Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace

by John C. Maxwell

We have to change, reread our situation, and change again. And continue changing.

There is a profound difference between adaptability and conformity.

Conformity is the negative quality of blending in, becoming average, refusing to stand out or capitalize on one’s uniqueness.

Adaptability is the positive quality of being able to sense the shift in wind direction and proactively adjust one’s course to take advantage of that wind shift. While conformity is a weakness based upon fear of rejection, adaptability is a strength based upon confidence in oneself and in one’s own judgment and abilities.5

seven things you must do to leadershift successfully.

1. CONTINUALLY LEARN, UNLEARN, AND RELEARN

2. VALUE YESTERDAY BUT LIVE IN TODAY

3. RELY ON SPEED, BUT THRIVE ON TIMING

4. SEE THE BIG PICTURE AS THE PICTURE KEEPS GETTING BIGGER

5. LIVE IN TODAY BUT THINK ABOUT TOMORROW

What you focus on expands.

When you know who you are and you know what you want, you then know the kind of people you will attract, and the things you will discover.

Your mind will think things that will help you get what you want.

Your eyes will see things that will help you ge...

Your heart will feel things that will help you ge...

Your attitude will believe things that will help you ...

Your mouth will say things that will help you get what you want.

Your actions will attract things that will help you get what you want.

6. MOVE FORWARD COURAGEOUSLY IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY

7. REALIZE TODAY’S BEST WILL NOT MEET TOMORROW’S CHALLENGES

When you transition from soloist to conductor, there are some realities you have to face:

1. GOING SLOWER SO YOU CAN GO FARTHER

2. RECOGNIZING THAT YOU NEED OTHERS

made it my goal to cultivate an environment where we put completing one another ahead of competing with one another.

3. MAKING THE EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND OTHERS

4. WANTING OTHERS TO SHINE MORE THAN YOU DO

5. HELPING OTHERS TO BECOME BETTER EVERY DAY

adding value to those we “conduct.”

1. FOCUS ON ADDING VALUE DAILY

2. ADD AS MUCH VALUE AS POSSIBLE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE

3. NEVER WAIT TO ADD VALUE

4. GIVE WITHOUT KEEPING SCORE SO MOTIVES STAY PURE

5. WELCOME ANY RETURN AS AN UNEXPECTED BLESSING

Improving yourself is the first step in improving everything else. —UNKNOWN

you need to find inward motivation.

GROWTH ON THE INSIDE FUELS GROWTH ON THE OUTSIDE.

Dad had made it a regular practice to read books that promoted a positive attitude,

Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders, which helped me understand the impact of good leadership.

everything rises and falls on leadership.

R-E-A-L so that I could teach it to others: Relationships, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership.

I was on a growth journey. And I started to fall in love with personal development. What’s more, at age seventy-one, I’m still in love with it. In my organizations, I try to cultivate that same love. I do that by promoting a culture focused on growth, not goals.

GOAL-ORIENTED CULTURE GROWTH-ORIENTED CULTURE Values Achievement Values Development Focuses on Status Focuses on Stretching Honors Privilege Honors Serving Emphasizes the Teacher Emphasizes the Student Target Is Arrival Target Is Growth

Growth’s highest reward is not what we get from it, but what we become by it.

When you get better, it makes you bigger.

Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will be better than today.

Making the leadershift from goal-oriented to growth-oriented isn’t complicated, but it isn’t easy either.

To start making that shift, do these seven things:

1. EMBRACE CHANGE

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties. AND at the same time Confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.2