John C. Maxwell has turned to be
one of my favourate authors on leadership. He is an internationally-renowned
leadership expert, speaker, and author who have sold more than 18 million books.
In addition to writing more than two-dozen books, he has established several
organizations geared toward training and equipping leaders and has developed
numerous ancillary products like tape series, handbooks and manuals, and
curriculum materials. In short, he's an expert in his field and one of the best
communicators out there.
Maxwell is outstanding in mining
the wealth of information and resources he has amassed and recycles it all to
create new books --- which means that one Maxwell book often overlaps into
another one, which overlaps into another one, and so on. Longtime readers of
Maxwell are well aware of this, having discovered a significant amount of
familiar material in the context of information that's genuinely new. He's
often criticized for this, but he still manages to sell a whole lot of books, so
I suspect it isn't as much of a problem as his critics would like to believe.
Whatever it is I like reading his books all the time.
Today I am here to bring a review
and what all we can get from one of his magnificent book “DEVELOPING THE
LEADERS AROUND YOU”. In this, Maxwell provides both inspirational and practical
assistance for leaders who are committed to helping others reach their
leadership potential. In his usual style, the author gets his point across by
making the most of reader-friendly features like assessment tests, charts,
cartoons, sports analogies, and mnemonic devices like original acronyms (such
as RISE, Rewards Indicating Staff Expectations). He also sprinkles the text
with well-chosen quotations --- some profound, some funny, but all of them
relevant to the topic at hand.
The most important point I want
to emphasis about this book is its helpfulness to people outside of the
business community. It's especially appropriate for CEOs, managers and other
leaders like School/college principals, but many of the principles and
practical tips can be applied to people in all walks of life who supervise (or
even parent) others. That's because at the heart of each principle is the
priority Maxwell places on building strong relationships and learning to relate
to people in a healthy and positive way. Besides, it is a stand-alone volume;
there's no need to be familiar with any of Maxwell's previous works to benefit
from this one.
Here's an example of what you can
expect to find, from a chapter on a lifelong commitment to developing potential
leaders. In addition to straight text, Maxwell offers a chart defining the
distinctions among nurturing, equipping and developing others; three specific
questions designed to determine the potential leader's motivation; an example
of a practical plan for personal growth; a description of the four steps it
takes for someone to adopt a new idea and adapt to new situations; several
mnemonic devices, including the IDEA grid (Instruction, Demonstration,
Exposure, Accountability); 10 guidelines for positive confrontation; and an
analysis of the six levels of leadership growth. Clearly, this is an author who
covers all the bases.
Anyone who has read Maxwell knows
that he has a reputation for excelling in communicating his ideas. With
DEVELOPING THE LEADERS AROUND YOU, that reputation remains intact. His casual,
anecdotal style makes this an enjoyable read --- not bad for a topic that could
easily produce the opposite result.
For my readers I am giving here a
list of what I learned from this book. If you wish to have the real learning
excitement from this book you must get a copy of this book and read it for
yourself.
Major Takeaways:
- Acquiring and keeping good people is a leader’s most important task.
- Grow a leader – grow the organization.
- Everything rises and falls on leadership.
- It takes a leader to know a leader, grow a leader, and show a leader.
- There is no success without a successor.
- A leader’s success can be defined as the maximum utilization of the abilities of those under him.
- Momentum is the greatest of all change agents.
- It takes a leader with vision to see the future leader within the person.
- To develop positive, successful people, look for the gold, not the dirt.
- Character flaws cannot be ignored. They will eventually make a leader ineffective.
- A proven leader always has a proven track record.
- A great leader has the ability to instill within his people confidence in themselves.
- Liking people is the beginning of the ability to communicate.
- A leader who loves the status quo soon becomes a follower.
- Seek people who seek solutions.
- Nurturing has the ability to transform people’s lives.
- Leadership can only function on the basis of trust.
- Time spent with a potential leader is an investment.
- When you believe in people, you motivate them and release their potential.
- It is the leader’s job to hold hope high.
- Spend 80 percent of your time on the most promising 20 percent of the potential leaders around you.
- Equipping, like nurturing, is an ongoing process. Equipping must be tailored to each potential leader.
- A person should be spending 80 percent of his time doing things that require his greatest gifts and abilities.
- All good mentoring relationships begin with a personal relationship.
- The leader must know his people well enough to identify attainable goals that require a stretch.
- Good leaders are good listeners.
- Every idea is a good idea until you’ve settled on the best idea.
- Personal growth is like investing. It’s not your timing. It’s your time in.
- Excellence breeds character, and character breeds excellence.
- Teams that don’t bond can’t build.
- A good team fit requires an attitude of partnership.
- Individualism wins trophies, but teamwork wins pennants.
- Knowing where their team stands at every moment separates the great players from the adequate players.
- Success comes down to sacrifice-willing to pay the price.
- Having the right players determines 60 to 80 percent of the success of any organization.
- Problems almost always create opportunities – to learn, grow, and improve.
- Good coaches approach each opponent from a fresh perspective.
- Respect must be earned over time. There are no shortcuts.
- Give opportunities, resources, and playing time according to players’ past performance.
- Delegation is the most powerful tool leaders have.
- People development is life-changing for everyone involved.
- Believe in people, and they will rise to fulfill that belief.
- Look for opportunities to share yourself with people.
- People become empowered when you provide them with three things: opportunity, freedom, and security.
- To live a worthwhile, meaningful life, a person must be a part of something greater than himself.
- One of the greatest rewards of adding value to people is that it comes back to you multiplied.
- A leader who produces other leaders multiplies his influence.
- True success comes only when every generation continues to develop the next generation.
- Relational skills are the most important abilities in leadership.
- How big we think determines the size of our accomplishments.
- Progress and innovation are made by people who think without lines.
- Give your leaders deep, broad roots by growing them slowly and varying their experiences.
- Managers are maintainers, tending to rely on systems and controls. Leaders are innovators and creators who rely on people.
- If you want to become an expert in a subject, according to Earl Nightingale, spend an hour a day for five years focusing on that subject.
Video Link: John
Maxwell’s video on Developing Leaders
To buy online:
Developing
the Leaders Around You
Read, Learn and Flourish!
For your success and glory!
