Developing The Leader Within You 2.0 By John C. Maxwell

Undeniably, Maxwell is a mastermind at creating lists, telling stories, and gathering quotes. He’s basically like his own Google in how he organizes information. From what I can tell, Maxwell’s books are like summarized, sparknotes versions of all the leadership material money can buy. 
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But if stories and quotes are like fluff to you, then allow me to rewrite his book for you in just 4 sentences: 

• To be considered a leader, you must develop the basic skills of a leader - influence and vision
• To be a leader people respect, you must carry the heart of a leader
• To be a leader that makes an impact, at the end of the day, you have to get stuff done
• To improve as a leader, you have to lead yourself with intentionality

To break it down even more simply, having potential as a leader basically comes down to having three things: vision, influence, and character. That’s it. To realize that potential, evaluate:
Looking backwards, how have you been successful? Looking forward, how will you get better?

As Maxwell admits, not everyone has the same ceiling as a leader. Sure, we can all get better, but we don’t all start with the same intangibles. Not everyone is naturally a big-picture, visionary thinker, and not everyone is gifted with the same charisma and communication skills. And unfortunately, simply holding a position of authority won’t magically increase our actual leadership abilities. John explains on page 11, “Because some positional leaders can’t and possess no influence or authority of their own, they rely on the authority of their boss or the person who appointed them. Anytime they fear that their team members won’t follow them, they’re quick to say, ‘We need to do this because the boss says so.’ That kind of borrowed authority can wear thin after a while … People do not become committed to vision or causes led by positional leaders.”

If we want to avoid being solely a ‘positional leader’, we need to dial in. See, it’s the areas that we are most proficient in ourselves where we’ll have the greatest impact in leading others, and it takes effort to narrow our influence within those strengths. If we try to do it all, we end up getting nothing done. Or in Maxwell’s words, “When you say everything is a high priority, then nothing is a high priority. It really indicates that you’re unwilling or unable to make a decision” [p. 29]. One of the reasons John has become so successful is his conscious decision to operate in and improve upon his most apparent proficiencies: speaking, writing, and leadership. On the other hand, John concedes, “Do you know the areas where I never give advice? Singing. Technology. Golf. Nobody wants to hear what I have to say about these subjects” [p. 17]. I guarantee you Maxwell has been tempted to give golf advice. And he’s surely felt tech-savvy at least time or two. But maximizing our best means intentionally minimizing effort and time spent in our pretty good - much less in our bad and ugly.

I’ll let you read the book for yourself to get Maxwell’s inside scoop on how to define and grow your vision, influence, and character, but I’ll finish this summary with a few quotes.

On Effective Communication

• “Do I understand what I am going to say? Will they understand what I am going to say? Will they be able to tell others what I say? Will others understand what they say?” [p. 86].

On Intentionality

• “The best servant leaders anticipate what their people need from them. They are proactive in helping the people they lead. Too many leaders have the attitude, ‘If they need something, let them ask. My door is always open.’ Here’s a thought: instead of leaving the door open, go out of the door to where your people are and look for what they need. Then give it to them before they even ask. You can’t assume that others have the same desires and expectations you do” [p. 151].
• “There are no such things as accidental achievements. No person who has climbed the mountain of success ever said, ‘I have no idea how I got to the top of this mountain.'  ... No leader who ever led people to do something significant did it without great effort. Any climb uphill must be deliberate, consistent, and willful. It is very intentional” [p. 186].

On Improving

• “The profile of someone who improves looks different from that of other people. Everybody makes mistakes, not everybody corrects them. Everybody falls, not everybody gets back up. Everybody needs to make changes, but not everybody does” [p. 138].
• “During a break at a conference where I was teaching, a young man came up to me and said, ‘I’d like to do what you do.’ … ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘Who wouldn’t enjoy all this?’ I looked around the auditorium, trying to capture everything around us. ‘But I have a question for you,’ I continued. ‘Would you like to do what I did so you can do what I do?’” [p. 210]

That’s the question for all of us. Are we willing to do what it takes today to be where (and who) we want to be tomorrow?

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