#18 THE LAW OF SACRIFICE:

A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up

Many people today
want to climb up
the corporate
ladder because they
believe that
freedom and power
are the prizes
waiting at the top.
They don’t realize
that the true nature
of leadership is
really sacrifice.
Most people will
acknowledge that sacrifices
are necessary fairly early in
a leadership career.

People give up many things

in order to gain potential
opportunities. But the
minute they climb, they
forget the sacrifices they
had to make and why they
need to keep making
sacrifices.
Sacrifice is a constant in leadership. It is an
ongoing process, not a one-time payment.
Leaders who want to rise have to do more than take an
occasional cut in pay. They have to give up their rights.

“ When you become a leaders, you

lose the right to think about
yourself”. For every person, the
nature of the sacrifice may be
different. The circumstances may
change from person to person, but
the principle doesn’t. Leadership
means sacrifice.
If you desire to become the best
leader you can be, then you need to
be willing to make sacrifices in order
to lead well. If that is your desire,
then here are some things you need
to know about the Law of Sacrifice.
THERE IS NO SUCCESS WITHOUT SACRIFICE
– EVERY PERSON WHO HAS ACHIEVED ANY SUCCESS IN THEIR LIFE HAS MADE
SACRIFICES TO DO SO. EFFECTIVE LEADERS SACRIFICE MUCH THAT IS GOOD IN ORDER TO
DEDICATE THEM TO WHAT IS BEST.
LEADERS ARE OFTEN ASKED TO GIVE
UP MORE THAN OTHERS
• – THE HEART OF LEADERSHIP IS PUTTING OTHERS AHEAD OF YOURSELF. IT’S DOING WHAT
IS BEST FOR THE TEAM. FOR THAT REASON, LEADERS HAVE TO GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS. THE
COST OF LEADERSHIP: LEADERS MUST BE WILLING TO GIVE UP MORE THAN THE PEOPLE
THEY LEAD.
YOU MUST KEEP GIVING UP TO STAY UP
– LEADERSHIP SUCCESS REQUIRES CONTINUAL CHANGE, CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT, AND ON-
GOING SACRIFICE.
THE HIGHER THE LEVEL OF LEADERSHIP,
THE GREATER THE SACRIFICE
– THE HIGHER YOU GO, THE MORE IT’S GOING TO COST YOU. AND IT DOESN’T MATTER
WHAT KIND OF LEADERSHIP CAREER YOU PICK. YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE SACRIFICES AND
YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP TO GO UP.
As you rise in leadership,
responsibilities increase
and rights decrease.
Talk to leaders, and you will find that the higher the
leader has climbed, the greater the sacrifices he has
made.

Effective leaders sacrifice much that is good in

order to dedicate themselves to what is best. That’s
the way the Law of Sacrifice works.
 If leaders have to give up to go up, then they have to give up to
stay up. You cannot replicate success without giving up more to
sustain it. Leadership success requires continual change,
improvement, and sacrifice.

 One act of sacrifice seldom brings success that’s why we

mustn’t complain or congratulate ourselves when we give up
something and things don’t work out the way we expect. But
there’s always something gained in the end.
“For everything you have missed, you have
gained something else; and for everything you
gained, you lose something”.
3 Sacrifices Leaders Must
Make for Their People

The Law of Sacrifice

demands that the
greater the leader, the
more he must give up.
Leaders sacrifice their time —
Managing people takes time, lots of time. Team members look to their leaders
to provide direction and support in all sorts of situations.

Leaders find themselves being teachers, counselors, pastors, coaches, parents,

cheerleaders, and many other roles in response to the needs of their people.

One of the primary ways leaders build trust is by investing time in the personal
relationships with their followers. Nothing communicates care and support to a
team member more than a leader giving of his/her time. Making time for your
people shows you view them as important, worthy of your attention, and that
you truly care about them as individuals.
Leaders sacrifice the spotlight
Leaders with big egos hog the spotlight and take credit for their
teams’ success. Their philosophy is if something good happens, it’s
because of the leader, and if something bad happens, the team
screwed up and deserves the blame.
Conversely, good leaders shine the spotlight on their team when
they experience success, while personally taking the blame when
the team fails. It requires emotional maturity for the leader to step
into the background and let a team member get the praise and
recognition for a job well-done, but it’s the right thing to do.
This kind of leadership behavior causes employees to pledge their
loyalty, trust, and commitment because they know their efforts will
be recognized and rewarded.
Leaders sacrifice self-interest
True leadership is other-focused. It’s about investing in other people
to help them succeed, even if it’s at the expense of the leader’s own
self-interest.
Serving leaders put the needs of their people ahead of their own and
sometimes that means team members grow, become accomplished,
and even move on to other roles, departments, or organizations.
Self-centered leaders are into control and power and will resort to
unsavory behaviors in the interest of self-preservation.
Great leaders, on the other hand, understand the reciprocity factor.
They know the more they give away power and control and
promote the interests of their people, the more success and goodwill
returns their way.
While pursuing his course of leadership during the civil rights movement, Martin
Luther King was arrested and jailed on many occasions. He was stoned, stabbed,
and physically attacked. His house was bombed. Yet his vision – and his influence
– continued to increase. Ultimately, he sacrificed everything he had. But what he
gave up. He parted with willingly. As a result, he influenced millions of people to
peacefully stand up against a system and society that fought to exclude them.
What successful people find to be true becomes even
clearer to them when they become leaders.
There is no success without sacrifice. The higher the
level of leadership you want to reach, the greater the
sacrifices you will have to make.
To go up, you have
to give up.
Advance Merry
Christmas!