To go up, you must be willing to give up.
Those who take on a leadership role mainly for power, money, or recognition easily lead themselves and others down dangerous paths – distrust, turnover, scandal and even corruption are then never far away.
The law in detail
Four steps through the law: understand, check, connect, apply. Open any topic to read more.
The core messageWhat the law says – and what it doesn’t
Leadership costs something. The more responsibility you carry, the more you give up freedoms and privileges for the sake of the people and the cause you stand for.
- It does not say
- That you should give yourself up or burn out. Sacrifice means setting priorities deliberately, not sacrificing your health, your marriage or your family.
- That one sacrifice is enough. Every new level of responsibility asks you to let go of something again.
- Strictly speaking
- Well supported: leaders who visibly forgo their own advantages gain more influence and more followers. Sacrifice works above all when it is credible and not staged.
- The law is a standard, not a finding: in practice, privileges often grow as people rise. So it describes how things should be, not how they are.
- Applies to
- Everyone who carries responsibility: the owner who cuts her own salary first in a crisis, the church leader who gives his Sundays to ministry, the club board, and parents who put their own plans on hold for their children.
The explanationWhat the law means and why it works
Those who accept personal disadvantages for the common cause and give certain things up gain credibility and influence.
Sacrifice here is less a description than a standard: as responsibility grows, your own advantage should step back.
Can anyone expect extra effort from others – in a project, a volunteer role, or a crisis – if they aren’t willing to give it themselves? Sacrifice convinces when it is modeled, not merely demanded.
The signs3 signs the law is at work · 3 that it is missing
- When savings have to be made, you start with your own privileges.
- You don’t expect any effort from others that you don’t make yourself.
- You give up things you love when your role demands it – and you talk openly about why.
- With every promotion your advantages grow, but not your willingness to carry responsibility.
- You demand overtime and sacrifice while you leave on time and allow yourself exceptions.
- You hold on to habits and tasks from your previous role instead of letting them go – for example, when as a department head you still do your team leaders’ work.
The research4 sources: 3 primary studies, 1 theory · 1998–2005 · with the limits of the research
- low
- moderate
- high
High – Leader self-sacrifice.
- 1998Yeon Choi & Renate R. Mai-Dalton
Model: self-sacrifice fosters charisma attribution and reciprocity.
- 1999Stefani L. Yorges, Howard M. Weiss & Oriel J. Strickland
Leaders who accept personal costs have more influence and are seen as more charismatic.
- 2004David De Cremer & Daan van Knippenberg
Self-sacrifice raises leadership effectiveness, especially with a self-confident manner.
- 2005Barbara van Knippenberg & Daan van Knippenberg
Self-sacrifice increases effectiveness mainly for leaders who are not very prototypical of the group.
Experimentally supported: sacrifice increases effectiveness and followership. That “rights shrink” as one rises is a normative statement and has not been tested.
The originJohn C. Maxwell · “The Law of Sacrifice”
- 1998OriginJohn C. Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Law 18
- The Law of SacrificeIn essence: If you want to go up, you have to be willing to give something up.
- todayWEGVISOR: The Law of Sacrifice
The WEGVISOR version, the “Law of Sacrifice”, takes up Maxwell’s idea in the core statement “To go up, you must be willing to give up” and leaves out the addition about shrinking rights. That sacrifice strengthens influence and followership is supported by experiments; that privileges shrink as you rise is, by contrast, a standard, not a tested finding.
The related laws and qualitiesQ19 Servanthood · Q06 Courage · L21 Legacy · Q17 Security
Sacrifice is servanthood in action. If you put the good of others first, you give up your own advantages without expecting thanks.
Sacrifice takes courage. Letting go of something familiar without knowing what the price will bring is acting in spite of fear.
The greatest sacrifice comes at the end: giving up power and position so that others can take over. Without it, there is no legacy.
Only those who are secure in themselves can give up status and privileges. Insecure leaders cling to whatever gives them importance.
The action points5 stages of growth – from first awareness to passing it on
- Become aware In a quiet moment, ask yourself: which privileges of my role do I take for granted, and what do I expect of others that I don’t do myself?
- Lay the foundations This week, give up a small personal advantage for the good of the people you work with, for example the best time slot or the more pleasant task.
- Make it a habit Give up a fixed hour of your own time every week for someone else’s development, such as a new colleague or a volunteer, and check at the end of the month whether you kept to it.
- Deepen deliberately The next time things get tight, take on the most uncomfortable part yourself before asking anything of others, and ask two people you work closely with where you demand more than you model.
- Pass it on This month, talk openly with someone who is taking on new responsibility about the price the role demands and what makes it worth paying; if you lead leaders yourself, model that sacrifice visibly for them.
The reflection questions5 questions for you or a conversation with others
- Which privilege of my position could I give up, and what would that do for the people in my care?
- What do I ask of others that I don’t model myself?
- What do I need to let go of to be truly effective in my current role?
- Where am I confusing healthy sacrifice with self-exploitation that harms me and my family?
- Why do I carry responsibility – at work, as a volunteer or in my family – and would I carry it without status and perks?
Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.
The picture to rememberWhoever climbs leaves something behind on every step. Only those who let go reach the top.
- Whoever climbs leaves something behind on every step.
- Only those who let go reach the top.
What the Law of Sacrifice looks like in practice
Seven children and the top of the EU Commission
Ursula von der Leyen first worked as a physician and entered politics relatively late. As a mother of seven and later the first woman to lead the EU Commission, she gave up much of her personal time and privacy.
36 years to cut a canal through the mountains
To bring water to his village of Caowangba, Huang Dafa went back to study hydraulic engineering at 53. Even when his sister and grandson died, he stayed at his post – in 1995 water finally flowed through almost 10 km of canal.
