John C. Maxwell's Blog, page 24

The Great Leader’s Guide to Connecting Emotionally with Others

No matter what your goals are, communicating with others in a meaningful way can help you. On the other hand, if you can’t communicate, it will cost you. For the person who aims to make a difference by partnering with others? Communication is paramount.After spending forty years as a leader and communicator, I am convinced more than ever that good communication is all about connecting. If you can connect with others at every level—one-on-one, in groups, and with an audience—your relationships...

The Key to a Life that Matters

There's a secret to filling the pages of your life.It's not hard to decipher, but sometimes it takes a little practice.Take me, for example. Back in 1976, I received a gift from Eileen Beavers, who was my assistant at that time. As I unwrapped it, I saw it was a book with the intriguing title, The Greatest Story Ever Told. I couldn’t wait to read it.But when I opened it, I was shocked: The pages were blank.Inside was a note from Eileen that said, "John, your life is before you. Fill these pag...

4 Leadership Styles That Trigger Peak Performance

Most teams don’t naturally get better on their own. Left alone, they don’t grow, improve, or reach championship caliber. Instead, they tend to wind down. The road to the next level is always uphill, and if a team isn’t intentionally fighting to move up, then it inevitably slides down.The team loses focus, gets out of rhythm, decreases in energy, breaks down in unity, and loses momentum. At some point, it also loses key players. And it’s only a matter of time before it plateaus and ultimately...

Leadership Blind Spots

Leadership Blind SpotsDo you have any blind spots?…If you answered no, you now know where your blind spot is!Okay, I think most of us would acknowledge that we do possess blind spots. We assume there must be some areas where we “don’t know what we don’t know.” And we suppose that our personal blind spots have an effect on our lives – quite possibly a negative effect.But what happens when a leader has blind spots? It affects so many more people than the leader alone. It can have a far-reaching...

Transformation is within me (Transformación Está en Mí)

How do you create positive change? How do you help others do so? How do you help an entire nation embrace transformation?Just a few weeks ago, my team and I had an amazing opportunity to be part of a transformational movement with the goal of impacting an entire country. On August 31 and September 1, we traveled to Paraguay to launch an initiative that has been on my heart for a long time.The idea of transformation has really spoken to me for a few years now. I’ve spent a long time thinking o...

To Grow, Go Against the Flow … Together

What direction is your boat moving at this point in 2015? And how many fellow travelers are you partnering with?Partnership in growth is so important. This is especially true for leadership growth. When we surround ourselves with others on the same journey, and seek to learn from great leaders ahead of us, we can make great progress together.I often refer to this as finding a great growth environment. When I first realized I needed to grow, I sat down and penned what I call “My Growth Environ...

All’s well that begins well - September edition

Can you believe September is here? Is your life speeding up as you enter the fall season? I know when my kids were young, September was an important month, since it meant the start of the new school year. It meant a new level of busyness and responsibility for the whole family. I think for most of us, even if we’re long past our school years, September still reminds us of new beginnings. Because of that, it’s a great time for us to make new commitments and start new habits.We’ve all heard the...

Culture vs. Vision; is it really either-or?

Culture seems to be the new emphasis for leaders these days. Five years ago if you would have brought up the subject, people would look at you blankly. Now, everyone recognizes its importance.Recently at a conference, I stated that I believe culture eats vision for lunch. Afterward, someone asked me, “So does that mean vision doesn’t matter?”My answer: NO.While it’s true that culture is very powerful, it works best in relationship with vision. Another way to say is that while culture is what...

You can jumpstart your growth starting today

Today I’m excited about the release of my newest book, JumpStart Your Growth. Part of my “JumpStart” series, this book is designed to help anyone take small positive steps every day for 90 days, to experience real and lasting personal growth.As a reader of this blog, you are probably already an avid seeker of growth. You want to be a better person tomorrow than you are today. You want to grow in some way. Perhaps you want to progress in your career, live a healthier lifestyle, increase your k...

From Kota to Kiribati and Beyond

A little over six weeks ago, I had the honor of participating in a monumental milestone for EQUIP, the non-profit organization I founded in 1996 to train and mobilize leaders worldwide.Our first training session on the Biblical principles of leadership was held in Kota, India, in 1997. Every year since then, our volunteer associate trainers have continued to equip leaders in countries in every part of the world. The numbers grew every year. We trained in dozens of countries, then over a hundr...