Law No. 9 - The Law of Magnetism - John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

The Law of Magnetism is taken from John C. Maxwell's, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and says, 'Who you are is who you attract'.

I have my background in leadership within the church realm, and I have seen the law of magnetism very clearly. Churches with pastors with a young family, seem to attract members who have young families. Churches with leaders who are bible scholars and are strongly into dissecting the biblical writings tend to have people in their congregations who are analytical and passionate about this kind of study.

We only have to look to the business world for a second and we see the law of magnetism at work. Two young surfers, Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, in 1969 began a now multi-million dollar industry called RipCurl. They initially sold surfboards, and then a year later expanded to sell wetsuits. Who do they attract to work at their stores? Well, the last time I walked through their shop at Torquay, Victoria, Australia (where they founded their business), the employees were young people who loved to surf! They attract to their business, the same kind of personality and interests that they have.

This is a natural part of leadership. We attract who we are. That's the law of magnetism. The challenge of leadership is to attract people who do not naturally connect with us. If you are a business leader, church leader, School Principal and so the list goes on, you cannot simply employ people who fit into your mold. We can't afford to have clones of leaders walking around our hallways. Why? To be really effective in an organisation you need a wide variety of views, of personalities and leadership styles. Without this kind of variety, you end up with Henry Ford clones, who only make their Fords black. While my personality is not attracted to the dry, analytical, systems-driven kind of person, I need this person around me at times, to help pick me up in areas I would not see. If you are a visionary, having someone who can see the nuts and bolts of the whole picture is someone you probably need on your leadership team!

So, while John C. Maxwell's law of magnetism is true, we need to challenge ourselves to find ways to connect with differing personalities and to have people on our leadership teams who see things from a different angle. We attract who we are, but that is not necessarily the only people we can attract to our goals and vision.  

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Also have a look at the TOP 100 Leadership Tips here.
The law of Magnetism is law no. 9 and continues our look at John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.