John Maxwell's #4 Law of Leadership: The Law of Navigation

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0:35This is the Ed Myland Show. 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Series, Law 4, Law of Navigation. Listen, when uncertainty hits, whether in your faith, your family, or business, people start looking around for somebody who knows where they're going. And you want to be ready in that moment when people look at you. So welcome back to our leadership series on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Today's principle is the law of navigation. Leadership is not just about moving forward. It's about knowing where you're going. It's about getting a clear vision. It's about selling that vision and that dream to the people around you and getting everybody moving in one direction.

1:17The truth is great leaders are like navigators. They see further down the road than others. Frankly, by position, you're in front of the team. leaders in front, you should be able to see things that other people don't see and then get them to know how great it's going to be when you get there and how worth it the work's going to be to get the team to that destination. They anticipate challenges before they arrive. They prepare their teams for obstacles before they show up and they help people stay focused on the destination when the path becomes difficult. I often talk about the lonely road to success.

1:48The Bible calls it the narrow path in life. In business, oftentimes it feels like a lonely road that you're on. But the truth of the matter is that's the road that leads to greatness. And just keep your vision. Keep believing. I remember in some of my own businesses when errors were made or we got hit with a recession in the market or whatever. Just stuff happens, right? I needed to be a leader that led people to get everyone to march forward in the most difficult times. If the road to success didn't have ups and downs, we'd all be at the top. And it wouldn't feel good when you get there if you didn't have to experience the valleys.

2:20You need to be present. But you also need to see a few steps ahead of what obstacles might be in front of you. One of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is direction. People look to leaders for clarity when things become uncertain. John in this episode has a great example on a leader being a travel agent or a tour guide. You want to be the one taking your team on a journey and be the tour guide, not some travel agent. Let's hear what John Maxwell has to say about this law of navigation. Law number four is the law of navigation. And the law of navigation says anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course.

3:01I've often described leadership in kind of two terms. There's what I call the art form of leadership, and then there's the technical form of leadership. The law of navigation is a technical form of leadership. It's very tangible. It's point A to point B to point C. For example, the law of timing or the law of intuition, that's art form of leadership. It's much more subjective. It's much harder to get your hands around it. But Jack Welch was exactly right when he said, A good leader remains focused. Controlling your destination is better than being controlled by it. So let's study for a few minutes the law of navigation.

3:39I brought with me something I read the other day that I just love. And I want to pass it on to you. So just kind of sit and relax for a moment. Let me just read you this, I think, humorous story. A man in a hot air balloon realized that he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and he shouted, Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend that I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am. The woman below replied, You're in a hot air balloon, hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. Well, you're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.

4:21You must be an engineer, said the balloonist. I am, replied the woman. How did you know? Well, answered the balloonist, everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information. And the fact is, I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip. The woman below responded, you must be in management.

4:53You can see the train a-coming, can't you? Since you must be in management. I am, replied the blueness. But how did you know? Well, said the woman, you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. And the fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now somehow it's my fault.

5:30Isn't that great, huh? When I think of the law of navigation, trying to get from one point to another, There's one thing, of course, that we have to understand, and that is if anybody's going to be a good leader and navigate, you have to know where you are. And again, I referred to on an earlier law, the Mr. Magoo thing. I mean, let me tell you something. When you get on the ship, you don't want to look up and see that the captain is Mr. Magoo. It just kind of is a little bit unsettling. And the reason for that is in your notes there are three statements I want to make. And the three statements are these.

6:05a leader is one who sees more than others see. That's a fact. That's part of leadership. What do leaders do? They see the big picture. Is that not true? But the second statement, a leader is one who sees farther than others see. In other words, a leader is a person who looks out and he can see distant horizon and has great vision. But the third thought I want you to know is that a leader is one who sees before others see. It's also a timing issue. And one of the qualities of a leader is you put them in a room, they sense things. They sense things quicker than others sense them. Now, it's not an IQ issue.

6:50It's not that they're smarter. It's just the fact that they have leadership within them, and they sense a need before others sense a need. They sense an opportunity before others sense an opportunity. So what do leaders do? especially if you're a good navigating leader, you see more than others see, you see farther than others see, and you see before others see. That's what good leaders do. Bill Easton said one time, realistic leaders are objective enough to minimize illusions. They understand that self-deception can cost them their vision. Or Max Dupree, my friend, said this. He said, the number one responsibility of a leader is to define reality.

7:31What I have found about great navigational leaders is they're highly realistic because they realize they have the responsibility of taking other people on a trip where they have never gone before, and they understand that they have to have experience and success. In fact, there's a world of difference. Think about it for a moment. There's a world of difference between a travel agent and a tour guide. You know, a travel agent, you know, they get your tickets for you and they get brochures for you and they send you on a trip. You know what? They send you and me on trips every day of places they've never been before.

8:09You know what I'm saying? They bon voyage and have a good trip and here are your tickets and hope everything turns out right. Well, travel agents, they send you where they've never been before. But a tour guide, oh, when you go to the place that you've arrived at this place, you have a tour guide. You know what a tour guide basically says, I'm going to take you where I've been many times before. And I'm going to tell you about what I know. See, the great navigating leaders are leaders who they've been there and they've done that. But they're not in a been there, done that. You know, haven't you run people who kind of go around, been there, done that, been there, done that, and they're bored.

8:43You know what I'm saying? You kind of say, well, you've been there too many times. You've done that too many times. Are you with me? So we've seen the been there. No, no. The great navigational leaders, they've been there, done that, but their excitement is taking people with them on the journey. 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 Bowl & 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.

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11:16And I said, what are you most proud of? I mean, you've been to Mount Everest on more than one occasion at the top. I said, what are you most proud of? And he said, John, what I'm most proud of is he said, I have taken more people to the top of Mount Everest than any other person. And I thought, there is a true navigator. There's a person who understands that my joy isn't getting to the top. Been there, done that. My joy is getting other people to go to the top with me. And think about it for a moment. That's what navigators do. How many of you have ever heard the expression, it's lonely at the top?

11:50Huh? You've heard that, haven't you? Now, every time we hear the expression, it's lonely at the top, we think that a leader said that. A leader didn't say that. Think about it for a moment. If you're lonely, if you're all by yourself at the top, you're not leading anybody. If you're at the top all alone, here's a thought. Get off of the top and go down to where the people are. Go down and find your team and take your team to the top with you. That's what leaders do. Doesn't that make sense? To help me because I am weak in this law. I'm not an A to point B to point C. It's not a strength of mine.

12:27I'm more visionary. I developed something in the 70s. I'm talking about 25 years ago as a young leader, knowing I had a lot of leadership responsibilities and realizing I was leading people that were older than me, more experienced than me, because I was just young. I developed a wonderful process that's helped me to navigate that I want to give to you. And in your notes, I want to walk you through this wonderful, wonderful step-by-step process of how to plan ahead. Are you ready? The letter P. Letter P stands for predetermine your course of action. In other words, as a leader, what do I do? The first thing I do is I determine where do I want to go.

13:08I don't wait until the crowd's saying let's go somewhere and then say where do I want to go. What's a leader do? Leaders predetermine. They think before others think. They see before others see. They've got that leadership edge. So predetermine your course of action. The letter L, lay out your goals. Basically, goals are nothing more than stepping stones. They're a process. So when I say lay out your goals, what I'm talking about basically is this. Use each one of your goals as stepping stones. So maybe if I use this little platform for a moment, if my goal is to get back up to the bar stool, basically I say, okay, here's goal one and here's goal two.

13:51In other words, lay out your goals, develop them. Now, as soon as you lay out your goals, letter A comes into being. Because as soon as you lay out your goals, the letter A stands for adjust your priorities. I found this to happen. Now, I've been doing this now for 25 years, and here's what I found to happen. I found that every time, every time I lay out my goals and predetermine a course of action, I realize I have to adjust my priorities. Because you know what I'm doing? I'm doing things that are never going to get me there. You follow me? And I say, oh, my goodness, John, why are you doing this?

14:23because if you're wanting to really get there, so this is your destination, you're carrying extra weight. So predetermined coralsy action, lay out your goals, adjust your priorities, okay? The letter N, notify key personnel. Very simple. Take your key personnel and sit down and talk to them and notify and share the vision. For example, if this is my team again, what I do is I sit down and say, hey, gang, here's what I'm thinking. Here's the dream. Here's the vision. What do you think? And if your team is good, But you know what they'll do? They'll take what you give them and they'll give it to you back better than you gave it to them.

14:58Isn't that right? They always make it better. When anybody asks me, says, John, how do I know that I have a good team around me? I can tell you how you know you have a good team around you. Every time you give them something, they give it back to you at a higher level. They take and stretch and grow you. But you notify your key personnel. In other words, you have your key meeting. You have your meeting before the meeting. Oh, that's a huge lecture in itself. But you've got to always have a meeting before the meeting. because if you don't have your meeting before the meeting, you're going to have a very bad meeting.

15:26Notify keepers now. Letter A, allow time for acceptance because it's going to take a while. So allow time for acceptance. I can promise you people change slowly. So give them time to kind of digest and process that in their own mind emotionally. Letter H, head into action. Get going. I mean, there comes a time you go. And by the way, leaders have a bias toward action. And so leaders love the head into action part. They say, okay, now it's time. We've been thinking and planning long enough. Let's go. Head into action. And as soon as you head into action, the letter E comes into place. Watch this one.

16:11Expect problems. The moment you create movement in the organization, the moment that you take action, expect problems. Somebody asked me one time in a conference, I raised my hand, I said, John, why, okay, help me out here, they said, when you say expect problems, why should I have problems when I head into action? I said, it's very simple. Motion causes friction. And the moment that you head into action, somebody realizes they're going to have to make changes. Head into action. Get going. Expect problems. I got problems. You got problems. We all got problems. Okay, expect those problems because they're going to happen.

16:46Okay? And as you expect those problems and as you're moving forward, understand it's not because you haven't learned. It's not because you're being a bad leader. It's not because you haven't done things well. It's just because problems happen to all of us. Let me just take a little poll here. How many of you as a leader have at least one problem? I was talking to a leader recently and he was complaining about the problems. I said, don't complain about the problems. I said, think about it. That's why you have a job. If everybody was doing the right thing, probably they wouldn't need you. This is a good thing that you have problems.

17:19But after expecting problems, always point to your successes. Always point to your successes. And the reason for that is very simple. Because you've got somebody in the company that will point to your failures. Okay? This gives hope to your people. This encourages your people. And then finally, the letter D, daily review your progress. Daily review it. sit down and say, okay, how am I doing? Am I farther along today than I was yesterday? I have found that the secret of navigation is preparation. And the best navigating leaders are those who spend time preparing themselves so that they can effectively take their people on the trip.

18:02If you haven't done it yet, click the link below. You 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. Leadership requires vision, it requires preparation, and it requires the courage to make decisions when the path forward isn't clear. If you didn't write this down already, plan ahead. P, predetermine your course of action. L, lay out your goals. A, adjust your priority. N, notify key personnel.

18:38A, allow time for acceptance. H, head into action. E, expect problems. A, always point to your successes. D, daily review your progress. Before making your next big decision, pause and think three steps ahead. Ask yourself, what challenges might come next and how can you prepare your team to navigate them? We'll see you next week.

19:09This is the Ed Myland Show.

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