Posts by John Maxwell
From my Files: Priorities
If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I try to post a quote for every day on something related to leadership or personal growth. I love sharing those quotes from my personal files, but I don’t always like the 140-character limit. Lately I’ve been sharing about priorities on Twitter. But I’ve had to…
Read MoreAsk no more of others than you ask of yourself
According to noted medical missionary Albert Schweitzer, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others … it is the only thing.” Part of creating an appealing climate to grow potential leaders is modeling leadership. people emulate what they see modeled. Positive model – positive response. Negative model – negative response. What leaders do, potential…
Read MoreFile (again) under F for Filing
I’ve shared in the past how I jump-start my creativity with quotes and articles from others. Whenever I need to prepare a new book, lesson, article, or sermon, the first thing I do is pull all of my files on the topic. I’ve spoken and written about this a lot. But I always get a…
Read MoreThe right picture of success
Last week, I shared some of the wrong definitions of success that so many of us believe in. I shared my belief that they’re either wrong, or at best, incomplete. I believe success is ultimately a journey. So how do you get started on the success journey? What does it take to be a success?…
Read MoreSuccess: What it isn't
The problem for most people who want to be successful is not that they can’t do it. The main obstacle for them is that they misunderstand success. Maltbie D. Babcock said, “One of the most common mistakes and one of the costliest is thinking that success is due to some genius, some magic, something or…
Read MoreUnleashing the power of passion
One of my roles as a motivational teacher is to try to help people reach their potential. For years, I tried to inspire passion in audiences by going about it the wrong way. I used to tell people about what made me passionate, what made me want to get out and do my best. But…
Read MoreKnowing the difference between players and pretenders
If you’ve ever led people, you’ve come across followers who would rather act the part than do their part. Those people are pretenders, and while they can sometimes masquerade as players, there are ways to tell the two apart. It’s important to find all the pretenders within an organization, because otherwise, they will steal momentum…
Read MoreComing next month: A Day About Books
Just this week I finished the preliminary work on the creation of my next book. Not the one for 2012 – that one’s been finished since last fall. No, this is my 2013 book, which we need to turn in THIS fall. That’s the way publishing works: everything takes a long time to go from…
Read MoreHow to Become a Focused Thinker
In his book Focus: The Future of Your Company Depends on It, marketing consultant Al Ries gives a tremendous illustration: The sun is a powerful source of energy. Every hour the sun washes the earth with billions of kilowatts of energy. Yet with a hat and some sun-screen, you can bathe in the light of…
Read MoreEnlarging others
Team members always love and admire a player who is able to help them go to another level, someone who enlarges them and empowers them to be successful. Players who enlarge their teammates have several things in common: Enlargers value their teammates: Your teammates can tell whether you believe in them. People’s performances usually reflect…
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