As a cutting-edge entrepeneur, best-selling author, and dynamic speaker, John C. Maxwell has cultivated an extensive following among the most highly respected and influential leaders across the globe. John has authored more than thirty books, including the New York Time best-sellers, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Failing Forward and The 360 Leader. Called the nation’s foremost expert on leadership, John is committed to developing leaders of excellence and integrity by providing the finest resources and training for personal and professional growth. He speaks live to over 350,000 people every year and is in high demand on the topic of leadership with many churches, corporations, and entrepreneurial organizations.
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This session was in an interview format with Andy Stanley.
When you start off as a young leader you usually do everything, but as quickly as possible lean toward what you are good at. On a scale of 1-10, you can only go up a few numbers by focusing on you strengths. People don’t pay for average. We need, through trial and error, to determine our strength zone.
Just because you have a college degree doesn’t mean you know everything.
When you work to equip people, you need to encourage them to work toward their strengths.
Anything that you are a “5” or less in, is your weak area. You need to find your “6” or “7s” and focus on those. While you do that, develop people around you who are stronger in the areas that you are weak.
One thing that is difficult to do in leadership is hand off things you are good at or that you enjoy doing, but you have to be willing to let those things go in order to focus on what you are great at doing.
The apostle Paul said – this ONE THING that I do…not these ‘40’ things I dabble in.
Value everybody.
We attract who we are, not who we want. Likeness begets likeness.
You will not spend equal amounts of time with everyone – Jesus was constantly withdrawing from the crowds to be the with 12 – withdrawing from the 12 to be with the three – and from the three to be with the One. He picked different types of people with different types of giftedness to advance His Kingdom.
Put your best in the best. Influence seldom goes up.
Leaders space their time – they distribute themselves and their time differently.
There are certain things you can’t change about yourself, but one thing all of us have the power to change is our attitude.
The more choice you have in a situation, the more you can change.
You can’t change your skills – your natural gifts and abilities – but you can change your attitudes and your choices.
Find potentially great leaders and train them to develop great leaders.
Choices lead to big-time growth, but remember that growth takes time. Spiritual growth is a choice – and it takes time.
Many people aren’t the main leaders and we need to learn the art of being a 360 leader, a leader who leads from the middle of the pack, influencing at all levels.
Leadership is influence, not position – leading without a position of leadership.
99% of people with leadership influence will not be the top leader, but we’ve bought into this myth that you aren’t effective if you are not leader, when in reality, many of the greatest leaders in our time weren’t at the top: Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., etc.
The people who have influenced the world the most didn’t have a leadership position. It’s not determined on position, it’s based on how to influence and engage people.
One thing that John cautioned was that as young leaders we have seen many prominent leaders fall – and John pointed out three things that they have all had in common…
1 – no accountability
2 – they weren’t continually in the Word
3 – they never thought it would happen to them
John was very vulnerable and shared about a time in his ministry when he was being tempted and realized that he could have the potential to fall. It was incredibly moving to hear what he had to say and the tenderness in which he communicated the value of us having accountability, being in the Word and remembering that we are truly vulnerable… being mindful to protect ourselves, be safe and not to get too close to the edge.
The best gift an older generation can give to younger leaders is the gift of being better than they were.
