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The Law of Respect

Tom Barnard

n his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell wrote about the Law of Respect. His main point was, “People don’t follow others by accident. They follow individuals whose leadership they respect” (p. 70). Using an arbitrary scale of 1 to 10, with 10 representing the highest level of leadership skills, Maxwell argued that persons with a rating of 8 will follow those higher than their own leadership skills, but not persons lower on the leadership scale. “People naturally align themselves and follow leaders stronger than themselves” (p. 72).

By way of illustration, Maxwell told about a decision he made to move his organization, INJOY, from San Diego, California, to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1997. At first, he estimated that he would lose at least half of his staff in the move. He assumed that many would opt to remain behind in San Diego rather than move their families to Georgia. However, as he approached his team individually to inform them of the decision to move the company to Atlanta, he was delighted to discover that every one of his core leaders decided to move east with him—100 percent of his leadership team.

Maxwell offered three suggestions why so many of his top leaders decided to make the move to Atlanta.

• Leaders wanted to remain connected with an organization that was vision-centered.
• Leaders wanted to remain connected with the man who had invested so much time with them.
• Leaders wanted to remain connected with a man who was a strong leader himself.
  
  Maxwell concluded, “The reasons I’ve named wouldn’t have been enough if I had been a weaker leader. Because I’ve spent my whole life developing my leadership skills, that has made it possible for me to lead other strong leaders. People who are 9s and 10s don’t follow a 7. That’s just the way leadership works. That’s the secret of the Law of Respect” (p. 76).

During my 35 years in Christian higher-education teaching and administration, I was privileged to work closely with five presidents. Each one was gifted in his own special way, but all of them were decisive, strong leaders. They lived with their successes and accepted the responsibility when plans did not go as expected. All of them were men of integrity and honor. All were churchmen. All had outstanding communication skills. All developed strong relationships with their leadership teams, their faculties, their boards of control, and their various external constituencies. One retired when his work was done. One died suddenly before he was able to advance his vision very far forward. The other three moved on to significant posts in higher education, denominational leadership, and the federal government. In different ways, these five men gained and held my loyalty and respect. I count it a sacred privilege to have worked with them.

Stephen R. Covey, in his book Everyday Greatness, (Rutledge Hill, 2006), said these words about respect:

            Every human being from cradle to coffin responds to respect, responds to people who see and draw out their hidden potential. You see it in their countenance; you hear it in their voice…their inner beauty will shine in ways that I believe will significantly influence their physical presence and bring new light to their eyes. (p. 251)

Respect is a two-way street, coming and going—giving and receiving. It works both vertically upward and downward—from workers to management, and also from management to workers. Remove either of these directions, and respect will erode and eventually die. Maintain it, and your role as leader (or follower) will develop and mature as you do.

One of the most important truths I’ve learned over the years is this: Leadership is leadership, no matter where you go or what you do. Times change. Technology marches forward. Cultures vary from place to place. But the true principles of leadership are constant…. –John C. Maxwell