Tag Archives: character

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2018 Leadership Summit – 21 Leadership Quotes from John Maxwell

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Every year, my team and I attend the leadership summit. This year, there is a shadow hanging over the summit as I outlined here, but I’m still trusting that it will have some incredibly helpful content, just like in past years. To capture what I’m learning and to help you grow as a leader, I always share my notes from each session, so be sure to check back after each session and bookmark them for future use.

The final session of the first day featured a talk from one of my favorite speakers, John Maxwell. His book on leadership was the first book I ever read as a leader at 18 and thought, I can do this. He outlined how to maximize your impact as a high-character leader in our world today. It was fun having my two oldest kids in this session with me and have some excellent discussions.

The following are some takeaways:

  1. All leaders see more than others see and before others see.
  2. If you can see the bigger picture, you are the leader, but now you have to see before others see.
  3. The key to leadership is starting first.
  4. Leaders have to ask how I do increase my more and before?
  5. Know that there is more “more and before” out there (think abundance). 
  6. Creativity and flexibility are crucial in leadership today.
  7. Creative people believe there is always an answer.
  8. Flexibility says there’s usually more than one answer.
  9. Develop a process for finding more “more and more before.”
  10. The way you find more is to test.
  11. Test -> Fail -> Learn -> Improve.
  12. When you know what you want for your future, your mind will begin to think things that will help you get what you need; your heart will feel things that you need, your attitude will help you to believe.
  13. Put yourself in places with people who will inspire you to see more “more and more before.”
  14. Get people out of your life that drag you down.
  15. Be around people who inspire you.
  16. Intentionally grow every day so you will have the capacity for more “more and more before.”
  17. The only way to guarantee that tomorrow will be better is that you grow.
  18. If you’re still excited about what you did 5 years ago, you aren’t growing.
  19. Always have a vision gap that requires you to need more “more and more before.”
  20. You will fill the vision gap by asking God to send you the right people.
  21. You will fill the vision gap by asking God to do for you what you cannot do for yourself.
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5 Steps to Wrecking Your Life

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your life

On Sunday, I talked about the reality that everyone, man or woman, married, divorced or single, is always one choice away from wrecking their life. If you missed it, you can listen to it here.

The question I always wrestle with is, “How?” How is it possible for so many professional athletes to throw it all away to take PED’s? Why do so many people sleep with someone they aren’t married to and lose their marriage? Why do people gamble with their finances and go into debt in hopes of finding the quick fix? Why do people gamble or look at porn while at work and lose their jobs? The list goes on and on.

In his helpful book Impact: Great Leadership Changes Everything by Tim Irwin, he says there are 5 steps to wrecking your life, or as he would say derailing your life. They are:

  1. Lack of self-awareness. This comes when a person doesn’t know what could bring them down. They don’t know what their weaknesses are. Is it money, greed, power, sex, lust, a bigger house or car? What are they willing to trade their marriage, reputation, kids or future in for? If you don’t know that, you will be brought down.
  2. Arrogance or misguided confidence. This is when a person sees someone wreck their life and says, “That could never happen to me.” This is when a person sins once and says, “I already did it once, what is one more time?” They have supreme confidence they can stop whenever or take back control whenever they choose. Or, that it won’t destroy their life.
  3. Missed warning signals. This might be close calls in getting caught, being late to work for staying up too late, conviction from the Holy Spirit that you push away or even evidence that you might get caught.
  4. Rationalization. This is when you start to say things like, “I deserve this.” Or, “This is my only vice.” Or, you blame someone else for your situation. “If my spouse was more attentive.” Or, “If I had a little more money we could get ahead.” Or, “My kids will understand when their older why I had to work like I did.”
  5. Derailment. Eventually, with enough time, enough rationalizations, you hit the wall and derail your life.

The problem is that no one knows when derailment will hit. Some people get away with something for years.

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10 Lies Leaders Love

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book

This is from Tim Irwin’s new book Impact: Great Leadership Changes Everything. It is a list of the lies leaders believe that drive self-deception in their lives and often lead to not reaching their potential or falling completely out of the leadership game because of moral failure. They are lies leaders tell themselves to allow them to act in ways they shouldn’t. Sadly, I have believed these at different times and have seen countless pastors fall prey to them.

  1. I’m the smartest person in the room. I have better ideas and better judgement than anyone on the team.
  2. I’m responsible for these results. They could not have done this without me. I did this. 
  3. Everyone is out to get me because they are envious. I am so good, and they can’t stand it. They know I’m on the fast track and are going to try to get me off track.
  4. These people work for me. They have to deliver to my standards. I need them to focus on helping me.
  5. I don’t have to follow normal rules…I deserve special consideration. I have a big job and need to ignore some rules to get my goals accomplished.
  6. I’m entitled to that. I worked hard and made this place what it is. This place was a wreck before I took over. Through my leadership we are finally making some money.
  7. It’s not material. This is a rounding error. No one would begrudge me for taking this.
  8. No one will ever know. We can fudge these numbers a little. Next quarter should be spectacular, and we can restate this quarter’s earnings.
  9. It’s not my fault. I did everything I was supposed to do. Those other guys dropped the ball.
  10. I don’t need to be accountable to anyone. Nobody here really understands what I’m trying to do. It’s only results that the board is after, and I can get those if the rest of the team would get out of my way.

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