John Maxwell’s #16 Law of Leadership: The Law of Big Mo

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT Come spend the day with me for an event in my home at ⁠https://daywithed.com/ Approval in minutes, small business funding same day for up to $500k. Apply Now https://cardiff.co/ED 📥 CLICK HERE to Download the free Leadership Workbook and submit your question for our Q&A with John and me. What if the one thing you’ve been missing isn’t talent, discipline, or a better plan, but momentum? Have you ever noticed that when life is going well, everything seems to start going well all at once? One good decision leads to another. One win changes your confidence, then your energy, and suddenly the people around you start believing too. That force is invisible, it is powerful, and it is what takes you from good to great. John Maxwell calls it a leader’s best friend. John has spent decades teaching leaders how to create, protect, and recover momentum, and in Law 16, The Law of Big Mo, he teaches it with the stories and illustrations that make it stick. He shows why the same team can look brilliant one season and broken the next, and what a leader controls in between. I open this episode by breaking down where momentum actually begins, and it is a lot smaller than most people think. I challenge you to stop waiting for motivation, because movement comes first and feeling follows. I walk through what momentum looks like in your confidence, your marriage, your health, your finances, and your team. You do not need perfection to build confidence. You need progress. Here is what you will gain from this episode: Where it starts: The smallest move that sets the whole chain in motion. The wall and the block: What a speeding train and a stopped train teach you about your biggest problems. Managers vs. leaders: Why one group works on problems and the other works on something else entirely. The great exaggerator: How momentum changes the way you and your team are seen, for better or worse. Thermostat or thermometer: The question every leader has to answer. Six ways to get the wheel turning: Practical steps for your team, your department, and your own life. The Three Win Stack: This week’s rep, small enough to finish before the week is over. You do not need a new life this week. You need one day that proves a different life is possible. Go get that day! This is a brand new series releasing every Thursday. Click the link to download the free 21 page workbook so you can track the rep for every law and get your questions in front of John and me for the upcoming Q&A sessions. If you have an iPhone, head to https://ladder.fit/MYLETT and take a quick quiz to find your perfect Ladder plan. Use my link and get a free 7-day trial with NO credit card, and $10 off your first month if you join. 🗓️ New law dropping every Thursday so make sure you're subscribed so you never miss one. Click HERE to Subscribe to my email list to MAXOUT your life (all value, no fluff) Thank you for listening —Please Share it and get the word out! 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈 → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ➡️ INSTAGRAM ➡️ FACEBOOK ➡️ LINKEDIN ➡️ X ➡️ WEBSITE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

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• 0:45Ed Mylett?

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• 1:23Ed Mylett?

  This is the Ed and Myron Show. Huge announcement, so I wanted to make you aware of an event that I'm hosting in my home with less than 20 people. So it's a chance to be in a very small intimate environment with me and interact for an entire day. I do this event every year, typically when I put the message out like this, it sells out within 48 hours. But this is a day where we're going to cover all of the mental cognition, visualization strategies, business tactics, time management, as well as physical, spiritual, emotional strategies that I teach. But more importantly, it's a chance all day long to interact with me and get your questions answered that you would like for an entire day with me. And again, this is go to daywithed.com to get the information.

• 2:07Ed Mylett?

  daywithed.com. This is not a cheap event, and so if you can't afford it, that's okay. I don't want any pressure put on anybody. I don't have a sales team. There's no high-ticket closers. I'm not like these other influencers. I simply make an offer to spend a day with me, and if it's right for you, I would love to spend the day. And if it's not, that's why you've got all my free content here as well. I'm here to help everybody. If you want to spend a day with me in my home, go to daywithed.com to get the information. And if it's right for you, I look forward to spending the day with you. God bless you. Max out. 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Series Law 16, the Law of Big Mo. Have you ever noticed that when life is going well, everything seems to start going well all at once?

• 2:50Ed Mylett?

  You make one good decision, then another, you get one win, your confidence changes, your energy changes, other people start believing. Suddenly, things that felt impossible three months ago feel normal. That force has a name, and it's momentum. It's invisible, and it's powerful. It's almost like a frequency. It's an energy that you can't see that takes you from good to great. And John Maxwell calls momentum a leader's best friend because momentum can make an ordinary team believe they're capable of extraordinary things. Welcome back to the special series on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. John teaches the law. My role is to bring that principle into the real world and ask, what does this actually look like on Monday morning? What does it look like when you're rebuilding your confidence?

• 3:35Ed Mylett?

  What does it look like in your marriage, your health, finances, with your team? Today, we're talking about the Law of Big Mo. Momentum is a fascinating thing because when you have it, everybody knows it. But very few people understand how you get it, how you start it, how you create it. Usually momentum does not begin with one giant breakthrough. It begins with a small win, then another small win, then another. And eventually, those wins begin to create evidence. Evidence creates belief, and here's the hook, belief creates energy. And that energy creates a different action. Action creates more evidence, and now something that started tiny becomes incredibly powerful. That's why you really are one move away from changing your life because it could be the one that creates the big mo. I think most people understand motivation.

• 4:20Ed Mylett?

  They think when I feel motivated, I'll move. But most of the time, movement comes first. You move, then you feel something. You work out once, you feel better. You work out again, you make five sales calls, you get a conversation. Now you want to make 10. You clean up one area of your business, suddenly you see another thing you can improve. That's momentum. One of the reasons I talk so much about one more is because one more is how momentum begins. One more rep it could be, one more phone call, one more hour of prep, one more promise kept to yourself, one more day where you did what you said you were going to do. People underestimate the psychological effect of keeping promises to themselves. It's everything. Every time you do what you said you were going to do, you create evidence of who you are to you. And evidence changes identity.

• 5:04Ed Mylett?

  The person who says, I'm going to wake up early, and then does it, starts seeing themselves differently. The salesperson who makes the calls that they say they're going to make, they start seeing themselves differently. The leader who has the difficult conversation, instead of avoiding it, starts seeing themselves differently. That's momentum operating at the highest level. And the opposite's also true. Momentum can move backward. Miss one standard, then another, let one thing slide, then another, pretty soon the culture changes. Your energy changes, then belief changes. And this is why leaders have to pay such close attention to seemingly small patterns. The small things become the biggies. A leader should be constantly asking, where's the momentum growing? Where's the momentum dying? Who has momentum? Who's lost it? What can I celebrate?

• 5:48Ed Mylett?

  What small win can I create? This is particularly important when you take over a struggling team. A lot of leaders make the mistake of walking into a struggling organization and immediately attacking the biggest problem. Sometimes that problem's too large to solve quickly. And if the team's already discouraged, another long battle may reinforce the belief that nothing here is going to work. Sometimes the better leadership move is find a winnable battle. Create some evidence. Give people something to celebrate. Show them that change is possible. Then build from there. That applies personally, too. If your life feels completely out of control, don't try to fix everything tomorrow morning. Start small. Win the first hour. Make your bed, drink the water, go for the walk, make the call. Do one thing that tells your brain, we move forward now.

• 6:32Ed Mylett?

  We keep the promises we make to ourselves. Then repeat it. And leaders need to understand something else about momentum. Momentum magnifies leadership. When momentum's high, people overlook small stuff. When momentum's low, people magnify the small problems. Think about sports. A winning team can have imperfections all over the place, and everyone believes they can fix them. A losing team can have one small mistake, and suddenly everybody thinks the organization's broken. The situation not may have changed very much, the psychology is what's changed. That's why momentum is not something leaders can take for granted. Once you have it, you better protect it. Celebrate progress. Recognize people. Keep standards high. Do not introduce unnecessary drama.

• 7:15Ed Mylett?

  Do not let ego disrupt a team that's working. Keep feeding the things that created movement in the first place. And understand, the momentum does not mean everything's perfect. Momentum means the direction's right. I want you to hear that. You do not need perfection to create confidence. You need progress. As John teaches this law, I want you thinking about one question. Where in my life do I need a win? Not a massive transformation, just a win. Maybe you don't need a brand-new life right now. Maybe you need one day that proves a different life is possible. Maybe it's one sale, one workout, one difficult conversation, one promise kept, one win that becomes two, then three, then suddenly Big Mo is working for you instead of against

• 8:00Ed Mylett?

  you. Let's hear John Maxwell teach the Law of Big Mo.

• 8:05John Maxwell?

  Law number 16 is the Law of the Big Mo. The Law of the Big Mo says momentum is a leader's best friend. I have found that's to be very true. In fact, with momentum, here's what I have found. With momentum, you can solve problems so much easier than if you don't have momentum. So let's talk about it for a moment and grab hold of your notes for a moment, and I'll walk you through some fill-in-the-blank stuff, then I want to do some teaching. First of all, many times, the only difference between winning and losing is momentum. Let's understand what momentum will do for you. Just as the law of intuition gets a leader started quicker so that that leader can win

• 8:48John Maxwell?

  the race, the law of momentum sustains the victory longer. Momentum allows you to be successful for a longer period of time. An expression they use in the sports world, and you've all heard it, is when a team has got momentum, the sportscasters will say something about like they're playing over their heads. What's it mean when they say they're playing over their heads? What it really means is they've got momentum going for them. And when they've got momentum going for them, things begin to turn out great. And here's why. In your notes, momentum is the great exaggerator. In other words, momentum takes what is and exaggerates it.

• 9:29John Maxwell?

  Stay with me in your notes. Momentum makes leaders look better than they are.

• 9:36John Maxwell?

  That's why I call it a leader's best friend. In other words, think about for a moment, just stop for a moment. When you've got momentum, people think you're better than you really are. And isn't it fun to be a leader and have your people think you're really better than you really are? You know, and they're just saying, oh, my goodness, you know, what a leader. And you realize that you're not quite that good. Now, you don't want to stop the momentum and tell people that.

• 9:58John Maxwell?

  But it's a great exaggerate. It makes the leader look better than he or she is. And momentum makes followers perform better than they are. It allows followers to perform more than that. So what you always want to do is you always want to have momentum because momentum is a leader's best friend. Now, let me just do the reverse for this for a moment. When you have no momentum or you have negative momentum. Remember, Paul Harvey is the one who said, you can tell you're on the road to success. It's uphill all the way. So every once in a while, I'll run into people and say, you know what?

• 10:29John Maxwell?

  This is just great. We're just, we're just, it just seems like everything's coming automatically. Well, that means they're going downhill. And it's only a matter of time. Now, let me tell you something. When you lack momentum, just as positive momentum exaggerates things in a positive way, negative momentum exaggerates things in a negative way. So no momentum makes leaders look worse than they are. And no momentum makes followers perform worse than they are. In other words, momentum is the great exaggerator. If you've got it, you look better than you really are. If you don't have it, you look worse than you really are. Now, what I want you to understand about momentum is this.

• 11:11John Maxwell?

  With momentum, it takes less energy to solve problems.

• 11:17Ed Mylett?

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• 12:02Ed Mylett?

  If you have an iPhone, head to ladder.fit/milet and take a quiz to get matched with your coach and the right plan for you. Use my link, listen to this, a free seven day trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month if you join. So when I ended up buying the island, we had to do all of our outdoor decorating and I spent a fortune in the first half of the place. And I'm like, I don't want to do this anymore, but I want the best stuff. And that's where Wayfair came in. My wife wanted to get this new garden bed and Wayfair was the place that offered the perfect solution. Wayfair also helps you create a home that stands up to real life with quality products, great value and trusted reviews. Wayfair verified products are hand vetted by product specialists. They use a 10-point quality inspection system. Here's what I could tell you. The stuff has lasted over time. It looks great and I get compliments on it.

• 12:46Ed Mylett?

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• 13:20John Maxwell?

  What discourages organizations more than anything else is problems. What discourages people more than anything else is problems. And so what happens is that when problems begin to bog you down, it seems like momentum begins to ebb. Now, the reason for that is, is the fact that the problem becomes bigger than the momentum instead of the momentum becoming bigger than the problem. So let me explain to you the difference. Here's the difference.

• 13:43John Maxwell?

  What I have found in teaching leadership is this. Managers deal mostly with problems. That's just the nature of who management is. They deal a lot with problems and nothing wrong with that because you got to deal with problems. Where management deals with problems and works on problems, what I found is leaders, they work on momentum. Leaders know that if they can create momentum, many of the problems they have in their organization will be solved. Let me explain to you what I mean. Here we go. A train, a train going down the track 55 miles an hour. I mean, that train, okay, that train just come.

• 14:24John Maxwell?

  A train going down the track 55 miles an hour can crash through a five-foot-thick concrete wall steel reinforced. I mean reinforced. It'll crash through that concrete wall and just keep on going. Why? Because it has momentum. It's moving down the tracks. A five-foot-thick concrete wall steel reinforced can't stop that train because it has momentum. That same train stopped dead on the track without any momentum at all. You can put a one-inch block in front of the driving wheels and that same train that could crash through a five-foot-thick concrete wall steel reinforced, that same train with a one-inch block in front of its driving wheels cannot even get started.

• 15:07John Maxwell?

  This is a huge example of momentum.

• 15:12John Maxwell?

  It works the same in companies. If you've got momentum in your company, you know what you can be doing if you've got momentum? You can smash through a five-foot-thick concrete wall steel reinforced problem and keep on going. If you don't have momentum in your company, you know what happens? I can promise you, if you don't have momentum in your company, there could be a one-inch problem and you can't even get started. That's why I tell people all the time, your problem is not your problem. In fact, the problem is people think the problem is the problem. And the problem is not a problem, but because you think the problem is the problem, you work on a problem that's not a problem and the problem wasn't a problem now becomes a problem,

• 15:55John Maxwell?

  not because it was a problem, but the problem is you didn't know the problem wasn't a problem. So the problem that was a problem has become a problem because you didn't know the problem was a problem. So now you have a problem that wasn't a problem that is now your problem because you didn't know the problem wasn't the problem.

• 16:12John Maxwell?

  Some melancholic in the back is raising her hand saying, John, could you repeat that one more time? I didn't quite get all of it. I didn't get it. Now, here's what I'm saying, very simple. You can either spend your life working on problems or you can spend your life creating momentum. If you're going to be a leader, you're going to create momentum. I guarantee you, you're going to create momentum because you know that momentum will solve almost all of your problems. Here's the way this works. Momentum will solve your problems. But if you deal with problems, you'll never get momentum. So you've got to get on the momentum side and leaders understand that.

• 16:54John Maxwell?

  Leaders realize that you've got to work on momentum. If you want to be successful, you've got to work on momentum. That's just where it is. So because see, there are two kinds of people and this is so important. It's in your notes because I want you to be sure to get it. There are two kinds of people. First of all, leaders are like thermostats. They control the temperature. And followers are like thermometers. They record the temperature. And you got to ask yourself the question, am I going to set the temperature? Am I going to create momentum as a leader? Or am I basically going to go around and record what the temperature is like most followers? And this is a very important issue. So what I want to do is I want to talk to you about,

• 17:39John Maxwell?

  if momentum is so important because it helps solve most of the problems in the organization, how do I as a leader create momentum for my company? How do I create it for my department? How do I create it for my organization? How do you move the big mo? In the Laws of Teamwork book, one of the 17 laws of teamwork that I write about is the law of the big mo. I talk about morale. I talk about high morale. And you know what I say about high morale? When you're winning, nothing hurts. Isn't that the truth? Before you see a team winning, you don't see a team walking slowly off the football field. Oh, it was a rough game. No, no, they're jumping up and down. They're excited. You know why? Because they've got the big mo, they've got momentum. When you're winning, nothing hurts.

• 18:24John Maxwell?

  Can I tell you something? When you don't have momentum, it works like this. When you're losing, everything hurts. Isn't that the truth? So how do you move the big mo? How do you get it going? Number one.

• 18:40John Maxwell?

  Understand its value. Understand the value of momentum. As a leader, you've got to understand, and the best way I can explain it, if you'll let me use a sports analogy again. What happens to coaches? Let's say, for example, I'm coaching and my team is losing, and all of a sudden, we've lost momentum, and the other team is pouring up, just pouring on the points. Okay, what do teams that are losing momentum, what's the coach do when the team starts losing momentum? Call timeout. Now, why did the coach call timeout? Very simple. They realized that momentum is getting away from them. I wish every leader would understand what a coach understands. When you're losing momentum in your organization, call timeout.

• 19:24John Maxwell?

  It's time to huddle. It's time to talk about the issues. Don't put your head in the sand and act like it's not happening. Say, "Look, we're not doing well. Let's talk about it. Let's turn this around. Let's get the big mo going for us." So, number one, understand its value. Number two, figure out what the motivating factors are in your organization. Just figure them out. There are certain things in your organization that motivate your people. You say, "As a leader, I don't know what they are." It's very simple. Ask your group. Get to your team. If this is, again, if this is my leadership team, I'm going to go down, and I'm going to say, "Okay, let me ask you a question. What motivates you? What really gets you excited? What gives you energy?" They're going to tell you. They'll tell you what motivates them. They'll tell you what momentum they need in their life to go forward.

• 20:08John Maxwell?

  So, figure out the motivating factors. Number three, remove the demotivating factors in your organization. Now, we just did the opposite. You're feeding in the motivating factors, the demotiv... For example, I may be talking to my team. What's your name? John. John. I may be talking to my team, and I say, "Okay, John, let me ask you a question, John. What demotivates you?" And John may say, "You know what? In our company, it takes too long for me to get an answer. Man, you know, three weeks ago, I wanted to know about something, and I'm still waiting on the answer. All the bureaucracy and all the stuff, all the paperwork, I hate that stuff." And so, I say, "Okay, John, one of your demotivating factors, obviously, is bureaucracy and too much paperwork. So, what do I do as a leader?" I say, "Okay, let's see how we can give you direct lines, so you can get your answers."

• 20:50John Maxwell?

  Okay, what I'm saying is, leaders instill motivating factors to get the momentum going, and they remove demotivating factors. Number four, schedule times for direction and celebration. In other words, when you win, have a party. And when you have the party, always give them direction for the next step. One of the greatest mistakes I find in celebrating is too many organizations celebrate, and it's just in itself. When you have a party over a victory, at the end of that party, say, "You know what? Let me share with you where we want to go next." Always give direction at your celebration times. Always say, "This is our next level. This is where we're going to go."

• 21:34John Maxwell?

  Because the people already, they already have momentum, they feel they can win, they feel successful, they feel good about themselves, they've got a victory under the belt, that's the time to give them the next challenge. Number five, recognize and honor people who move the ball forward. Very simply put, find the people who move the ball forward, give them the credit, recognize them, get them up in front of the people. Very important. By the way, if they're not moving the ball forward, don't applaud. It amazes me in so many organizations how we affirm people that aren't doing a good job. You've never seen a coach, when a ballplayer fumbled, stand on the sidelines and clap and say, "That a way to go."

• 22:18John Maxwell?

  No, no, no, no. So, you recognize and affirm those who are doing the job. And number six, practice what I call "character leadership." And I would define character leadership this way. Character leadership is when I lead with enthusiasm and hope, and the future doesn't seem very bright. In other words, the average person, when things don't look good, they sag. Leaders, they suck it up and move forward and get positive, and they lead whether they feel good or not. Quit waiting to feel good to lead. Quit waiting for your first victory.

• 23:03John Maxwell?

  If you've had a loss, put it behind you. Keep going. Have character leadership. Understand that as you go, so will the team go.

• 23:11Ed Mylett?

  If you haven't done it yet, click the link below. You need the 21-page workbook in your hands to track what we call "The Rep for Every Law." Plus, that's the only way to get your questions in front of John and I for our Q&A sessions coming up. Get the guy, join the list, and let's get back to the teaching. Momentum does not usually announce itself when it begins. It starts quietly. A decision, a win, a little more belief, another rep, and then one day, everyone looks around and says, "Something's changed." What changed was momentum. So, do not wait for motivation. Create movement. Do not wait for confidence. Create evidence. Do not wait for perfect conditions. Create a win, because momentum is a leader's best friend. And sometimes, the greatest thing you can do for yourself or your team is simply get the wheel moving again.

• 23:56Ed Mylett?

  The rep this week is called the "Three Win Stack." Choose one area where momentum stalled in your life, then create three wins, small enough that they can happen this week. Win one, immediate, something you can complete today. Win two, behavioral, a behavior you can repeat at least three times this week. Win three, relational or team-based, something that gives another person evidence that progress is happening. Write all three down in your workbook, then track them. Do not dismiss small wins because they look unimpressive. Small wins are how momentum gets invited into your life. If you lead people, celebrate progress publicly, not fake praise, actual evidence.

• 24:41Ed Mylett?

  Look what we proved. Look what this person did. Look what's going on over here. Look where we were 30 days ago. Give people proof that movement's occurring, then protect the momentum. Ask, "What behavior could kill this? What distraction could derail it? What attitude could infect it?" And remove that threat early. Your job this week is really simple. Create movement, create evidence, protect the direction.

• 25:02Speaker 02

  This is the Ed and Myron Show.

• 25:15Speaker 03

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