John C. Maxwell's Blog, page 18

‘Tis the Season to Reflect on Responsibilities

Do you know anyone who likes being busy? Someone who enjoys nothing more than juggling items on their to-do list?I’ve met people like that before, people who connect their self-worth to the number of items in their calendar or the different hats they may wear. And while all of them were busy, not all of them could say they were productive.In fact, most of them said the opposite.For all the pride they took in being busy – in feeling needed – they also struggled with the sense that they didn’t...

Tis the Season for Reflecting on Relationships

It’s December, and as the holiday season swings into full gear, chances are you’re getting ready for a party or two. Now, I love parties. I enjoy getting to spend time with the people closest to me, and to connect with new friends. But some parties are more fun for us than others. We look forward to them for weeks, and we’re energized after they end.Then there are the other parties. The ones we don’t look forward to as much. Some of them, we even dread. And when they’re over, we feel drained....

‘Tis the Season of Reflection

I love the month of December. It’s one of my favorite times each year, because people are encouraged to be generous and kind, and spend time investing in their most important relationships. I look forward to being with my family, sharing old memories and making new ones. I look forward to celebrating the victories of the year with my different teams. December is the month that ties up the whole year.That’s why I’ve always used the last week in December as a time of reflection. Every year I se...

Finding the Courage to Grow

Have you ever thought about the essential ingredient for growth? It’s the one thing you absolutely must have if you want to increase your ability to get better in any area. And yet it’s often the hardest thing for a person seeking growth to find.What might that one thing be?Courage.Now, that may sound a bit overstated, but I promise you it’s not. The appeal of just “good enough” is powerful, so whenever someone decides to go beyond “good enough,” there is always push-back. You see, people lov...

Seeing the Way to Gratitude

I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking a lot about turkey and stuffing lately. Of course, that’s because Thursday is Thanksgiving in the United States. But food is not the only thing the holiday makes me think of. At this time of year, I’m reminded of the idea behind the day.While the tradition dates to the 1620s, the official holiday didn’t come into existence until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation to set aside the last Thursday of November as a day for giving tha...

You’ll Never Find the Right Answers If You’re Asking the Wrong Questions

“The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.”-Sir Antony JayWhen problem-solving, it’s so easy to fall into the rut of uncreative thinking. We can focus so much on answers and solutions that we lose sight of the question. And if we’re asking the wrong questions, we’ll often end up with the wrong answers.How creative is your thinking? When faced with a problem, do you immediately turn to the tried-and-true solutions that you’ve always used?...

Be Quick to Encourage Growth in the People You Care About

Over the past few weeks I’ve written a lot about personal growth. That’s because it’s so important to me – I believe personal growth is a crucial part in anyone’s journey toward success and significance. But this week, I want to talk about an area of personal growth that we sometimes forget: helping another person grow. And specifically someone else outside of work.Whenever I write or speak on the subject of leadership, I share that the best leaders are always on the lookout for opportunities...

Negative Beliefs: The Obstacles on Your Path to Growth

As a reader of my blog, you’ve probably figured noticed that growth is something I talk about almost all the time. That’s because I believe intentional personal growth is the key to reaching your potential. And no one grows to become a better leader or entrepreneur by accident. Everything worthwhile is uphill. I love nothing more than to help people like you travel up that hill to become all that you can be.To make it up the growth slope, we need to figure out the best route and make steady p...

The Most Important Reason to Pursue Growth

I love to talk about personal growth. It’s one of my passions. I have seen firsthand how effectively a life committed to continual personal growth produces results beyond our wildest imaginings. Because I’ve seen the power of growth, I’m always fired up to share the principles and practices that will help people make it a habit. That’s the “how to” of growth. But before anyone is ready to learn the “how” of growth, they need to embrace the “why.” That’s what I want to discuss today.There are...

The Ten Commandments of Confrontation

I bet you’ve heard this before: In any organization, people are the most valuable asset. And as a leader, you probably understand that it’s true. No matter how you measure it, people offer the highest return on investment over the longest time. When you take care of your people and treat them well, they have the potential to create incredible success for the organization.However, we sometimes interpret this concept in an ineffective way. “Taking care of” people is understood by some leaders a...