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WHY EVERY LEADER NEEDS TO LEADERSHIFT
The more nimble, adaptable, and flexible we are, the more quickly we can move and change.
Today a long-range plan may be two years. Technology and innovation move so quickly that everything is going forward in a shorter time frame. As leaders, we can’t drag our feet or take too long making assessments. We have to change, reread our situation, and change again. And continue changing.
What is a leadershift? It is an ability and willingness to make a leadership change that will positively enhance organizational and personal growth.
Educator and author Bruna Martinuzzi cited a study conducted by an organization called the Economist Intelligence Unit. It identified the top three leadership qualities that will be important in the years ahead: “the ability to motivate staff (35 percent); the ability to work well across cultures (34 percent); and the ability to facilitate change (32 percent).”
Adaptability—the ability to change (or to be changed) to fit new circumstances—is a crucial skill for leaders. Good leaders adapt. They shift.
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. If you want to be successful as a leader, you need to learn to become comfortable with uncertainty and make shifts continually.
The truth is this: every advance you make as a leader will require a leadershift that changes the way you think, act, and lead.
Seven things you must do to leadershift successfully:
1. CONTINUALLY LEARN, UNLEARN, AND RELEARN
We must be willing to let go of what worked yesterday and learn new ways of seeing, doing, and leading. We cannot afford to be in love with any one technology or methodology. We keep learning and changing, or our leadership dies.
2. VALUE YESTERDAY BUT LIVE IN TODAY
That’s similar to a sign in John Maxwell’s office that said, “Yesterday Ended Last Night.” As he explained, “I put it there to remind me that all the good I did yesterday won’t guarantee a good day for me today, nor will all the bad that happened yesterday mean that today has to be bad.”
3. RELY ON SPEED, BUT THRIVE ON TIMING
What is happening around you determines whether you hold fast or move forward. To paraphrase financier James Goldsmith, when the leader sees the bandwagon, it’s too late to lead.
4. SEE THE BIG PICTURE AS THE PICTURE KEEPS GETTING BIGGER
The more Maxwell learns about a subject, the more he recognizes he doesn’t know enough about it. The more leadership experiences he gains, the more he realizes how he would benefit from more experience. This process is what Maxwell calls “layered learning.”
5. LIVE IN TODAY BUT THINK ABOUT TOMORROW
Leaders have a natural bias toward action. They have to be proactive today for the sake of tomorrow. In the 1980s, Maxwell concluded that he could experience a positive future only if he had a good dream and a good team.
6. MOVE FORWARD COURAGEOUSLY IN THE MIDST OF UNCERTAINTY
Life expands or shrinks in proportion to our courage. When leaders fail to make a necessary leadershift because of fear or uncertainty, it only increases their fear, which results in frustration.
Andy Stanley, a wonderful leader who founded North Point Church, said, “Fear in leadership usually is connected to the uncertainty about the future.” But uncertainty about the future is never going to go away. As Maxwell tells leaders all the time—uncertainty is why there are leaders.
Betty Bender, former president of the Library Administration and Management Association, said, “Anything I’ve ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death.”
7. REALIZE TODAY’S BEST WILL NOT MEET TOMORROW’S CHALLENGES
Keep getting better, because tomorrow’s challenges will not be won with today’s abilities.
The question, “Is this the best I can do today?” helps you make the most of today. The question, “Am I getting better?” spurs you on to change. As a leader, you should grow into tomorrow’s challenges, not just go into them. If you keep getting better, you can leadershift better tomorrow.
Ask yourself:
• “When’s the last time I learned something for the first time?”
• “When’s the last time I did something for the first time?”
• “When’s the last time I found something better for the first time?”
• “When’s the last time I saw something bigger for the first time?”
Every advance you make as a leader will require a leadershift that changes the way you think, act, and lead. When you make a leadershift, it will make you a better leader.
#1 THE FOCUS SHIFT—FROM SOLOIST TO CONDUCTOR
The Law of Significance (the first of Maxwell’s 17 Laws of Teamwork) says, “One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”
Eric Jacobsen, an American violinist who began conducting, spoke about the role and impact of being a conductor: “Ideally a conductor is a catalyst for mutual understanding, with the orchestra becoming greater than the sum of its parts.”
When you transition from soloist to conductor, there are some realities you have to face:
1. GOING SLOWER SO YOU CAN GO FARTHER
Good leaders don’t go to the top alone and then yell down, “Hey, people, come on up—if you can figure out how to make the climb.” They make a conscious decision to slow down. They carefully choose their steps so that they can help others make the climb with them.
Healthy organizations are not about the one person who leads them—they are about everyone who’s in them.
2. RECOGNIZING THAT YOU NEED OTHERS
3. MAKING THE EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND OTHERS
The tango is a very complicated dance and difficult to execute with precision. To be able to lead properly, you want to understand how it feels to be led. In the tango, you cannot lead without having the sense of the follower. The follower has to be able to trust the leader, and she must be able to move with him in time with the music. Only together can they accomplish the dance. That cooperation and understanding also applies equally to good leadership.
4. WANTING OTHERS TO SHINE MORE THAN YOU DO
The dancer who leads sets up the dancer who follows for success.
Maxwell explains, “Every day I look for opportunities to lift up people. To do it, I follow a simple formula:
• See the possibilities in all people,
• Honor them in front of others,
• Invite them to help achieve the vision,
• Notice what they do well and compliment them, and
• Thank them to make sure they know they’re valued.”
5. HELPING OTHERS TO BECOME BETTER EVERY DAY
Three questions followers ask of their leaders:
1. Do you care for me?
2. Can I trust you?
3. Can you help me?
As leaders, our question each day should not be, “Will I reap a harvest?” Instead, it should be, “Have I sowed seeds today?”
As leaders, we must stop wishing and start working. Instead of looking for the “secret sauce” of success, we must start sowing seeds of success.
Follow the motto: be the first to give or add value to another person when you can. When you add value to others—especially when you do it early and unprompted—you inspire others with your example. As leaders who add value to others, we should never keep score. We should sow seeds because it’s the right thing to do. That’s the only way to be sure our motives remain pure.
#2 THE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT SHIFT—GOALS TO GROWTH
Someone once said, “Improving yourself is the first step in improving everything else.”
Goals help you do better, but growth helps you become better. The growth experience gives a greater satisfaction than reaching individual goals.
Consider these three significant shifts in the way Maxwell approached becoming a better leader:
1. GROWTH OUTWARD TO GROWTH INWARD
2. GROWTH IN EVERYTHING TO GROWTH IN A FEW VITAL THINGS
Maxwell spent a year examining what made people successful and tried to discover what all of them had in common.
1. Attitude.
2. Ability to develop strong relationships.
3. Equipping people to carry on without the leader.
Then, Maxwell focused his growth on four key areas, which he turned into the acronym R-E-A-L: Relationships, Equipping, Attitude, and Leadership.
3. GROWTH WITH A TIMELINE VERSUS GROWTH WITHOUT A FINISH LINE
Growth’s highest reward is not what we get from it, but what we become by it.
People in the inner circle of Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, were pressing him to expand the organization. “We need to get bigger,” they kept telling him. Maxwell always loved Truett’s response: “If we get better, our customers will demand that we get bigger.” That’s how it is with personal growth. When you get better, it makes you bigger.
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
Olan Hendrix, CEO of the Leadership Resource Group, says, “Growth means change.”
2. ADOPT A TEACHABLE SPIRIT
Make growth your number-one priority. File what you learn. And pass what you learn on to others.
3. MAKE YOUR LOVE FOR LEARNING GREATER THAN YOUR FEAR OF FAILURE
Don’t count your losses. Instead, count the lessons you’ve learned from them. Maxwell wrote Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn to help people to learn from their losses. Even failure isn’t failure if you learn something from it.
4. DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER GROWING PEOPLE
As a leader, you want others, who are ahead of you with an affirming atmosphere.
Others are growing, people desire change, and growth is modeled and expected.
5. DEVELOP GREATER HUMILITY
“Humility is not denying your strengths,” said pastor and author Rick Warren. “Humility is being honest about your weaknesses.” The essence of humility is being unafraid to admit when we’re wrong.
6. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
The Law of the Mirror in Maxwell’s book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth states: “You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself.”
Benjamin Franklin said, “Empty the coins of your purse into your mind and your mind will fill your purse with coins.”
7. EMBRACE LAYERED LEARNING
#3 THE COST SHIFT—PERKS TO PRICE
The best motivation to lead others is what you can do for other people.
Maxwell explains that he made the shift from being focused on what he could receive as a leader (the perks) to what he could give as a leader (the price).
YOUR PRICE POINTS
1. REALITY—LEADERS RECOGNIZE THAT EVERYTHING WORTHWHILE IS UPHILL
Let me define the reality of your leadership potential: it’s uphill all the way. No one ever coasted to success. No successful person has ever experienced accidental achievements. Nothing of genuine value is easy, quick, and downhill.
What we won’t do will keep us from being successful a lot more than what we can’t do.
Early American missionary Adoniram Judson is rumored to have said, “There is no success without sacrifice. If you succeed without sacrifice it is because someone has suffered before you. If you sacrifice without success it is because someone will succeed after.”
Learn a lesson from Navy Vice Admiral James Stockdale. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins writes about Stockdale and what Collins calls the Stockdale Paradox. Here’s how Collins states the Stockdale Paradox: 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.
Management consultant and business visionary Peter Drucker said, “A time of turbulence is a dangerous time, but its greatest danger is the temptation to deny reality.” As leaders we can’t deny reality, nor should we try to sugarcoat it when communicating with our people.
2. EXAMPLE—LEADERS ACKNOWLEDGE THEY MUST CLIMB THE HILL FIRST
All people with leadership ability have one perspective in common: before and more. They see things before other people do, and they see more than other people do.
Great leaders take action. They move out front, staying ahead but within sight of their people, and they say “follow me.” The example of a good leader continually inspires people.
As radio broadcaster Paul Harvey said, “If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.”
As speaker and author Brian Tracey said, “Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you’ve done what you are expected to do.”
3. CONSISTENCY—LEADERS UNDERSTAND THEY NEVER GET TO STOP CLIMBING
Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose leadership experience included serving as both a general and the president of the United States, said, “There is no victory at bargain basement prices.”
Bill Bradley was a great basketball player who later became a US senator. In his memoir, he recounted his basketball mentor, Ed Macaulay, telling him, “If you’re not practicing, remember someone somewhere is practicing, and, given roughly equal ability, if you two ever meet, he will win.”
Author and speaker Michael Angier said, “If you develop the habits of success, you’ll make success a habit.”
#4 THE RELATIONAL SHIFT—PLEASING PEOPLE TO CHALLENGING PEOPLE
You cannot lead people if you need people.
During his early years, Maxwell notes that he might have defined leadership as, “Make people happy and they will follow you.” You can never make everyone happy.
To get the best out of people, leaders must ask for the best from people. You have to put doing what’s right for your people and organization ahead of what feels right for you. To make that shift, you need to do these seven things:
1. CHANGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS TOWARD LEADERSHIP
Think about things in a different order:
1. What’s best for the organization?
2. What’s best for other people within the organization?
3. What’s best for me?
2. VALUE PEOPLE AS MUCH AS YOU VALUE YOURSELF
To get the best out of people, you need to believe the best about people. Only then will you give them your best—and ask them to give you their best.
3. WORK TO ESTABLISH EXPECTATIONS UP FRONT
As a leader, you can either set expectations on the front end and set up the working relationships for success or leave expectations unstated and deal with disappointment on the back end for both you and the people you’re leading.
The Law of the Big Picture in The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork says, “The goal is more important than the role.”
Maxwell practices the 80-20 principle, giving 80 percent of his time to the 20 percent of the team that produces 80 percent of the results.
When Maxwell directly supervised a lot of staff, he used to tell them, “Never worry about how you are doing. I will let you know immediately if there’s a problem.” He doesn’t sit on issues. If he needs to have a tough conversation, he has it as soon as humanly possible.
4. ASK YOURSELF THE HARD QUESTIONS BEFORE ANY POTENTIALLY DIFFICULT CONVERSATION
5. WHEN A TOUGH CONVERSATION IS NEEDED, DO IT RIGHT
Remember why you are having the conversation. It’s because you care about the other person; you care enough to confront them. Your goal is to help that person.
People remember how they felt long after they have forgotten what you said.
6. UNDERSTAND THE 25-50-25 PRINCIPLE
Whenever you cast vision and challenge people to become part of achieving an endeavor, they tend to fall into one of three groups. Typically, 25 percent of the people will support your efforts, 50 percent will be undecided, and 25 percent will resist change. Your job is to help the middle 50 percent join the first 25 percent.
The resistant bottom 25 percent are not going to join you, no matter what you do. Try to keep the bottom 25 percent away from the 50 percent who have not yet made up their minds. As baseball manager Casey Stengel said, “The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate your guts away from the guys who haven’t made up their minds yet.”
7. BALANCE CARE WITH CANDOR
In his book 5 Levels of Leadership, Maxwell points out that the most difficult step for most leaders to take is from Level 2 to Level 3. Almost any likable person can develop relationships with people on Level 2, caring about them and connecting with them. But Level 3 is about production. Making the transition from getting people to like you to getting people to produce better results can be daunting. And reproducing yourself on Level 4 by investing in another person and helping him or her become a good leader is even more difficult.
#5 THE ABUNDANCE SHIFT—MAINTAINING TO CREATING
We all tend to fall into one of four different zones when it comes to innovation, which impacts how we live, how we lead, and what we achieve.
1. THE COASTING ZONE—“I do as little as possible.”
2. THE COMFORT ZONE—“I do what I have always done.”
3. THE CHALLENGE ZONE—“I attempt to do what I haven’t done before.”
4. THE CREATIVE ZONE—“I attempt to think what I have never thought before.”
Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Thomas Edison: “There ain’t no rules around here! We are tryin’ to accomplish some[thing]!” Most revolutionary ideas have been disruptive violations of set rules.
CREATIVE PRINCIPLES TO LEARN AND LIVE BY
1. BUILD A CREATIVE CULTURE
George S. Patton said, “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” What he was really talking about was allowing people to have enough autonomy to be creative.
Minimize hierarchy. In creative environments, decisions are made closest to the problems. General Stanley McChrystal said, “Any complex task is best approached by flattening hierarchies. It gets everybody feeling like they’re in the inner circle, so that they develop a sense of ownership.”
Author Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Any fool can make a rule and every fool will mind it.”
General Douglas MacArthur said, “You are remembered for the rules you break.”
2. MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER
We need to champion the idea expressed by poet James Russell Lowell, who said, “Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but making something out of it after it is found.”
3. MAKE PLANS BUT LOOK FOR OPTIONS
The first definition of planning that Maxwell ever learned was this: planning is predetermining tomorrow’s results today.
Maxwell taught leaders to PLAN AHEAD:
• Predetermine your course of action.
• Lay out your goals.
• Adjust your priorities.
• Notify key personnel.
• Allow time for acceptance.
• Head into action.
• Expect problems.
• Adjust your plan.
• Daily review your plans.
More than two thousand years ago, Publilius Syrus wrote, “It is a bad plan that admits of no modifications.”
Planning is essential for success. As the old Yogi Berra quote says, “You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you are going because you might not get there.”
NFL Football Coach Jeff Fisher said, “Discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do so you can do what you really want to.”
4. PLACE HIGH VALUE ON IDEAS
Look for ideas everywhere and glean them from everyone.
Maxwell explains, “Analyzing my failures has been a major help to me—maybe because I’ve experienced so many failures, flops, and fumbles.”
Great ideas are often nothing more than the restructuring of ideas that failed.
Stanley Weston, creator of the action figure G. I. Joe said, “Truly groundbreaking ideas are rare—but you don’t necessarily need one to make a career out of creativity. My definition of creativity is the logical combination of two or more existing elements that result in a new concept. The best way to make a living with your imagination is to develop innovative applications, not imagine completely new concepts.”
5. SEEK OUT AND LISTEN TO DIFFERENT VOICES
Maxwell is a firm believer in the T-E-A-M principle: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.
He wants others’ assessment and loves the word: assessment, which comes from the Latin assidere, which means “to sit beside.” Maxwell wants people willing to sit beside him, share their perspectives, give their insights, add their ideas to his, and make everyone better.
6. TAKE RISKS
7. LIVE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF “YES”
Recently Maxwell was casting vision to a large group of leaders, and Larry Stockstill said, “I don’t care what it is, ‘Yes.’” He explained, “I live on the other side of ‘yes.’ That’s where I find abundance and opportunity. It’s where I become a better and bigger self. The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity. So I try to say ‘yes’ whenever I can.”
Lori Greiner wrote, “Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist— While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of [water], I drank it!” Sincerely, The Opportunist
As Dr. Jonas Salk said, “The greatest reward for doing is the opportunity to do more.” The more successful you are, the more opportunities will be given to you.
Mother Teresa said, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
#6 THE REPUTATION SHIFT—LADDER CLIMBING TO LADDER BUILDING
After asking experienced communicators questions and listening to their responses, Maxwell recognized that he had focused totally on himself. The experience was more about him than the people he was there to help. His subject matter, stories, points, thoughts, delivery—were all for him. After he spoke, the questions he asked himself were:
• How did I do?
• Did they like me?
• Did they like what I said?
• Did they clap for me?
• Were they impressed by my talent?
• Do they admire me?
Instead, he recognized that he needed to focus on others and on adding value to them when he spoke. Leadership should always be about others. This leadershift is about changing from being a personal producer to an equipper of others. It’s a shift that takes your leadership math from addition to multiplication.
LADDER STAGES
1. LADDER CLIMBING—“HOW HIGH CAN I GO?”
Speaker Glen Turner once said, “The hardest challenge of getting to the top of the ladder was getting through the crowd at the bottom.”
2. LADDER HOLDING—“HOW HIGH WILL OTHERS GO WITH A LITTLE HELP?”
Kevin Myers, the leader of 12Stone Church and author of Home Run: God’s Plan for Life & Leadership, said, “Leaders should want far more for their people than from their people.”
When you show the people you work with that you are willing and able to serve, then they will be willing and able to serve.
Business magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said, “It marks a big step in your development when you come to realize that other people can help you do a better job than you could do alone.”
Chris Hodges said, “A dream is a compelling vision you see in your heart that is too big to accomplish without the help of others.”
3. LADDER EXTENDING—“HOW HIGH WILL OTHERS GO WITH A LOT OF HELP?”
Since the word mentor is both a verb, something you do, and a noun, something you are, a good mentor must exhibit ability in both areas. In the area of doing, this means they are productive. When it comes to being, good mentors possess strong character.
Why is maturity essential in a mentor’s life? Because we teach what we know, but we reproduce who we are. Humility and authenticity from both the ladder extender and the emerging leader create a strong foundation where growth is possible.
4. LADDER BUILDING—“CAN I HELP THEM BUILD THEIR OWN LADDER?”
Sam Chand has written several books that contain the word ladder in the title: Who’s Holding Your Ladder?, What’s Shaking Your Ladder?, and Who Moved Your Ladder? Sam’s license plate is LDDRMAN, and he was Maxwell’s inspiration for the title of this chapter.
As a leader, if you surround yourself with excellent people with high potential, there will be a time when you should allow them to build their own ladders.
QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE YOU MENTOR SOMEONE
Andy Stanley often says, “Do for one what you wish you could do for many.”
1. IS THIS PERSON HUNGRY TO LEARN?
Author Napoleon Hill said, “Strong, deeply rooted desire is the starting point of all achievement.”
Poet Rudyard Kipling said, “If you don’t get what you want it is either a sign that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price.”
2. WHAT IS THIS PERSON’S CAPACITY?
As David Salyers of Chick-fil-A said, “The mentor pours into the student knowing that as that person grows the return will be greater than the investment.”
3. ARE THIS PERSON’S VALUES COMPATIBLE WITH MINE?
4. IS THIS INDIVIDUAL A LEADER?
Good mentors distill truths from complexity and divide the information into bite-sized principles that others can apply. All good mentors can put life lessons into a nutshell that is transferable.
One of the most important things you can do for potential leaders is to help them see the big picture by teaching them the whys. This gives them context. It reveals to them the thinking and reasons behind your decisions. It teaches them decision-making.
#7 THE COMMUNICATION SHIFT—DIRECTING TO CONNECTING
Bobb Biehl found Maxell—who he was, where he was, where he had been, where he hoped to go—before he could lead Maxwell. According to Maxwell, that opened his eyes to a better way of leading, and the discovery became the foundation of his practice of connecting with others. From then on, he started working to find people by asking questions before trying to lead them.
MAKE THE LEADERSHIFT TO CONNECTING
Seven things are most important to a leader who wants to connect with others:
1. HUMILITY—LET PEOPLE KNOW YOU NEED THEM
Humility is essential in connecting with people. Good leaders are aware that they need other people, and they let them know that. There really is no downside. It keeps the leader’s ego in check, it connects the leader and the people on the team, it draws team members into the center, and it better enables them to fulfill the vision. So, if you want to be a connector, acknowledge your shortcomings and need for others, and be willing to ask for help.
2. CURIOSITY—ASK PEOPLE QUESTIONS
Bob Buford’s book Halftime had an important question for someone who is middle-aged, which Maxwell was at the time he first read the book more than twenty years ago. His question: “What kind of second half are you going to live?”
3. EFFORT—GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE
Oprah Winfrey said, “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you are willing to work.” If you care about people, you will be capable of coming up with ways to create connecting.
4. TRUSTWORTHINESS—BE SOMEONE OTHERS CAN COUNT ON
To remain trustworthy in the eyes of others, Maxwell works at being continually successful in three areas:
1. Integrity in my life
2. Consistency in my actions
3. Competence in my work
5. GENEROSITY—GIVE FIRST, GIVE CONTINUALLY
Albert Einstein said, “A person first starts to live when he can live outside of himself.”
Have you ever known a stingy person with a scarcity mind-set who was able to connect well with other people? They are too often self-driven and make decisions based on self-preservation.
Generosity makes you a better person, it helps you to become a better leader, and it paves the way for you to connect with other people.
6. LISTENING—OPEN THE BEST DOOR TO CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE
If you never listen, before long the people around you will stop talking to you, and you’ll become isolated as a leader. If you do listen, not only will they tell you things you need to know but they will also connect with you because they see that you care and that you value what they have to say.
7. ENCOURAGEMENT—GIVE PEOPLE OXYGEN FOR THEIR SOUL
Everyone in your life could use the encouragement that only you can give.
Changing from directing to connecting is one of the most valuable shifts you will ever make as a leader.
#8 THE IMPROVEMENT SHIFT—TEAM UNIFORMITY TO TEAM DIVERSITY
Our differences can make a positive difference.
A lifelong farmer taught Maxwell his greatest leadership lesson. Claude, an unassuming, ordinary middle-aged farmer from rural Indiana helped Maxwell learn that leadership isn’t position; it’s influence.
A large-church leader showed Maxwell how to go from shepherd to rancher. Jerry, the pastor of a large church, helped him understand how to equip people to become leaders, grow his small church, and think like a rancher who pioneers and builds, not just a shepherd who maintains a flock.
Diversity slowly marked Maxwell with this thought, “People different from me could make a positive difference in me.”
Here’s a definition of team in the Harvard Business Review: “A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.”
This is what Maxwell is discovering now:
1. DIVERSE TEAMS FILL IN THE KNOWLEDGE GAP
2. DIVERSE TEAMS FILL IN THE PERSPECTIVE GAP
3. DIVERSE TEAMS FILL IN THE EXPERIENCE GAP
Good leaders see diversity as one of the best ways to build a world-class team. When properly led, motivated, and unleashed, a diverse group of professionals can give your leadership team an uncommon advantage over your competitors.
Winston Churchill, who masterfully led the United Kingdom during the difficult years of World War II, brought political adversaries like Clement Attlee into his strategy meetings in the underground bunker in London.
Patrick Lencioni teaches that productive conflict has one purpose: “To produce the best possible solution in the shortest period of time.”
When different people with different experiences sharing different opinions all sit at the table with the same objective, you can produce extraordinary results.
Happy marriages are based less on compatibility and more on how they deal with incompatibility. Rather than allowing the relationship to get tied up in knots, they need to learn to loosen the knot a bit—to face and resolve conflict.
Most people spend time with others like themselves. That often isn’t out of prejudice. It’s just how people act. One study said 75 percent of white Americans don’t have any nonwhite friends, and 65 percent of African-Americans don’t have any white friends.
If you wait for connections with dissimilar people to happen on their own, they will never happen. You need to get out of your own natural “flock” and migrate to where other birds live and work. It will be uncomfortable, and anything uncomfortable or unusual must be done with high intentionality.
It will take you time to build a diversified team. On top of that, it will take time (and energy) to see the benefits of diversity. You’ll need to demonstrate patience as you start the “diversity dance,” where you take two steps forward and one step back.
The world is like a hand and all of the people its fingers. If you hate and destroy one group of people, you lose a finger, and the grasp of the world is less.
Here’s a poem by Saxon White Kessinger called “The Indispensable Man,” which expresses the arrogant:
Sometime when you’re feeling important; Sometime when your ego’s on bloom; Sometime when you take for granted, You’re the best qualified in the room. Sometime when you feel that you’re going Would leave an unfillable hole; Just follow this simple instruction, And see how it humbles your soul. Take a bucket and fill it with water, Put your hand in it up to the wrist; Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining, Is a measure of how you’ll be missed. You may splash all you please when you enter, You can stir up the water galore; But stop and you’ll find in a minute, That it looks quite the same as before. The moral in this quaint example Is to do just the best that you can; Be proud of yourself, but remember There’s no indispensable man!
One study called “The Radical Transformation of Diversity and Inclusion: The Millennial Influence” was published by Deloitte University. It said that baby boomers as well as Generation Xers see inclusion as a function of morality—the right thing to do. We would define it in terms of representation, or ensuring fair inclusion of “gender, race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation.” Baby boomers might not see practical value in diversity and inclusion; their focus would be on compliance, ethics, and equality. In contrast, millennials see diversity and inclusion as having intrinsic value. They allow voices to be heard that have a tangible and beneficial impact on business. The goal isn’t just bringing together people of different races, religions, and genders; instead, they want to bring together people with differences in background, personal experience, style, and perspective.
Smith and Turner suggested that good leadership supporting inclusion and diversity will help millennials to become fully engaged. Leaders can do that by providing “a collaborative environment in which employees can see the impact of their work, understand the value they bring to the organization, and are recognized for their efforts. Leaders believe in openness and transparency and demonstrate that a cognitively diverse team is better for business.”
HOW TO LEADERSHIFT TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
1. CREATE A CULTURE OF SHARING
This requires de-emphasizing titles, positions, and roles. It means inviting everyone to speak up.
2. BROADEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON DIVERSITY
In an article in Harvard Business Review, business psychology professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote, “Most discussions about diversity focus on demographic variables (e.g., gender, age, and race). However, the most interesting and influential aspects of diversity are psychological (e.g., personality, values, and abilities).” This is also the way millennials see it.
3. PROVIDE SOLID LEADERSHIP FOR DIVERSITY TO BE EFFECTIVE
Bringing together a diverse group of people isn’t easy. Maxwell notes, “I’m still on the journey when it comes to shifting from uniformity to diversity. Why? Because the way people think is still changing, and I have to change to become a better leader.”
To embrace diversity, we must celebrate our differences. But the way we get there is to look for common ground. In the end, we all want the same things: to be heard, to value one another, to work together, to be successful, and to make a difference. If we can connect where we’re similar and contribute using our differences, we can accomplish great things.
#9 THE INFLUENCE SHIFT—POSITIONAL AUTHORITY TO MORAL AUTHORITY
The Law of Influence notes, “The true measure of leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.” For more about it, see this post.
Maxwell’s definition of leadership for more than forty-five years has been: leadership is influence.
What is moral authority? It can be difficult to define. On his blog, Theodore Brown acknowledges that the term is used a lot, but he also states how difficult moral authority is to define. One example he gives is what he calls the John McCain effect, which he says is “the capacity to convince others of how the world should be.”
Here’s Maxwell’s definition:
Moral authority is the recognition of a person’s leadership influence based on who they are more than the position they hold. It is attained by authentic living that has built trust and it is sustained by successful leadership endeavors. It is earned by a lifetime of consistency.
Leaders can strive to earn moral authority by the way they live, but only others can grant them moral authority. Moral authority is truly the highest level of leadership influence, and many people recognize it. It comes from possessing good values. It adds value to others.
Andy Stanley in his book, Next Generation Leader, observes: “Your position will prompt people in your organization to lend you their hands. . . . But your moral authority will inspire them to lend you their hearts.”
THE PATHWAY TO MORAL AUTHORITY
1. COMPETENCE—THE ABILITY TO LEAD WELL
Competence is the core of moral authority.
Dale Carnegie said, “Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones tend to take care of themselves.”
Doing your work with devotion to excellence and the will to follow through will give you a positive reputation for competence.
2. COURAGE—MOVING FORWARD IN THE FACE OF FEAR
Leadership authority shrinks or expands with a person’s courage.
Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson is rumored to have said, “Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you [that] you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising, which tempt you to believe that your critics are right.”
Mary Anne Radmacher said, “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”
The prayer of the Special Olympics represents the mind-set we should embrace as leaders: “Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”
3. CONSISTENCY—DOING WELL ALL THE TIME, NOT JUST SOMETIMES
In his fantastic book Visioneering, Andy Stanley described the value of consistency related to moral authority. He wrote, “It is the alignment between a person’s convictions and his behavior that makes his life persuasive. Herein is the key to sustained influence. The phrase that best captures this dynamic is moral authority.”
Moral authority is the critical, non-negotiable, can’t-be-without ingredient of sustained influence. Without moral authority, your influence will be limited and short-lived. Moral authority is the credibility you earn by walking your talk.
Consistency establishes your reputation. Nearly anyone can be good once. Being good continually is difficult. Consistency, along with competence and courage, is vital to a leader’s ability to develop moral authority.
4. CHARACTER—BEING BIGGER ON THE INSIDE THAN THE OUTSIDE
Moral authority is a result of right intentions, right values, right beliefs, right actions, right relationships, and right responses. To have moral authority, our intentions must be right; the motives of the heart must be good.
Maxwell defines integrity two ways. First, it’s the alignment of your values and actions. The second considers decision-making. Leaders of integrity do the right thing, even when it’s hard, even when it’s not best for them personally. They put the team, the organization, and the vision ahead of themselves.
Author and spiritual leader Mark Batterson said, “Authenticity is the new authority in leadership.”
Humility is making the everyday choice to credit God for my blessings and to credit others for my successes.
The final character quality to embrace as a leader in order to have moral authority is love. You must care about people.
The John Maxwell Team’s motto is, “People of Value, Who Value People.” Maxwell wants his coaches to have resources and expertise to offer, and he wants them to value others so that their character and attitude are right when working with people. They need to love people and care about them enough to help them.
#10 THE IMPACT SHIFT—TRAINED LEADERS TO TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS
If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a transformational leader.
If you desire to make the impact shift from trained leader to transformational leader, start by taking these five actions:
1. POSSESS A CLEAR PICTURE OF WHAT TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS DO
Transformational leaders see things differently. They ask, “Why not?” because they’re always thinking about trying to create a better future. They see more than others see. How we view things determines how we do things.
Dave Ramsey said, “Organizations are not limited by their opportunity; they are limited by their leader.”
President John F. Kennedy said he believed that everyone had a change-the-world speech in them.
Abraham Lincoln said, “I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn’t have the heart to let them down.” Transformational leaders are belief-makers who help people to believe in themselves.
Peter Marshall said, “A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.”
Paul Martinelli, president of the John Maxwell Team, said, “When the light goes on in your life, you want to turn everyone else’s light on.”
2. FOCUS ON YOUR OWN TRANSFORMATION BEFORE LEADING OTHERS TO IT
Here’s a five-step process that works no matter what task you’re trying to equip another person to do:
1. I do it.
2. I do it, and you are with me.
3. You do it, and I am with you.
4. You do it.
5. You do it, and someone is with you.
The process begins with “I do it.” If you want to help others be transformational, you must first be transformed.
Philosopher and author James Allen wrote, “Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.”
3. TAKE POSITIVE ACTION BASED ON YOUR INTERNAL CHANGES
Transformation is a result of application, not education. That’s why Gandhi said, “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”
4. CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PROMOTES POSITIVE CHANGE
Jim Collins said, “Transformational movements require transformational leaders.”
Too often, training that begins in our heads stays in our heads. We learn something new, but we don’t apply it to our lives or put it into practice.
EQUIP and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation, the two nonprofit organizations founded by Maxwell, use roundtables in small groups to facilitate change. He found that groups of four to ten can create the perfect environment for people to develop relationships, get to know themselves and others, and experience growth.
5. COMMIT TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH OTHERS IN YOUR COMMUNITY
Civil rights leader Walter E. Fauntroy gave an inspiring speech at Howard University, saying:
The past is yours. Learn from it. The future is yours. Fulfill it. Knowledge is yours. Use it. Cancer is yours. Cure it. Racism is yours. End it. Injustice is yours. Correct it. Sickness is yours. Heal it. Ignorance is yours. Banish it. War is yours. Stop it. Hope is yours. Confirm it. America is yours. Save it. The world is yours. Serve it. The dream is yours. Claim it. Don’t be blinded by prejudice, disheartened by the times, or discouraged by the system. Face the system. Challenge it. Change it. Confront it. Correct it. Don’t let anything paralyze your mind, tie your hands, or defeat your spirit. Take the world—not to dominate it, but to deliver it. Not to exploit it, but to enrich it—take your dream and inherit the earth.
#11 THE PASSION SHIFT—CAREER TO CALLING
Someone once said, “Some wake up to an alarm. Some wake up to a calling.”
How do you currently think about what you do for a living? Yale professor Amy Wrzesniewski has done research with employees in the workplace and observed that people tend to fall into three groups.
1. YOU DO A JOB
When you have a job, your main goal is often to earn a living and support your family. It’s been said that if you choose a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life.
2. YOU BUILD A CAREER
When you have a career, the implication is that you are headed in a direction. You’re making progress attaining positive achievements.
3. YOU FULFILL YOUR CALLING
Your calling, when you find and embrace it, will result in the merging of your skills, talents, character traits, and experiences. It will make use of your experience, your gifts, and the lessons you’ve learned.
Finding your calling is like finding your why—the reason you exist, your purpose for living. Everyone has the potential to find and fulfill his or her purpose. Everyone has the ability to be called.
As Aristotle said, “Where our talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies our vocation.”
For all Christians there is a general calling meant for everyone. Jesus said, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors on this earth…”
Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. Christ followers are in this world to be salt and light. Salt makes things better. Light makes things brighter. The wallpaper on Maxwell’s iPhone has a picture of a salt shaker and a light bulb with the words “Be These” to remind him every day to try to make the world better and brighter.
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A CALLING
1. YOUR CALLING MATCHES WHO YOU ARE
Calling always matches who you are. For that reason, it’s important for you to be self-aware as you stay attentive to finding your calling. If you could do one thing for the rest of your life, even if you never got paid for it, what would you do?
2. YOUR CALLING TAPS INTO YOUR PASSION
Passion is a great driver toward calling.
3. YOUR CALLING IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, BUT IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU
As Nelson Mandela said, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
Significance means:
• giving beyond yourself,
• serving beyond yourself,
• thinking beyond yourself,
• loving beyond yourself, and
• seeing beyond yourself.
What do all these things have in common? They require you to live beyond yourself.
4. YOUR CALLING IS BIGGER THAN YOU
5. YOUR CALLING CHANGES YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Having a calling makes you see your world differently. Where you once saw only obligations and responsibilities, you will begin to see options and opportunities.
6. YOUR CALLING GIVES YOU PURPOSE
Author Seth Godin said, “Instead of wondering what your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
7. YOUR CALLING HELPS YOU TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES
Dave Ramsey said, “Higher calling matters. When you care so deeply about the why—why you’re doing what you’re doing—then and only then are you operating in a way that allows you to overcome the obstacles.”
8. YOUR CALLING BRINGS FULFILLMENT
Calling changes everything. It’s the missing piece in the puzzle.
FINDING YOUR CALLING
When Maxwell was in college, a professor asked three questions to help find the pathway for life:
1. What do I sing about? What fills my heart?
2. What do I cry about? What breaks my heart?
3. What do I dream about? What lifts my heart?
Calling is discovered through observation and reflection, through self-discovery and the unfolding of your life. Another way to say it is that ego drives you. Calling draws you.
HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR CALLING
1. INTEGRATE A DAILY FOCUS WITH A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE
Maxwell explains, “In terms of faith, the clock helps me to remember that I have a contribution to make. The Bible verse that speaks to me on this is 1 Corinthians 12:7, which says, ‘Each person is given something to do that shows who God is. Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.’ The compass reminds me that I have a destiny to fulfill. The verse that speaks to me on this is Psalm 139:16, which says, ‘Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.’ In terms of my calling, I have a legacy to leave that relates to leadership. The verse that speaks to this is 2 Timothy 2:2: ‘Pass on what you heard from me . . . to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others.’”
2. SET A CLEAR PATH IN A WORTHWHILE DIRECTION
When you die, if people were to describe your life in a single sentence, what would you want it to be?
3. ASK OTHERS TO JOIN WITH YOU AND YOUR CALLING
Martin Luther King, Jr. preached this on the evening of April 3, 1968. The next day, Dr. King was assassinated. Yet his influence on the world had just begun.