Hello, my friend! How are you? If you're out of time or "in a rush", go to the last paragraph of this text for a fast answer.

In times of immediate responses and connection 24 hours a day, talking about long-term transformation is a risk! But… at Você Aprende Agora we believe you can (and must!) dream big, and make a daily effort to get better every day. This is our mission - seeing you speaking English and being a Leader wherever you go. "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" was written by John Maxwell in 1998, and its goal is to improve your skills as a Leader.

Last class we talked about the Law of the Lid, the capacity we must build to become a leader. Today we keep studying this book, with the Law of the Influence. "The true measure of leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less", says John Maxwell when he starts this chapter. Over the next pages he explains what can not be considered leadership, by presenting five myths:

1- The management myth: managers can maintain direction, but often they can't change it. Systems and processes can do only so much. To move people in a new direction, you need influence.

2- The entrepreneur myth: entrepreneurs see needs and understand how to meet them in a way that produces a profit. But not all of them are good with people.

3- The knowledge myth: you can meet brilliant scientists whose ability to think is so high that it's off the charts, but whose ability to lead is so low that it doesn't even register on the charts.

4- The pioneer myth: to be a leader, a person has to not only be out front, but also have people intentionally coming behind him, following his lead, and acting on his vision.

To emerge as a leader, John Maxwell recommends you to think about (and work hard on!) 7 areas of your life:

Character - the true leadership begins with yourself, by being honest and doing the right thing.

Relationships - meet people and build relationships so they can remember you.

Knowledge - study, study, study.

Intuition - try to evaluate the energy and the right time to act (this one is hard to me!).

Experience - show where you've already been.

Past Success - show what you've already done.

Ability - present results, my friend.

The Law of the Influence is the second irrefutable law of leadership, presented by John Maxwell. Think about your influence at home, at work and with friends. What can you do to become a better Leader? Comment here, my friend. See you next class!