The Leader's Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders

by John C. Maxwell

take the following actions: • Value them • Let them know you need them • Include them in your journey • Adopt a teachable spirit • Ask questions • Listen well and often • Seek to know their perspective • Give credit to those who help you • Express gratitude to those who help you • Replace me with we

Most people are insecure. Give them confidence. • Most people want to feel special. Compliment them. • Most people want a bright future. Give them hope. • Most people need to be understood. Listen to them. • Most people want direction. Walk with them. • Most people are selfish. Speak to their needs first. • Most people get emotionally low. Encourage them. • Most people want to be included. Ask their opinion. • Most people want success. Help them win. • Most people want to be appreciated. Give them credit.

I seek out my team members’ perspectives. But I don’t stop there. The real value in the conversation comes from coordinating those perspectives with one another. I do that by pointing out how one team member’s ideas relate to the others. I also tell them how those ideas relate to my thinking. And I try to tie all of it together to the vision of our organization.

If you really want to understand other people, you need to ask questions.

leadership isn’t control—it’s influence. I tried to help him understand that you don’t want to control people’s responses. You want to influence their thinking and actions. You do that by asking the right questions.

Assumptions are the mother of all mess ups for leaders.

here are some examples of questions I ask before casting vision, working on a project, engaging in an experience, or having a mentoring conversation: “What do you see in the vision we’re proposing?” “How do you think we should approach this project?” “What do you expect to receive from this experience?” “How do you think this conversation will play out?”

I love asking questions that prompt leaders to evaluate and reflect on their experiences. I want to gauge their level of awareness. I want to know what they observed. I want to know how they felt. I want to know what they learned. I want to know how they will apply it. I want to find out what actions they plan to take next. Good questions asked on the back end can often prompt people to make discoveries and learn for themselves. And if they miss the lesson, you can always take a moment to teach them.

The moment people see that they are being understood, they become more motivated to understand your point of view.”

I’ve heard that during this “wet cement” stage, you have only about thirty days or so to put your company’s “handprint” on new team members before the cement dries and their thinking patterns, attitude, and habits are hardened and difficult to change.

When people ask me how I motivate my people, my answer is that I don’t. I don’t try to push or pull people. Instead, I try to inspire people and help them find their own motivations.

By far the strongest motivator I’ve seen in people is purpose.

“What is my one sentence?” Does it do the same to you? When I search myself for an answer, my one sentence is: I add value to leaders who multiply value to others. I want to be a catalyst for transformation, to help change leaders to change the world around them. What’s your sentence?

When your talent, desire, recognition, and growth all line up, and it’s affirmed and recognized by others, you’re probably doing what you were created to do. Otherwise, you need to keep searching.

George Washington Carver asserted, “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.”

I believe personal transformation comes when we give ourselves to a cause greater than ourselves and believe in its possibilities to make a difference.

And if you think about it, you only make progress if you’re getting traction, not spinning your wheels. And what is traction but track plus action? A track is a planned path that we want to run on. Action is what we do that actually gets results.

As I look back at my life, I recognize that consistency has been the key to my progress. I wanted to improve, so I got intentional about learning and never quit.

The best thing money can buy is financial freedom, which gives a person options. But money is a powerful motivator only until you have enough to get what you want.

You can’t be a good leader and lead everyone the same. People with a management mind-set may try that, but it doesn’t work. Good leaders discover what motivates each person and then lead him or her accordingly.

the seven motivators in this chapter: • PURPOSE—leaders want to do what they were created to do • AUTONOMY—leaders want the freedom to control their lives • RELATIONSHIPS—leaders want to do things with other people • PROGRESS—leaders want to experience personal and professional growth • MASTERY—leaders want to excel at their work • RECOGNITION—leaders want others to appreciate their accomplishments • MONEY—leaders want to be financially secure

Highly motivated people tend to score themselves highly in all seven areas. In fact, the more of them that inspire a person, the higher the odds that person will stay motivated.

But also set them up for success. For years I have used the acronym BEST to do this: Believe in them. Encourage them. Show them. Train them.

people don’t determine their future. They determine their habits, which determine their future.

it’s at the equipping stage that multiplication happens. This is where the leader’s greatest return really kicks in. Why? Because when you start equipping leaders and helping them become great at their jobs, you begin experiencing the compounding of influence, time, energy, resources, ideas, money, and effectiveness.

If you want to go to the higher levels as a leader, try building your reputation on training and equipping people. That focus changed everything for me as a leader.

Strategic leaders who receive the highest return from their people equip and empower them. They position them and mentor them. They teach them how to reproduce leaders.

the function of leadership isn’t to gather more followers. It’s to produce more leaders.

I do it. I do it and you are with me. You do it and I am with you. You do it. You do it and someone else is with you.

First of all, you have to assess the level of the potential leaders.

your goal is always to equip people in such a way that they learn not only to do their job well and to lead, but also to develop their own equipping leader’s mind-set.

Learning: “What am I learning?” Experiencing: “What am I experiencing?” Applying: “What am I applying?” Developing: “Who am I developing?”

The number one factor in determining if any kind of training course is successful is whether or not the senior leaders are involved. If they show that learning is a priority to them and fully participate in the training process, it is successful. If they are not involved, the people in the organization get the sense that it’s not important. It creates a credibility gap.

What’s wonderful about the Proximity Principle is that anyone can practice it.

There’s just one secret to getting started: never work alone. I know that may sound too simple, but it’s very effective.

ask questions. When you gather people, if all you do is give orders, all you will get is order takers. That’s not what you want. You want leaders.

the 70/20/10 learning and development model in the 1990s. It says that 70 percent of the time, learning and development occur in the context of real-life and on-the-job experiences, tasks, and problem-solving; 20 percent of the time, they come from informal or formal feedback, mentoring, or coaching from other people; and 10 percent of the time, they result from formal training.

telling is not equipping, and listening doesn’t mean learning. People learn by doing.

You need to pick your spots for training people, but as you do, remember these two things: you need to let them learn by doing, and you need to be in close proximity to them to coach them along the way.

At some point in the equipping process, you need to set goals for potential leaders. You can do it as you invite them into the development process, or you can start them in the development process to get a better understanding of them and pause to set objectives. But you need to do it, because those goals become a road map for them to follow.

Every goal you identify for potential leaders needs to be specific enough that you and they can clearly answer yes or no to the question, “Did you achieve this goal?”

What are some good examples of measurable leadership development goals?

If you’re a leader on your team or in your organization, you need to take responsibility for removing barriers for the people you develop.

I think the ultimate goal for all leaders should be to work themselves out of a job. That’s the advice I always give people. Equip people to replace you.

I can equip others, but only as far as their talent will allow them to go.

Begin by asking yourself, “What am I doing right now that could be done by someone else?” Once you’ve answered that, ask, “Who should I begin to equip to do this?” Once you’ve identified who that is, sit down with the person and share your game plan. Then start training him or her. And let the rest of the team know what you are doing. This does two things: prepares them to accept someone else doing this role, and models the process that they should also be doing with others.

continually ask yourself, “Why am I doing this task?” If your answer is that you have not equipped someone else to do it, then get started equipping someone.

The way you expand your potential is to help others develop theirs.

As a leader, if you work yourself out of a job, you’ll always have another job.

people work harder and with more creativity when they’ve been empowered and released to take ownership of an area.

There are some things each of us loves doing—that we should no longer be doing.

Sometimes, leaders should hold on to things that they enjoy doing, even if they are not in the highest contribution they can make to the business. Leaders who enjoy their work are more valuable to their businesses.