John C. Maxwell's Blog, page 4

Leading Through Frightening Times

Photo byGustavo QuepónonUnsplash

I’ve often said there are no two consecutive good days in the life of a leader. It’s a statement designed to get people’s attention, and it usually does—I often have a lot of people wanting to follow up with me after I’ve shared it during a teaching. What it boils down to is this: the more you grow in leadership, the more challenging and difficult the decisions you face. Those decisions often involve things with immediate or concrete solutions, but...

Mark Cole: Character – Your Most Important Asset

Photo byAaron LeeonUnsplash

Character is every leader’s most important asset. And like any good asset, it can be developed.

With each choice that you make, you are creating your character.

To bend the truth, or to bear the weight of it?To avoid the pain, or to persevere through it?To seek comfort, or to seek growth?

Adversity doesn’t guarantee to develop character, but it does always reveal it. When a leader faces any set back, crisis, or obstacle, he or she will be met with a decision...

Before You Share, Ask Yourself: Do I Want Accountability or Approval?

Photo byPrateek KatyalonUnsplash

Imagine you’re sitting in a meeting, and a thought suddenly pops into your head. It’s a smart insight, and you’re tempted to interrupt things in order to interject. You look around the table, wondering when you might get the chance to jump into the discussion.

Or maybe you’re sitting at your desk, and an email from your supervisor arrives, asking for your input on an important project. You quickly type out a response filled with ideas and observations and...

Mark Cole: From Seeing to Seizing

Photo byTu TrinhonUnsplash

What are you doing with the opportunities in front of you?

This might be the most important question for you to ask as a leader. I know that’s a bold statement, but here’s why I believe it’s true: no one can guarantee tomorrow and yesterday is too late. You don’t know when you will run out of chances to take advantage of the opportunities in front of you.

John Maxwell says, “Opportunities do not multiply because they are seen. They multiply because they are seized...

Never Leave Behind an Empty Chair

Photo byRabie MadacionUnsplash

The other day, Mark Cole, the CEO of all our companies, asked a question to our leadership team that I thought was powerful. Looking around the room at our executive vice presidents, he asked, “Who would fill your chair if you weren’t here?”

Mark is one of the best and most capable leaders I know, and I loved the way he connected with his team through this question. It provided them with not only a clear picture of what it means to be in leadership with our...

Mark Cole: For Your Dream, Believing Isn’t Enough

Photo byEdu LautononUnsplash

There was a popular song in the 90’s called “I Believe I Can Fly.” The song has made its way around the world, inspiring millions of people to believe in themselves. It’s of a similar theme to the old saying you’ve probably heard many times from a parent, mentor, or teacher: “If you believe it, you can achieve it.”

The truth is, just believing something doesn’t make it so. A pig will never fly, and neither will you. There’s a big difference between a fantasy and...

Mark Cole: The Difference Between Average and Achieving

Photo byIan StaufferonUnsplash

Do you know people that are just a little bit better than everyone around them? Have you ever wondered what their secret is?

It reminds me of a scene in the movie Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan, where the Tune Squad is losing by a large margin at halftime and go into the locker room with very little hope of winning.

In the scene, Michael Jordan is doing everything he can to encourage the team, but it’s not working. So Bugs Bunny takes matters into his own...

Mark Cole: Own Your Dream

Photo bySharon McCutcheononUnsplash

This week on the John Maxwell Leadership Podcast, we’re talking about dreams. Specifically, your dreams. John is taking us through the first question from his digital course Put Your Dream to the Test, which is The Ownership Question:

Is your dream really your dream?

Most people don’t live out their own dreams. They find it safer to please their parents, their spouses or others in their lives. They constantly live under a yoke of duty and begin to define...

5 Takeaways from the Launch of The Leader’s Greatest Return

Yesterday, my team joined me in New York City for the official release of my new book, The Leader’s Greatest Return. As part of the day’s events, we hosted a panel of other authors and leaders to talk about developing people, and it was a blast. We even broadcast it via Facebook, so if you missed it yesterday, you could go back and watch it today.

I was joined on the panel by Dave Hollis, CEO of The Hollis Co; Adrienne Bankert, National News Correspondent, ABC News; Tom Golisano, Founder and...

Developing the Power of Perspective

Next week, my book The Leader’s Greatest Return officially releases. I’ve shared some ideas and pieces of the book’s content on the blog over the past few months, but today I want to give you a sneak peek from Chapter 3.

If you’re a leader, you should be developing other leaders. It’s the single-greatest investment you can make because it produces the single greatest return. Nothing helps an organization like more leaders; in fact, I’ve never once had an organization tell me, “You know,...