Authors and writers over the years have always tried to define various words and their meanings. Their attempts and research help us understand these words better. For many years many authors have tried to define the word leadership and the complex meaning it carries. Leadership as a word is quite hard to define because it has a lot of things attached to it. But many authors were successful to define the word leadership, and even gave insight on how you could develop it. Let’s know some Leadership Quotes by John Maxwell.
One such author whose work has been quite well-known is John Maxwell. He is an author with a passion for writing that mostly focuses on leadership and related topics and issues. Till today, he has written a lot of books on leadership and his books have valuable lessons. He is often known as one of the world’s top leadership thinkers due to his wide collection of books, all directed towards the topic of leadership.
John Maxwell
John Maxwell is a renowned author and speaker, famous for his books related to leadership and power. He is an American author and is New York’s best-selling author of all time. He was born on 20th February 1947 in Michigan, United States. Furthermore, his early years of life were greatly influenced by the concept of leadership. His books on leadership have been New York’s bestsellers and have sold a total of 18 million copies.
He saw his very first example of leadership when he started observing his father. He recalls that his father was a great leader as he was the sole person who led their family by taking care of the children, providing them food; water; shelter, clothes, etc., and taking care of his mother. Likewise, he became aware of his father’s leadership qualities by observing his behaviors towards his family members. Not only that, but he was very empathetic with everyone and helped each member to excel in their way. This is an important quality every leader has.
After this observation, he decided to work in the field of leadership to give a helping hand to all other emerging leaders who are struggling to stand out. He even described in one of his interviews that he gets immense joy to share with others and help them on their journeys.
John Maxwell’s Definition of Leadership
John Maxwell grew up in an environment where he saw a lot of successful and courageous people who were excellent leaders. According to him, leadership means a type of influence that you can have on others with the help of your ideas and thoughts. It’s all about how you influence others to become their successful self. He often believes leadership is a quality that is important to help others first. He wants leaders to influence others positively by sharing their own stories of how they got included by something. Likewise, he even talked about how important a positive attitude is, and how it can help you become a better leader.
Leadership Quotes by John Maxwell
- “Leadership isn’t all about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about influencing others through your skills.” – John Maxwell.
The quote again talks about influence and how it can help you become a great leader. This quote highlights the fact that influencing others is the greatest form of leadership. Maxwell in the quote talks about how leading a group because you are the boss, or you have a higher position, rank in the organization, or just because you did your homework isn’t considered true leadership. A true leader is born from within. He has an inner voice that forces him to look after others and help others grow and become the best version of themselves by influencing them positively.
- “A great leader looks forward to fulfilling his vision from passion, not position.” John Maxwell.
A leader’s passion is to lead and help others. A true leader never fails to remember his vision. They carry their vision and passion everywhere. Maxwell over here wants the readers to understand that it’s not the position that creates a true leader, but it’s the passion within them that creates a true leader. Your boss may seem like a leader, but it’s the position that forces him/ her to act in that particular way. A real leader is someone who wants to help others by giving in certain suggestions even though he doesn’t have a position. His/ her inner zeal will force him to lead the crowd.
It’s not the leader’s position but the passion that will make him fulfill his vision. This vision is different for everyone but the passion to fulfill it anyhow shows who’s a real leader is
- “A leader is someone who knows the way, walks through the way, and describes the way.” John C. Maxwell
According to Maxwell, a leader is someone who knows it all. As a leader, you need to have experience and knowledge to help others and yourself in times of distress. A leader needs to come up with new ideas and ways to solve a particular problem that is quite new for the group. They should know how to think critically and have good problem-solving skills. A real leader also knows how to approach the problem and make things work. He/ she has the idea of overcoming stressful situations and helping others overcome them. He will use the path and help his group members with the same.
- “A successful person works in a self-centered manner. But a successful leader works for others to help them reach success.” John Maxwell
A leader is someone who doesn’t think about oneself but focuses on the group. For him,/ her success is equal to group success and not personal success. A successful person will often follow a path that’s best for him/ her and even force his group members to do the same. For example – In a business setting, a person asks his friends, family to buy a particular stock that he has held. This will increase his profits in the short run until the stock dips again. This is a form of self-centered behavior that is egoistic. However, a leader wouldn’t suggest his friends and family buy a stock just because he/ she is holding it. Instead, he/ she would suggest other options depending on the money they have to make a better decision for everyone. This type of behavior focuses on helping others.
- “Real leadership is having the ability to persuade others and attract people who will willingly follow you.” John C. Maxwell
John Maxwell describes real leadership as an ability to persuade others and influence them to follow you. You should always have a trustworthy quality within you to attract the group members. Whenever the group members trust you, they will confidently follow you. You should have certain qualities within you which will help you influence the group members. This will attract them towards you. You become a real leader when people have confidence in you and trust you for your work.
- “If you don’t believe in yourself and do not follow yourself then why should others follow you ?” John C. Maxwell
This quote by Maxwell talks about being there for oneself and helping oneself before trying to influence others. You should trust and follow yourself then only you can expect someone else to follow you and trust you. The quote highlights the importance of self-love, self-belief, and self-efficacy and how having belief in oneself is important to become a true leader. When you start following yourself and making your preference important, that’s when someone else will trust you and follow you.
- “Managers deal with the companies and work because they have a position while leaders work to help others .” John C. Maxwell
Maxwell in this quote talks about the real difference between someone who is in a position and a leader. Here he talks about the manager and how their work mostly depends on giving orders and following orders. While a true leader is someone who doesn’t focus on position and giving orders instead they work helping other people and working with them to reach their goals. As a leader, position or power doesn’t matter the most, instead what matters the most is how others can get benefitted from them.
- “Everything in a group setting either builds or collapses based on leadership.” John C. Maxwell
In this quote, Maxwell wants to make it clear to everyone that leadership is the most important thing that you need to have and it has the power to make and break things. Leadership includes a lot of qualities like communication, listening, empathy, management, emotional intelligence, etc. You should use these skills appropriately when dealing with others to keep up trust and influence them. So when you take up leadership you should know how to keep up a connection. Leadership is the grounds on which a goal is achieved and thus how you lead decides if you will be able to teach your goal or not.
- “People first trust the leader and then fall for the vision the leader aspires for.” John C. Maxwell
In this quote, Maxwell wants to teach leaders about how people first trust the leader and then trust their vision. As we know human beings are social beings and need a connection to strive, thus a person would only be levied in your vision when he/ she starts believing in you. People often tend to attribute good things to good people and thus when they start trusting you enough they start attracting to your vision and goals and work with you with your vision as well.
- “As a leader you need to focus on oneself, gain control over oneself and then try to change oneself.” John C. Maxwell
In the quote, Maxwell teaches about the way you have the power to control your own life and change it accordingly. If you dream of leading a team you should first be able to lead yourself. You need to take accountability for your own life and lead your life first to lead others’ lives successfully. When you start listening to yourself you get a chance to change yourself. It helps in upgrading your skills and behavior. When you start making changes in yourself you get a chance to help others change, for the better.
- “The greatest task a leader can do is take full responsibility for their actions and consequences..” John C. Maxwell
In the quote, Maxwell describes taking responsibility for your own life and letting anyone control you. A leader will never try to control you, he /she would only look towards attracting. A good leader is someone who knows how they behave and how their behavior impacts others.
John Maxwell and his Books
John Maxwell has written a lot of books on leadership and related concepts. He was influenced by his father’s leadership skills. His books love to address the various parts of leadership and how you can develop it in your life. Here is a list of books written by John Maxwell that are related to leadership.
- Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell
The book addresses the various types of leadership and how you can learn the art of leadership. The book teaches various principles and skills that you need to become a successful leader. It’s a must-read for all leaders out there.
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell
This is one of the best-selling books related to leadership and you should give it a try. It focuses on how leadership starts with influence. The book has a concept called the law of influence which leaders can benefit from.
- The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximise Your Potential by John Maxwell
The book talks about the five levels of leadership which will help you become a successful leader and maximize your potential. The very first level of leadership is getting chosen for a position. It’s a great book for people who work in an executing position.
Conclusion
John Maxwell throughout his career has been able to influence a lot of people in the field of leadership and related concepts. If you aspire to become a successful leader his books are a great choice to make you stand out.
