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Title: The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 0-7852-7434-0 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 31 July, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.36 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Developing Effective Teams in a Church Staff Setting
Comment: In a format that is similar to the "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" Maxwell walks us through the essential elements of teamwork. He uses examples from business, ministry, sports and families to bring us principles for building and developing teams. In a style that is true "John Maxwell" he draws interesting and relevant stories from history and from current events to explain the "laws" that he has developed. Maxwell makes great points about how this fits many settings, including a church staff. Here's some examples; - From the "Law of Significance" chapter, "individuals play the game, but teams win championships." If a Sr. Pastor is not leading, each pastor just runs his own area of ministry. Very little communication, interaction, etc. So, it is very much like a professional team that has a lot of players, even great players, yet can't "win the championship" because they are not coached into being a cohesive team. - Under the "Law of the Big Picture" he says, "Members of a team must have mutually beneficial shared goals." Church staff members generally want to serve the Lord, but their understanding and implementation of the church's "mission statement" may NOT coordinated with each other, nor led by the Sr. Pastor. Maxwell goes on to say that the "goal" has to be more important than the "role," meaning the "power of the position." - "All players have a place where they add the most value" is the subtitle of the "Law of the Niche." This seems to be something that many pastors may not understand, but which DOES fit church settings quite well. We can have a great team with lots of potential, but "players" in the wrong "positions." As Maxwell pints out, we will not reach our potential this way. - The "Law of Mt. Everest" says that for each level (of difficulty) that a team reaches, a higher degree of teamwork is required. As a church is growing, they need to know that we don't just need more people, such as adding another pastor, but we need a stronger TEAM! -In the "Law of the Chain" he makes a side comment that "one of the differences between leaders and followers is action." An effective leader must take action. He can't hesitate and avoid "confrontation" SO MUCH that it freezes him. - The "Law of the Compass" says "Vision gives a team focus/direction and confidence." This is a truth that, but if it is not understood by the Sr. Pastor, can cause a staff to wander without the "compass." The leader also shouldn't surprise the team with a "new' (never before announced) direction. Maxwell says, "Great vision precedes great achievement.' - The "Law of Communication" says that teammates have to be constantly talking to each other. We "cannot be effective" if we don't talk regularly. "Interaction fuels action" is how Maxwell put it. True in any setting. - The "Law of the Edge" touched on several things that fit. The difference between failing or struggling teams and truly successful ones is often "the leadership." There are many great advantages to having effective leadership! Maxwell has said that "everything rises and falls on leadership." Finally, one of the things that Maxwell says is that "few people are successful unless a lot of other people want them to be." We can't be successful as loners or disconnected individuals, no matter how great our individual expertise or "potential" is.
Rating: 2
Summary: A Good Primer, but...
Comment: Got the Audio Tapes of this book and I am somewhat pleased. However, the author has that vaguely self righteous tone when he reads. It feels almost as if he has spent hours of practice trying to relate to us unelightened, but still can't get it right.
He effectively breaks down teamwork into logical and understandable parts, but unfortunately the parts seem very obvious. "Bad apples. Having a vision..." these are all very basic things that we are taught from early on in our social development. What Maxwell does is state the same things our kindergarten teachers told us..."don't let a bad apple spoil the bunch" But then he doesn't take us into the real world to tell us how to solve that problem. He gives us a great story of how he and friend ruined their high school basketball team with their bad attitudes, but he doesn't take the next step and explain how his coach or fellow players should have dealt with that situation. He basically ends by saying, "my friend and I shouldn't have been bad apples." Well, yes John, but you WERE bad apples, just as there will always be Bad Apples, what do you suggest we DO about it!
I look at the book as more of a good primer for a strategic meeting or a brainstorming session than any type of a helpful resource. These are the kind of seminars that give the seminar and self-help industry a bad name. They state what the ideal is, and what the brokeness is, but don't even give you a hint of how to bridge the gap.
Rating: 4
Summary: 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork book review
Comment: In the 17 Indisputable Laws Of Teamwork, John Maxwell focuses on building a winning team using strategies based on interviews with some of the world's top CEO's. It is 265-page self-help type, in which he describes the 17 laws to be used as a guide by individuals in any setting, whether it is business or personal. Maxwell writes the book using simple language trying his best to connect with a large audience.
Maxwell breaks the book into 17 chapters in which each chapter represents a different law. In each, he includes the essentials for teamwork followed by suggestions and how to apply them. In each chapter Maxwell includes two main examples and then several smaller examples related to the topic.
Maxwell starts the book explaining the law of significance and writes that one is too small a number to achieve greatness. He works through every law although some of the 17 are quite obvious. Some are learned at an early age and some are just common sense not only for a "team player," but anyone, in any type of relationship. For example, law number 9 reads: The Law of Countablitly, teammates must be able to count on each other when it counts. This type of common sense information is spread evenly throughout Maxwell's book. Another example of Maxwell's not so unique language is written into law number 8: The Law of the Bad Apple. The subtitle then reads: Rotten attitudes ruin a team. This chapter's main point "Attitudes have the power to lift up or tear down a team," seem too obvious and make the chapter useless and boring.
Maxwell closes the book by explaining that good chemistry cannot occur until all 17 laws or strategies are applied. I feel this book was overall an easy to read guide with good examples and even better suggestions.
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Title: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell, Zig Ziglar ISBN: 0785274316 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 18 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $22.99 |
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Title: The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player Becoming The Kind Of Person Every Team Wants by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 0785274359 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 0785274405 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 22 June, 1999 List Price(USD): $17.99 |
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Title: Developing The Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 0785266666 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 19 December, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
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Title: Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by John C. Maxwell ISBN: 0785264191 Publisher: Thomas Nelson Pub. Date: 10 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $9.99 |
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