Maxwell's 10th Law: The Law of Connection

John C. Maxwell's 10th Law, from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Follow Them and People Will Follow You (Nelson Books, 1998), p. 99, reads: "Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand."

This is a good one. I forget it from time to time in my impatience to drive sales. But then some setback occurs which tells me I'm trying to move too fast and everything in due time.

For example, he says, on p. 101:

Effective leaders know that you first have to touch people's hearts before you ask them for a hand. That is the Law of Connection. All great communicators recognize this truth and act on it almost instinctively. You can't move people to action unless you first move them with emotion. The heart comes before the head.

Or this quote from p. 102:

The stronger the relationship and connection between individuals, the more likely the follower will want to help the leader.

Or this one from p. 104:

They [Leaders] take the first step with others and then make the effort to continue building relationships. That's not always easy, but it's important to the success of the organization. A leader has to do it, no matter how many obstacles there might be to it.

And finally, from p. 107:

When a leader has done the work to connect with his people, you can see it in the way the organization functions. Among employees there are incredible loyalty and a strong work ethic.

So pay it forward. Do nice things for people, and keep in touch, regularly, over time. Take them to lunch and find out about them. You'd be surprised what can happen. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but down the road. Or maybe today, you never know when. You never know what. But you know something will. And it might be even more wonderful than you wanted.

Real success lies not in getting what you want, but in realizing that what you have is what you would have wanted if you had known.

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