall on your leadership, many of you made a choice probably.

8:21You said, oh, my goodness, then if that's the truth and my lid of leadership is going to determine how effective I am in my business, I'm going to have to learn to lead. That's a decision. Events encourage decisions. The process encourages development. The emphasis in process is continuing to grow and develop yourself. The event motivates people. We all love to come and be motivated and encouraged. But the process matures people. And we're wanting to mature you as a leader. To motivate you? Yes, but mature you is much more important. The event is a calendar issue. You say, okay, on this certain date, I'm going to go to an event and learn some leadership, whereas the process is a culture issue.

9:10It's being in an environment or a culture that encourages you every day to learn, every day to grow, every day to develop yourself as a leader. The event challenges people. I find that I'm challenged when I go to leadership events, but the process changes people. Why? Because you can't change overnight. You can make a sudden decision, but you can't make a sudden change. That's a process. And there's a lot of difference between that. You see, here's what I think. I think, I think the event is easy and I think the process is difficult. And I want to encourage you as you're watching these training tapes, to understand that it's a process.

9:53And it's not one day, one time, one book, one lecture that's going to change your life. But it's going through the process of doing that. And the reason that leadership must be a process is because leadership is many faceted. In fact, think about it for a moment. There are 21 irrefutable laws of leadership. Just the very fact there are 21 laws of leadership tells you you just can't absorb it or you can't learn it or you can't apply it instantly. I was doing a leadership lecture in, oh, I don't know, a couple years ago, doing a conference. And I'll never forget, during the break, I was signing books and this kid came up to me and he's just out of college and kind of probably a business major.

10:37And he was all excited about leadership, what he was learning. And I could see his passion. I love kids because, you know, They just have great passion. So he came up to me, and he kind of gets in my face a little bit, and he said, okay, John. He said, I love this leadership stuff. He said, I've been listening to you all day. He said, I've got a question. I said, what's your question? He said, what's the one thing I need to know about leadership? I thought, oh, my. So I sucked it up to get energy. You know, here we go. I've got to match this kid's intensity. So I looked at him, and I kind of got in his face.

11:09And I said, the one thing you need to know to be a great leader is that there is more than one thing you need to know to be a great leader. In fact, I said there are 21 things that you need to know to be a great leader. Now, you see, here's the kid. What's he doing? He's trying to take leadership and condense it. He's basically wanting me to fast food leadership. He's wanting to come to the window of leadership and get a sack of leadership. You know what I'm saying? And take off down the road with the sack of leadership and kind of eat it on the way and come out of the car as a great leader. Can't happen.

11:51Why? Because leadership is many facets. Let me explain. Look at your notes for a moment. We've already understood that, first of all, leadership is influence. So it certainly is the ability to influence people, but it's more than influence. You show me, I can show you people that have influence, but they're not great leaders. Isn't that true? Well, it's also, secondly, navigation. The ability to take people from point A to point B to point C. So there's a navigating principle of leadership, and yet I can show you people that are tour guides, that aren't good leaders. Or thirdly, it's empowerment.

12:25It's the ability to take people and empower them. Of course it is. To be able to put belief in people and let them go to a higher level on their own. But it's more than empowerment. Number four, it's relationships. It's getting along with people. Yet I know people who get along with me very well, but they can't lead anything. Number five, it's timing. There's a huge amount of timing that's involved in leadership and the ability to understand timing. It's huge. In fact, there's a whole law on it. But it's more than timing. me. Number six, it's momentum. If you do timing right, you get the big mo going for you.

13:02And it's the ability to sense and feel the surge of momentum in an organization, but it's more than momentum. It's more than just getting the big mo going for you. Number seven, it's sacrifice. It's the ability to give up so you can go up. Of course it is. And yet I know people that they've sacrificed and they're still not great leaders. You see, you're beginning to catch this. Number It's attitude. It's the way you think. And yet, I know people have great attitudes that aren't great leaders. Now, let me just stop down. Here's what I think is very obvious to all of us right now. It's very obvious to all of us.

13:32And that is, it's many faceted. In other words, it's the ability to understand a lot of things that make you a well-rounded, mature leader. It's kind of like in the NFL and pro quarterbacks. It's kind of like a rookie quarterback coming into that major league. It's impossible for them the first year to be probably a great quarterback. There's just too much. I was up speaking the other day with the Cleveland Browns and Butch Davis and the crew, and they were talking to me. And I literally had a guy give me a 30-minute teaching on the quarterback and all they have to learn in their first year. And I was amazed.

14:09I thought, oh, my goodness. It's, you know, read the defenses and understand the offense and be able to sense the shifts and be able to change the play in a moment. It's a lot of stuff. Now, here's what I want you to know. I think that the problem is too many times we try to microwave leaders. We put them in a microwave. We get them in our company and say, oh, my goodness, I've got to develop some leaders. I've got this Maxwell stuff. He said, develop leaders. So come here. Here, I want you to be a leader. I think you can be a leader. Here, get in the microwave. We push them in the way. Push a few buttons and zap them.

14:44By the way, because we microwave so many leaders, that's why we have so many Pop-Tart leaders running. If you've got a lot of Pop-Tart people in your company, it's because you've been microwaving. We need to quit microwaving leaders, and we need to start crock-potting leaders. That's huge. One more thought about this tremendous law of process. That is, the secret of our success is discovered in our daily agenda. what we do every day is the secret to our success. Not what we do at one moment or not what we're going to do sometime. A couple of years ago, I wrote a book called Your Roadmap for Success.

15:31And I'll never forget when I wrote the book, my publisher wanted to call it Your Roadmap to Success. I said, no, no, no, you can't call it the Roadmap to Success because there's no such places. Success is not a destination. It's a journey. It's a process. And so many times we confuse true success with what I call recognition of success. It's like my friend one time said to me, he said, John, he said, all my life I've worked hard at being an overnight success. Bingo. That's so key. It's a process. The law of process says leaders develop daily, not in a day. If you haven't done it yet, click the link below.

16:16You need the 21-page workbook in your hands to track the rep for every law. Plus, that is the only way to get your questions in front of John and I for the Q &A sessions coming up in a few weeks. Get the guide, join the list, and let's get back to the teaching. So leadership growth compounds over time. The small improvements you make every single day create extraordinary results. As John said, we overestimate the event and underestimate the process. So brilliant. Being a leader isn't easy, or everybody else would be doing it. To start building the process for you to become a leader, choose one leadership habit you'll practice every day this week.

16:53Maybe it's reading. Maybe it's mentoring someone. Maybe it's reflecting on your leadership decisions. Maybe it's going back and listening to a few of our podcasts here that pour into you on the topics that mean most to you. Small daily growth creates massive long-term impact. We'll see you next week. This is the Ed Myland Show.

17:38$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Default terms at MintMobile.com.