Momentum is a leader’s best friend.
Momentum also means drive, flow, a winning streak, or energy. Creating it is a leadership task – whether for a project of your own, a team or an entire organization. Once it exists, good management can keep it going.
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
When a group or a project is in motion, much becomes easier. Getting that momentum started and keeping it going is the job of leadership.
- It does not say
- That momentum appears on its own or is a matter of luck. It grows from first visible wins that you deliberately make possible and recognize.
- That speed matters more than direction. Momentum in the wrong direction only carries you away from the goal faster.
- Strictly speaking
- The evidence shows that small, visible wins strengthen confidence and that confidence and performance can reinforce each other – upward as well as downward. Progress in meaningful work is seen as a strong everyday motivator.
- Whether momentum itself causes performance is disputed. People easily see streaks where chance is at work – so check whether a run has real causes before you build on it.
- Applies to
- Every fresh start and every dry spell: restructuring a department or a whole organization, a new beginning in a church, a club’s season, a family project and your own resolutions.
The explanationHarry Truman made the saying popular: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Harry Truman made the saying popular: “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
For leadership, it can be sharpened: it isn’t enough to stand the heat – whoever leads must also be able to make it.
- You can’t steer a ship that isn’t moving.
- Without momentum, even simple tasks feel hard; with momentum, much becomes easier, above all because small, visible wins build confidence.
- Just don’t mistake a winning streak for something that runs by itself.
The signs3 signs the law is at work · 3 that it is missing
- You make sure of first visible wins early and let everyone involved know about them.
- When things are going well, you use the momentum for the next step instead of sitting back.
- In a slump you deliberately set a small, achievable goal to get moving again.
- Projects are announced, but nothing visible happens and the enthusiasm fades.
- Successes go unnoticed, while setbacks dominate every conversation.
- Standstill gets managed – by you or by the leaders you are responsible for – and everyone waits for the mood to improve by itself.
The research5 sources: 2 theories, 1 critique, 1 practice report, 1 review · 1984–2014 · with the limits of the research
- low
- moderate
- high
Moderate – Small wins, efficacy-performance spirals, psychological momentum.
- 1984Karl E. Weick
Small, concrete wins make large problems workable and generate traction.
- 1985Thomas Gilovich, Robert Vallone & Amos Tversky
In basketball the “hot hand” could not be demonstrated; people see streaks in random sequences.
- 1995Dana H. Lindsley, Daniel J. Brass & James B. Thomas
Efficacy beliefs and performance reinforce each other, upward as well as downward.
- 2011Teresa M. Amabile & Steven J. Kramer
Progress in meaningful work is the strongest motivator in everyday work.
- 2014Seppo E. Iso-Ahola & Charles O. Dotson
Psychological momentum: successes raise the likelihood of further successes.
Momentum is well supported as a perception. Whether it causes performance is disputed; the “hot hand” finding shows people overestimate streaks.
The originJohn C. Maxwell · “The Law of the Big Mo”
- 1998OriginJohn C. Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Law 16
- The Law of the Big MoIn essence: Momentum is a leader’s best friend.
- todayWEGVISOR: The Law of the Big Mo
The WEGVISOR version keeps the core statement “Momentum is a leader’s best friend” and shows it in the image of a flywheel. Keep in mind: momentum is well supported as experienced confidence, but whether it actually drives performance is open – and people easily overrate winning streaks.
The related laws and qualitiesQ08 Focus · Q12 Passion · L15 Victory · L05 Picture
Momentum needs a direction. Focus makes sure the energy flows into one goal instead of spreading across many.
Passion provides the first push while the flywheel is still heavy. If you are on fire yourself, you get others moving.
Momentum and success reinforce each other. Every victory adds momentum, and momentum makes the next victory more likely.
Others pick up your pace. When you visibly get to work, they start moving too.
The action points5 stages of growth – from first awareness to passing it on
- Become aware This week, notice when something around you is really gathering pace and when it drags, and note what happened just before each time.
- Lay the foundations This week, visibly celebrate a small step forward – your own or that of a group you work with – and name exactly what contributed to it, even if the goal is still far off.
- Make it a habit Close every week with a short progress update, for yourself or for the people you work with: what moved forward, and which small next step will keep the momentum going?
- Deepen deliberately Pick a project that is stuck and get it moving again with a quick, visible win. Afterwards, ask those involved what had been slowing the momentum down.
- Pass it on Help others create momentum themselves rather than merely manage it – a colleague, a project group or, if you lead leaders, them – and make celebrating progress a fixed part of how you work together.
The reflection questions5 questions for you or a conversation with others
- Is what I am responsible for currently moving forward, idling or going backward?
- Which small, visible win could bring new momentum in the coming weeks?
- Which of other people’s successes have I recently overlooked or failed to recognize – and do we make progress visible at all?
- Where is the current momentum hiding the fact that we are heading the wrong way?
- What is slowing us down most right now, and what part of it can I clear out of the way this week?
Take your time with one question. Write down your answer – or talk it over with someone you trust.
The picture to rememberThe flywheel turns heavily at first, then faster and faster – until it almost runs by itself.
- The flywheel turns heavily at first, then faster and faster – until it almost runs by itself.
What the Law of the Big Mo looks like in practice
Why Musk lived at the factory
In an email to staff, Elon Musk demands at least 40 hours a week in the office – the more senior, the more visible. He says he lived at the factory so workers could see him working; otherwise Tesla would have gone bankrupt long ago.
From crisis club to 8–2 against Barcelona
When Hansi Flick took over in November 2019, Bayern were in crisis. A 4–0 win over Dortmund sparked a winning streak, the 8–2 against Barcelona made the players feel invincible – and the season ended with the treble.
The memo that sent a nation to the moon
On April 20, 1961, a memo from Kennedy asked Lyndon B. Johnson whether the US was working on the moon goal 24 hours a day. Soon after, Kennedy committed the nation to a moon landing – and in 1969, Apollo 11 touched down.
