Jumpstart Your Leadership
by John Maxwell
– Every leader has potential to improve.
– Every leader must prove himself with little before he’s given much. When you do that, you gain leadership, not just position.
– Leadership is much more about who you are then it is about what you do.
– Good leaders know who they are, their strengths and their weaknesses.
– Integrity is the core of leadership. Knowing your values and living by them will make you a better leader.
– It’s not what you do every once in a while but what you do day by day that makes the difference.
– Become the kind of leader that people will follow voluntarily, a leader with or without a position.
– Leadership is action, not position. It is taking people somewhere.
– Leadership is about working with people, so always work on improving your people skills.
– Nearly everyone can handle adversity, but if you want to test someone, give them power.
– Abraham Lincoln – Just because you have the right to do something as a leader does not mean you should do it.
– People quit people; not companies or organizations.
– Leadership is the capability of turning vision into reality.
– Leaders are initiators.
– If you want to change the world, first start with yourself.
– A title or position is not the goal for a leader, it is just the beginning on their leadership journey.
– A leader realizes that he must develop people because people are the ones who get things done, not rules, play books or machines.
– A good leader understands that he does not know everything, but he can put people around him that you understand every situation.
– Good leaders are accessible to others.
– You could lead people without caring for them but you cannot care for people without effectively leading them.
– You have to decide if you want to help people or make people happy. But realize that you can never please everyone, so if you’re going to help them, it will not be by always making them happy.
– Remember that if you step on people’s fingers on the way climbing up, they may trip you on your way back down — treat people with respect.
– People have to be able to trust you if they’re going to work with you.
– Liking and caring about people are essential to leading people, it is your choice to like and care for them. Find something good and positive about every person.
– Leaders who build people understand that problems are a part of progress.
– The first person that you must always examine in leadership is yourself.
– Listen, learn and then lead. Don’t go the opposite way around.
– To be a good leader knowing what to do is not enough.
– Do you know what the people you are leading want to accomplish? It is hard to relate to others if you do not know what their goals and ambitions are.
– A leader can avoid crossing over the line from motivation to manipulation by simply practicing the golden rule — do unto others as you want them to do to you.
– Kind words can be short and sweet, but their echoes will go on for many years.
– As a leader, you have great opportunities to lift up and encourage others, so use those opportunities.
– If you become the chief encourager of your organization, people will work hard to live up to your expectations.
– As a leader it is your responsibility to help those that are doing poorly to do better and those that are doing good to do their best.
– Care plus candor is what is needed to help others. Never try to correct or instruct someone without having their best interest in mind.
– A leader has to have an open door policy if he is going to help people.
– If you’re going to be open and blunt with other people, you have to be willing for them to be open and blunt with you at times.
– You can dream up anything in the world, but it takes people to make it a reality.
– Instead of worrying if people will buy into your vision, you should worry about people buying into you.
– A leader takes people where they want to go, but a great leader will take people where they need to go although don’t necessarily want to go.
– Good leaders take people where they want to go instead of just showing them the way — they are more like tour guides instead of travel agents.
– Having talented players on your team is good, but it does not mean that you will win. People have to learn to get along and play as a team.
– Success is an uphill journey.
– If you’re going to be a leader, one of the key elements is that you have to learn to make difficult decisions.
– Learn to give away credit to as many people as you can.
– Good leaders don’t ever take anything for granted, they explain instead of assume.
– To be a great leader, you must not only get things done, but the right things done.
– As a leader you must not only find your own strengths, but help others find their strengths as well.
– Progress requires change, and very few people like change.
– People resist that which is forced upon them, but they accept that which they helped create.
– Good leaders keep pushing, they don’t just gain momentum and then sit back and coast.
– Leaders know that it is their responsibility to create more leaders, not more followers.
– Great leaders develop the people under and around them.
– Commit to making others better. Companies and organizations get better when the people that work in them get better.
– Model with integrity.