How Leading Changed John Maxwell
I sent a note to John Maxwell. This is part of his reply.
How has leading changed you?
That’s almost like asking how breathing has changed me. Leadership has impacted every aspect of my life.
Early in my career, I discovered that everything rises and falls on leadership, and it changed the way I led. My focus turned to growing as a leader and helping others become leaders as well. I also worked on intentionally leading myself better. (I’ve discovered that the hardest person I ever led was me.)
The biggest change:
But the thing that leadership has changed the most about me is the realization that leadership is all about other people. Good leaders can’t be selfish. They’ve got to put other people and the organization first. Sometimes that means doing unpleasant things and making sacrifices.
Most people think of leadership as privilege. But I’ve come to see leadership as service. And now that I’m in my mid-60s, I’m more focused on legacy and what my leadership can do for others during the prime years I have left, as well as after I’m gone.
Thoughts:
Maxwell challenges leaders to take responsibility when he says “everything rises and falls on leadership.” It’s a daunting statement that demands we understand core principles of leading. In one sense everything depends on you, in another, everything depends on them.
5 Ways to bear the responsibility of leading:
- Develop yourself and rely on others.
- Leverage your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
- Never pretend you are all-competent. You’ll be crushed by stress.
- Build a team of competent individuals who take ownership. “The team with the best players wins,” Jack Welch.
- Believe that leading is about developing and enabling others.
I shared some of my responses to Maxwell’s comments. What are yours?
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Part 2 of John’s reply: “How John Maxwell Navigates Leadership”
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John’s latest book: “The Five Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential,” is written in John’s typical style. You’ll find it easy to read, practical, and actionable.
Thanks Dan. This is great. John Maxwell is truly one of the best leaders, speakers and authors of this generation. I have learned so much form him and Ken Blanchard. Leading is about service, developing others, Listening. kit is not about you, it is about the Team. John’s book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect” is a great lesson in really connecting and leading. We connect by listening. I believe leaders that really listen are the best leaders.
Thanks again Dan. Love your stuff.
Al
Al,
Thanks for starting off the conversation.
I was heading to Oregon from Pennsylvania when I read “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect.” It was very useful. I implemented some of the ideas that week.
Cheers,
Dan
The first responsibility of a leader is to define responsibility. The last is to say thank you. In between the leader is a servant. – Max DePree
No one can do it all. Thinking not only about how you can help those around you be stronger leaders but also about creating leaders that can maintain the company’s vision after you leave is one of the most important jobs of the leader. You hired the people around you for a reason, help them to reach the potential you saw in them.
Hi Bonnie,
Love the Dupree quote. Nice!
I thinking letting others lead may be one of the great challenges for passionate leaders. Yet, its essential.
Cheers,
Dan
Props Bonnie for bring Max Depree into the discussion. Two excellent books, Leadership Art and Leadership Jazz and the metaphors are rich in both!
The comment that hit home with me was “I’ve discovered that the hardest person I ever lead was me”
Same here, Linda. I could hardly read anything else in the post due to the immediate impact of that sentence — I suspect it will serve as a catalyst to many of us to look first at our stewardship of our own selves.
Leadership is definitely a service.
Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky write about genuine leadership in their book, “Leadership On The Line”. They make the point that, “real leadership – the kind that surfaces conflict, challenges long-held beliefs, and demands new ways of doing things – causes pain. When people feel threatened, they take aim at the person pushing for change. As a result, leaders often get hurt both personally and professionally.”
So I agree wholeheartedly with John. Leadership is definitely a service.
Hi Scott,
You bring up the area I’ve made the most mistakes.. managing change. Of course leading is about change so I’ve blown it many times.
Serving while misunderstood is a great challenge and can create disillusionment. I have to add that its not unusual that I am responsible for the misunderstanding. OUCH!
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan,
That’s interesting. Based on your question, I think it’s probably easy for someone with Maxwell’s experience to fill more than one book with the answer. I haven’t read the book, so I don’t know f there is anything in it about attitude.
I’ll suggest that attitude will largely influence the success of all 5 of John’s “5-Ways,” as well as everything else one hopes to accomplish in leadership.
I think of a big, beautiful jet aircraft: once under power, the only difference between getting off the ground, or crashing at the end of the runway, is attitude. With the same plane, once in the air, and given sufficient power, the only difference between crash and burn, or even flight, or climbing, is attitude.
I believe that part of any successful attitude is to have FUN with what we do. This includes leading. Even in the toughest times, we need to remind ourselves of what makes our role fun, interesting, exciting, stimulating, and puts in in a place of appreciation for our opportunity to bring perspective and invite growth and greater success for ourselves and others.
Mark
Mark,
Your last paragraph brings it home! It adds definition and punch to an ambiguous word… nice.
Cheers,
Dan
“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” There is nothing quite as challenging as this assertion. Leadership is a responsibility. A responsibility to listen, to connect honestly, to engage, to inspire, to empower, to help people to be better than they would be without you. These things happen when the team assembled is the type of team that will respond to an individual style of leadership. A team of the right people rises with the right leadership…just as a team that is not assembled quite right would fall under that same leadership. Great food for thought…as usual! Have a great and healing weekend. MMF
Hi Megan,
Thank you for adding another useful comment. You keeping adding value.
I feel like the dance between team members and leaders is something worth loads of thought.
I’m getting better – slow but sure.
Best,
Dan
John’s comment about leadership being service rather than privelege resonates; I’ve been fulltime in formal leadership positions for more than 30 years and have spent at least half of that leading in volunteer positions as well. Sometimes I grow weary of it – I love those rare occasions when I get to be a worker bee on a project and don’t have to rally the troops, make decisions, and focus the efforts.
However, I’ve come to see that when the group looks for leaders, with-holding leadership is a disservice.
“When the group looks for leaders, withholding leadership is a disservice.” I love this! There is a difference between stepping in when people are looking for you, and pushing your way to the front when they are not. I am often reluctant to jump in for volunteer leadership roles, even when I’m asked…I have a tendency to say yes to everything, and I often have fatigue from other leadership roles I’ve had. But I am challenged by this idea. Sortof like a calling, huh? Thanks for your insight! MMF
The term “calling” makes all the difference!
Greg,
I’m with you. I don’t want to abdicate leadership roles but being a worker bee sure is freeing from time to time!
Love your candor.
Cheers,
Dan
Being on the shorter ticks of the chronological end of program does lend a legacy view. It also reframes short term and long term ROI of life. Short term Madoff was a success, long term/legacy, a sad commentary on inhumanity. Short term Gandhi and Galileo were mocked, vilified and had their lives end early, long term/legacy the humanity, concepts and values live on.
In most cases I see leadership as an honor, obligation and service as Mr. Maxwell and others noted. It is given, not taken and easily taken away if not continually earned. And I definitely agree with Mark about making it fun… if it isn’t, then you are not truly passionate about it and life does not offer us a mulligan.
The fifth element rings most true for me right now, leading is about developing and coaching others to see beyond their expectations. (Don’t know about that word-enable 😉 feels like it has some negative hierarchical bias to me.)
Doc you have outdone yourself today. The entire post goes to the quote book. “It is given, not taken and easily taken away if not continually earned.” I would add that passionate leaders that love what they do arrive without taking and don’t need to look back for the earnings. Great stuff Doc!
KaChing!
Hi Doc,
I’m dedicating 50% of my time to developing others. I wish I would have started that practice years ago. Just think of it …. 🙂
Cheers,
Dan
Hi Dan, I am a huge fan of John Maxwell and start my day with his brief video of “word for the day.” I agree wholeheartedly that Leadership is about service and the best leaders don’t climb to the top they are lifted by those needing them. Leadership is truly a privilege and not a right which needs to be approached with utmost humility and the understanding that our dedication is outward bound and inwardly generated. The opportunity to lead appears whenever we reach out to help someone. The leader’s greatest treasure trove is the smile, hope, and inspiration he/she create with their service. No act of leadership is ever too small to motivate others to reach their greatest potential. Everyone has the potential to become a leader sometime during their life. All it takes is having the courage to open our hearts and focus our gaze and those needing us will appear.
You’re nailing it Doc.
Your comment about smiling makes me think of the challenge of carrying responsibility cheerfully. I’m learning to let the the inner desires I have for good to show on my face.
Cheers,
Dan
In a mutual admiration way Al, ‘no act of leadership is ever too small to motivate…’absolutely! And I would add on to know that your acts of leadership are occurring in moments you may not be aware and that they are carried by others.
Liked 5 ways of taking good responsibility to lead. Once well practiced, the leader becomes much more acceptable and can drive the team to taste the planned success.
The anxiety remains as to how the total team remains committed to deliver all the time. May be the best players as rightly been said can be more dependable and nurtured for the desired output in progression.
Good learning from John Maxwell thoughts!.Quite eager to look for the next post to get further inspired.
Dear Dan,
I agree that leadership is about others. It is about empowering and encourging others to do their best, even if they do not believe that. IT is about creating hopes and faith in others. I appreciate the veiws on leadership legacy. Yes. leaders leave legacy. Leaders always see what they are going to give to this world when they have gone.So, true and inspiring thought.
Leadership is a journey. More you travel, more you will peel off the layers of ignonace and learn great insightful knowledge. I am sure, John Maxwell has discovered real leaders in him and still enjoying to search even newer leader. This is beauty of leadership journey. Leadersip is about chang, and I always believe that change starts from self. If you can change yourself easily, it becomes easy to change outside that you want to see.
Wow Ajay. “leadership is a journey. More you travel, more you will peel off layers of ignorance…..” another one for the quote book. This whole post has been amazing. You guys certainly have motivated the heck out of me! LEAD on. 🙂
Dear Al Diaj,
Thanks for insipiring and encouraging remarks.
Regards
Ajay
Leadership journeys and leadership as a service have been mentioned. It has been called other things – an honour – an obligation, a privilege, which would all combine as”servant leadership”
What no-one has said is that it can be uncomfortable – seriously uncomfortable.You can be taken well outside your comfort zone, with only the slightest idea of where you are going. You require persistence, confidence in your ability and, as someone said, a sense of fun. Should it not turn out as you expected, you need the ability to learn from your mistakes and start over.
The outcome depends largely on how well you pick your followers, who is willing to follow, and your ability to trust and listen to them. Any success will rest with them – so as was noted in an earlier post, don’t forget to say “Thank you!”
Linda,
You’re very right about being uncomfortable, but maybe that’s the sign we need to know we’re on the right path. A greater challenge.
I don’t think we get to pick our own followers, I think they pick us.
Certainly in business anyway. Eventually, Yes maybe you can add and subtract to your team of followers.
How privileged we all are to have the insights of a dedicated and humble leader in John Maxwell. I am struck by the dichotomy of effective leaders where as they must feel competent and confident that they have something to share which will empower and develop into leaders yet humble enough to accept and appreciate their calling to serve others.
How often in management do we confront the conundrum of management authority versus leadership responsibility? As a leader, I believe that one of the early baby steps in leadership development is for the individual to accept that taking responsibility and earning respect as a leader is the only way that a manager can truly command influence and authority.
Thanks for the great article.
Bryan
I really anjoy Maxewell and just found your greatbwork here thanks.
I would agree with Maxwell that leadership is about service. The best leaders I have worked with service and empower their people in a positive way and everyone is better for it.
I would also agree with minimizing your weaknesses. This is a tough one for some as they will never hire or keep folks that are stronger than they are in certain areas, with ongoing disastrous results.
Strong leaders either traing up and mentor or hire in the best they can in each area of the company as well as have frank, safe discussions as a team on how they can help each other.