There are some books that you read because you believe you have to. John C. Maxwell is a foremost authority on leadership and teamwork, so I gave this book a try in spite of the yellowing pages and reliance on classic examples, such as Mount Everest, Apollo 13 and the Enron scandal.
I guess it grew on me with time because not only did I finish it, but I’m penning my takeaways down. I appreciate how John has distilled teamwork to its intricate components - 17 of them. Since he writes in a straightforward manner, I found it easy to complete it. One of the things he wrote that is etched in my mind is “Don’t try to dazzle anyone with your intelligence; impress people with your straightforwardness”. Guilty as charged? Though upon reflection, I believe I don’t necessarily want to create the persona that I’m smart, but I do feel an insatiable urge to try to be funny. Maybe it’s my innate self that likes to play with words and see how they land on people.
Another benefit from reading these 17 laws is that I now know collocations like “gift zones”, “destination disease” and “intuition is the mother of vision”. Can’t wait to liberally incorporate them into my speech to flex how smart, I mean attuned, I am.
John also includes pithy catchphrases to accompany each law, so I particularly resonate with “interaction fuels action”. This sums up my current quest to be a fierce communicator and lay bare the realities others have been sweeping under the rug. I do feel that if I communicate more fervently, I can forge a life that’s truer to my authentic spirit. By some strange reason, I’m reminded of another catchphrase - “Structure drives behaviour” - something parroted to death by protocol-adhering school leaders. You can probably infer that I am not a fan of how “Structure drives behaviour” is brandished around like a panacea, but I think it pairs magnificently with “interaction fuels action”.
I have reached the recycling machine and seek to dump my preloved materials. I hope you enjoyed my attempt to be funny through my writing haha.