John Maxwell's #18 Law of Leadership: The Law of Sacrifice

Small business owners often express a common frustration: a lack of time. One entrepreneur shares a unique approach to time management, claiming to have effectively created three distinct days within a single day, allowing for increased productivity. By restructuring his schedule, he believes he has gained the equivalent of 21 days each month, emphasizing the importance of optimizing time for entrepreneurial success.

The discussion shifts to John Maxwell's "Law of Sacrifice," which asserts that leaders must be willing to give up certain comforts and identities to achieve higher levels of success. Maxwell explains that every new level of leadership comes with increased responsibilities and the need for greater sacrifices. He highlights that while many understand the necessity of sacrifice, the real challenge lies in the willingness to let go of what is comfortable for the sake of growth.

Maxwell elaborates on the concept that true leadership is about serving others and guiding them to success, rather than seeking personal gain. He emphasizes that the higher one climbs in leadership, the more one must sacrifice, including personal desires and the need for control. Ultimately, he encourages leaders to reflect on what they are willing to give up to reach their goals, suggesting that significant breakthroughs often come from intentional sacrifices aligned with one’s values and mission.

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Everybody wants the next level. Very few people ask what the next level costs. This week is about the Law of Sacrifice — the principle that growth is not just about what you add to your life, but what you are willing to release.

Law 18 in John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is the Law of Sacrifice, and John teaches it with one of the most demanding lines in the entire series: a leader must give up to go up. I open this episode by breaking down why greater leadership usually brings greater responsibility, not greater comfort, and why your willingness to sacrifice often has to grow with your influence.

I share the difference between early-career sacrifice and later-career sacrifice, because what got you to one level can become the very thing that keeps you from the next. Maybe being involved in every detail helped you build the company, but now it prevents the company from scaling. Maybe being the smartest person in the room made you feel safe, but now it keeps stronger people from wanting to work with you. Growth requires subtraction too.

I also explain why sacrifice is not the glorification of misery. It is alignment. Great leaders do not sacrifice randomly — they sacrifice intentionally, giving up lower priorities for higher ones, ego for mission, convenience for calling, and immediate gratification for long-term significance. And I walk you through what I call the sacrifice exchange: a two-column exercise to close the gap between what you say you want and what you are willing to pay for it.

Here is what you will gain from this episode:

Give up to go up: Why every new level of leadership requires you to build something and leave something behind.

Knowing vs. willingness: Why most people already know what they need to change — the real question is how badly they want the future compared to how badly they want the comfort.

Early vs. later sacrifice: How the nature of sacrifice shifts from working while others play to letting go of control, ego, and identity.

Growth requires subtraction: Why the biggest breakthroughs in your life may come from what you are willing to release, not what you are willing to add.

Sacrifice and value: How to tell what somebody truly values by looking at what they are willing to give up for it.

The sacrifice exchange: A two-column exercise — what I say I want on the left, what it requires on the right.

One intentional sacrifice: How to identify a single, meaningful sacrifice for the next seven days that is directly connected to your priority.

At the end of your life, nobody is going to give you an award for holding onto everything. Your next breakthrough may not be waiting on another opportunity — it may be waiting on your willingness to release something that no longer belongs in the future you are building. Decide what is worth paying for, and let go of the rest.

This is part of a new series releasing every Thursday. Click the link above to download the free workbook and track your rep for every law.

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