John Maxwell's #19 Law of Leadership: The Law of Timing

📥 Download the free Leadership Workbook and submit your question for our Q&A with John and me here: https://mailchi.mp/edmylett.com/21lawsworkbook When to lead is just as important as what to do. In this episode, we break down John C. Maxwell's 19th Irrefutable Law — The Law of Timing — and why it separates intelligent leaders from wise ones. You can make the right decision, with the right people, for the right reasons, and still get the wrong result — simply because your timing was off. Timing is everything. In this video, you'll learn: • Why the right action at the wrong time equals resistance (not success) • The four outcomes every leader faces: disaster, mistake, resistance, or success • A historical case study: how timing brought Jimmy Carter into office — and took him out • The 7 qualities timing requires: understanding, maturity, confidence, decisiveness, experience, intuitiveness, and preparation • 7 indicators that tell you when it's time to make the big decision • A practical weekly "rep" — 5 questions to evaluate your next major decision or conversation This week's challenge: Pick one decision or conversation you know is coming. Ask yourself: 1 Is this action right? 2 Am I emotionally ready? 3 Are the people involved ready? 4 What happens if I move now? 5 What happens if I wait? Then decide: Move, Prepare, or Wait — but put a date on it. Undefined waiting easily becomes avoidance. Don't confuse impatience with courage, or procrastination with patience. What you do matters — but when you do it can change everything. Head to dosedaily.co/MYLETT or enter MYLETT to get 35% off your first subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:28Speaker 01

  This is the Ed Marlin Show.

• 1:31Speaker 00

  21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership Series, Law 19, the Law of Timing. You know, you can make the right decision, you can make it with the right people, and you can make it for the right reason, and still get the wrong result because you made it at the wrong time. Leadership is not only knowing what to do. Great leaders develop a feel for when to do it. That's the law of timing. Welcome back to this leadership series on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Today, we're going to talk about something I believe separates intelligent leaders from wise leaders, and that thing is timing. It's everything. I know you've heard that before, but let me elaborate. You know, John teaches that when to lead is just as important as what to do or where to go.

• 2:14Speaker 00

  And the longer I've lived, the more I really believe this. There are things in my life that were not really bad decisions. They were just early decisions. There are conversations I've had, I should have had them sooner. There's opportunities I may have moved on too quickly. All of these have one thing in common, which is that my timing was off. There are times when patience would have served me, but it was at the wrong time. And there are times when hesitation cost me. All of this has to do with when or when not to do something. That's leadership. You're constantly navigating this tension between patience and urgency. And if you're someone like me, I don't usually do well with patience. It's always urgent. Sometimes that makes it the wrong time. Some of you are too patient, and you miss the time. Wisdom is really knowing which one the moment requires.

• 2:59Speaker 00

  Some leaders move too quickly because action makes them feel powerful. They see a problem, and they immediately want to fix it. That's me, by the way. But not every situation needs immediate intervention. Sometimes you need to move and get more information. Sometimes people need time. Sometimes the emotional temperature needs to come down. This is a lesson that it took me 30 years to learn. Sometimes the team's not ready. Sometimes the idea's correct, but the soil's not prepared. Other leaders have an opposite problem. They use quote-unquote "timing" as an excuse for fear, and they delay. They procrastinate. They wait too long. They flinch. They say, "I'm waiting for the right time," but that might not be the right time. Sometimes you've just got to call a shot. And there are doors with windows, and those opportunities, they can close.

• 3:44Speaker 00

  Those doors and those windows can close. There's conversations that become harder the longer you wait if you avoid them. There are team problems that become cultural problems because the leader waited too long, and now it's infested like a disease when it was only a symptom before. Timing requires courage and restraint. That's what makes it difficult. And I think great timing begins with awareness. We talked about this in the Law of Intuition. You have to ask yourself, is this the right time for me to make this move, for me to make this decision, for me to have this conversation? Great leaders read what is happening beneath the surface. Timing is what happens when the intuition becomes action. You sense the room, you sense readiness, you sense momentum, you sense resistance, you understand the context, and then you choose the moment.

• 4:28Speaker 00

  Think about a coach calling a timeout. The timeout itself is not brilliant. When the coach calls the timeout matters. Even a play in a game might not work in the first quarter, but it might work in the third quarter, or after you've set up another play to set the next one up. Now the timing's better. If you watch an NBA game, you'll see coaches calling timeouts all the time. Sometimes when momentum seems to be going the wrong way, they call a timeout. Professional golfers will take more time to reset after a bad shot. MLB managers in baseball will go to the pitcher's mound if they sense timing needs to be back in their favor. Think about parenting, by the way. A good lesson delivered while a child is emotionally overwhelmed may not be received. Think about marriage. You know, these are difficult conversations that absolutely need to happen, but maybe

• 5:13Speaker 00

  not in the 30 seconds before somebody walks right into work or right into the family room. Same message, different moment, totally different result. That's timing. I know even this for me. When my team brings me certain things, timing is everything. If I'm emotionally regulated, if I'm well-rested, if I'm not distracted by other things, that's the right time. Conversely, they could bring the exact same topic, when I'm riled up, when I'm stressed, when I'm distracted, when I'm busy, and it's the wrong time. So you've got to know, when do I challenge? When do I encourage? When do I push? When do I give somebody room? If all you know is how to push, you may break people. I know this from personal experience when I was younger. I just knew how to push, push, push, push, and not let the situation breathe and allow

• 5:57Speaker 00

  people to recuperate. If all you know is how to wait, you may never develop anything. Great leadership adjusts. Another part of timing is just understanding seasons. Not every season is necessarily a growth season. Some seasons are preparation. Some are pruning. Some are recovery. Some are acceleration. And one of the biggest sources of frustration in life is trying to force this behavior for one season in the wrong one. You may be trying to harvest when you're supposed to plant. You may be trying to expand when the organization needs to stabilize. You may be trying to rest when the opportunity requires urgency in seizing the moment. A leader has to read the season, and that's why I think timing often requires humility. You have to admit that just because you're ready does not mean everybody else is.

• 6:41Speaker 00

  And sometimes you have to admit that everybody else has been ready, and you're the one hiding. As John teaches the Law of Timing, think about one major decision in front of you right now. Don't only ask, "What should I do?" Maybe a deeper and more powerful question is, "When should I do it? What needs to happen before the move? Who needs to be prepared? What are you waiting for? And is that thing wisdom or fear?" Because great leaders do not just take action, okay? They make the right action at the right time. You know this now that I've said it. Let's hear John Maxwell teach the Law of Timing. So we're all trying to feel healthier, right? I could tell you this. People that listen to this show, that's one of the things they're most focused on. So you're doing all the stuff. You're drinking the water, you're getting your steps in, you're taking your vitamins.

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• 8:47Speaker 00

  Go to im8health.com/Ed10 right now, or click the link in the description and use code ED10 for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets, plus 10% off your order. That's code ED10 at im8health.com/Ed10. Code ED10 at im8health.com/Ed10. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The 19th law of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is the Law of Timing. And the Law of Timing says, "When to lead is as important as what to do and where to go."

• 9:32Speaker 00

  Now, I've already shared with you that of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, there are two laws that are tough to teach, there are two laws that are tough to learn. One was the Law of Intuition. This one, the Law of Timing, is the second difficult law to learn. The Law of Timing, the Law of Intuition, again, migrate to what we call natural leaders. They're the ones who have those leadership leanings that basically allows them to intuitively feel the subjective side, the artistic side of leadership, that just kind of allow them to kind of sense their way through. And the Law of Timing is so essential to a leader's success.

• 10:14John Maxwell?

  That's like one of the great songs, one of the great songs. You gotta know when to hold them. Gotta know when to fold them. I, I love the classics, don't you? Yes. Don't, don't, don't you love, don't, don't you love the classics? You, you, you gotta know when to walk away. I, I think Sir Kenny Rogers did that one. And he was basically saying that there is a, a sense of timing, there's a sense of intuitiveness that's going to determine your success or your failure. And I want to emphasize that in this law of timing. Many people have been successful in their leadership because they understood the law.

• 10:55John Maxwell?

  Many people have been unsuccessful because they violated the law of timing. In your notes, let me share with you how this law of timing works. The wrong action at the wrong time equals disaster. We've seen that. Very simple. A leader makes a wrong decision, wrong time, timing's wrong, decision's wrong, disaster. You've got a Titanic issue on your lap. Now, the wrong action at the right time equals a mistake. Now, you can see that already it's, it's, it's better.

• 11:36John Maxwell?

  It's still not good, but, but if the timing was right, even though the action was wrong, it's not as disastrous. Now, the right action at the wrong time equals resistance. People are resistant. Even if it's the right thing to do, if your timing is wrong, you'll find that they're not accepting, you'll find that they're resisting you. Does that make sense? Finally, and this is where you all want to land, because this is basically the law of timing, the law of timing is number four. The right action at the right time equals success. And a classic example in history, in presidential history, of the law of timing is Jimmy Carter.

• 12:19John Maxwell?

  When Jimmy Carter became president, he became president because the country was tired of Washington insiders. Think about it. Watergate, Nixon, Gerald Ford, who pardoned him. Basically, America was saying, we're, we're tired of the Washington insiders. We need somebody that doesn't live in Washington, doesn't go to Washington. And here came Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer from Georgia. Remember, he had his coat over his shoulder and, "Hi, my name is Jimmy Carter." And we just kinda looked at him, we said, "You know, he's the guy I'm gonna vote for." Because he doesn't go to Washington, he doesn't look like Washington, he doesn't talk like Washington. We need Jimmy Carter in there."

• 13:02John Maxwell?

  And he literally was elected president because of the law of timing. America was tired of Washington insiders. Now, he was president for four years. During that time, it was not a good time. Interest rates got to 20%. Remember the hostages? Oh, the hostages. Iran took our people hostage, and we didn't get them out. And when we tried to get them out, our helicopters crashed, and it just seemed like we were just bungling everything. Now, things were not going good. Do you remember Ronald Reagan? He had this wonderful charismatic smile, and all of a sudden, we thought, boy, we, we, we need somebody that's a little happy, because Jimmy Carter was saying, perhaps the best

• 13:47John Maxwell?

  days in America are behind us. We needed a happy boy. We got Ronald. Literally, when Ronald Reagan was being sworn in as president of the United States, at the moment of his being sworn in, the hostages were being released. It's all the law of timing. And leaders that are successful leaders, they understand the law of timing. They understand when there's a time for action, hey, and there's a time for them to be patient. There's a time to move forward, there's a time to stop, there's a time for, for thinking, there's a, there's a time for talking. They understand this whole law of timing. In Jimmy Carter's situation, timing was a double-edged sword.

• 14:31John Maxwell?

  It took him into office, it took him out of office. What I have found is the best leaders understand the double-edgedness of the sword, but they understand how to use it for the benefit of their organization. Because timing requires the following seven things. Number one, understanding. You have to be able to see the big picture. Number two is maturity. Very seldom are immature people good with timing. It's their immaturity that causes them to want to rush things. Three is confidence. I have found that, especially when you have to hold them, that you have to have confidence. You have to believe in yourself.

• 15:16John Maxwell?

  Number four is decisiveness, the ability to make decisions quickly, because here's what I found about timing. Timing doesn't wait. Timing doesn't say, "It's a good time, I'll wait a while." No, it's in and it's out. Number five is experience. And the more successful experience you have under your belt, the better your timing is. And number six is intuitiveness, and an intuitiveness and timing are first cousins. They always work together. And number seven is preparation. There's a lot to say about how preparation helps us with the law of timing. I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, "I will prepare, and someday, my time will come." He understood the value of opportunity.

• 16:00John Maxwell?

  I just did a conference called Reality Leadership, and in Reality Leadership, I talked about the four toughest realities that leaders face. And one of those four realities is, is producing positive change within an organization. And we used a case study in that, in that lecture, and, and the young man who was in the case study spoke about the fact that several things had happened in his organization, and he was getting ready to relocate his company. And finally, he said, "I knew it was time to lay it on the line." In other words, I knew it was time to ask for the big decision, the big vote, I knew it was time for us to, to make the big move. And what I'd like to do in closing this law with you, is I would like to give you some indicators of how do you know in the area of timing, when it is the appropriate time

• 16:45John Maxwell?

  to make the big decision? How do I know when as a leader, I lay it on the line and say, "Hey, okay, gang, let's go forward"? Number one, after you have defined reality. Don't lay anything on the line, don't ask for any decision in the area of timing until you've defined reality, until you really can say, "This is what I know is true about our company and true about our organization." After you have defined reality, that's when you lay it on the line. Number two, after you have identified the issues. In other words, after you've not only seen what reality is, but you've identified every one of the issues that are going to need to be hurdles that you can overcome before

• 17:29John Maxwell?

  you can make the big change or the final decision. Number three, after you have met with the influencers. Remember, we've illustrated in other laws, that you've got to meet with your influencers, you've got to meet with your inner circle, you've got to meet with your key players, and have the meeting before the meeting. So, after you have met with your influencers, that's when you can make the big decision, because timing then will be appropriate. Number four, after you've received buy-in from them. Just like the buy-in that says, the law buy-in that says people buy into the leader before they, they buy in the vision, you've got to have buy-in from your influencers again, before you can make the big decision and make the big change. Number five, after you've communicated the vision.

• 18:12John Maxwell?

  You only lay it on the line, you only, you only understand the timing of an important decision after you've communicated vision. And number six, after you've modeled the behavior that you desire in others. You've got to model that behavior, because people do what people see. So, after you've modeled the behavior that you want to see in others, that's when you begin to lay it on the line. And number seven, after you have overcome each one of those issues. You've not only identified the issues, but you've overcome those issues, and, and now, all of a sudden, you're becoming successful, and you can point to your success and say, "Look how well we're achieving." Now, after you do those seven things, then you lay it on the line, then you make the decision.

• 18:57John Maxwell?

  It's a timing issue. And again, great decision makers understand that the timing of the decision is as important as the decision itself. Remember this. The right ti, right decision done at the right time equals success. That's what the law of timing is all about. Knowing how to maximize your profits, and knowing when to cut your losses. You can't hang on to your losses too long. That's the law of timing. So, timing can turn a good decision into a great decision, and bad timing can weaken a good idea, or unstabilize an organization.

• 19:42John Maxwell?

  Leadership requires the courage to move, but it also requires the wisdom to wait, the discernment to know when. The challenge is knowing which moment you're in. So, become a student of people, a student of momentum, a student of seasons, a student of your own emotions. And also, know your proclivities. Like, I know mine is to be impatient and move sometimes too urgently. Know which one yours is. Is yours that you're too impatient, and you move too urgently, urgently? Or is it that you wait too long, and you procrastinate with fear? Don't confuse impatience with courage, or procrastination with patience, because what you do matters, but when you do, it can change everything. Here's the rep for this week.

• 20:23John Maxwell?

  Choose one decision or conversation you know is coming, you can write it down in your workbook that we have, and by the way, if you don't have that workbook downloaded in the show notes. The answer, five questions, after you write it down. Answer these five questions. Is this action right? Separate the decision between that and the timing. Number two, am I emotionally ready? Are responding right now because of clarity or reaction? Three, are the people involved ready? What information or what preparation do they need? Number four, what happens if I move now? It's a powerful one. Number five, what happens if I wait? Then make one of three decisions, okay?

• 21:04John Maxwell?

  Either move, the time is now, prepare, the action is right, but something needs to happen first. Or three, wait, the timing is genuinely wrong for it right now. Put a date on it, and do not leave quote-unquote "wait" undefined, because undefined waiting easily becomes avoidance. So, when are you waiting for? Your rep this week is to develop timing discipline. Acting neither because your emotions are rushed, so they don't rush you, nor because your fears delayed you. As John says, when to lead is as important as what to do and where to go.

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