Top 100 John Maxwell Leadership Quotes
#2. Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, 'I'll get a bigger job, then I'll learn how to be a leader.' But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn't a position, it's a process.
John C. Maxwell
#4. Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.
John C. Maxwell
#5. The better you are at surrounding yourself with people of high potential, the greater your chance for success.
John C. Maxwell
#6. My leadership began to take flight when I allowed myself to press people to change-whether they thanked me or cursed me.
John C. Maxwell
#7. What I had been taught all my life was not true: experience is not the best teacher! Some people learn and grow as a result of their experience; some people don't. Everybody has some kind of experience. It's what you do with that experience that matters.
John C. Maxwell
#8. Our days are like identical suitcases. Even though they are all the same size, some people are able to pack more into them then others. The reason? They know what to pack.
John C. Maxwell
#9. The leader continually passes on the vision to those who come around, knowing that dreams, if presented right, are contagious.
John C. Maxwell
#10. 2. God commanded both male and female to have dominion (v. 27). Both men and women have been given the ability and authority to lead. Leadership is not gender specific.
John C. Maxwell
#11. A leader who develops people adds; a leader who develops leaders multiplies.
John C. Maxwell
#12. When people respect someone as a person, they admire her. When they respect her as a friend, they love her. When they respect her as a leader, they follow her.
John C. Maxwell
#13. As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you.
John C. Maxwell
#14. The best leaders are humble enough to realise their victories depend upon their people.
John C. Maxwell
#15. Those closest to me will determine the level of my success.
John C. Maxwell
#16. Leaders create and inspire new leaders by instilling faith in their leadership abilities and helping them develop and hone leadership skills they don't know they possess.
John C. Maxwell
#17. A sense of responsibility is the clearest indication of mature leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#18. Leaders have two characteristics: first they are going somewhere, and second they are able to persuade other people to go with them.
John C. Maxwell
#19. Talented performers flock to the best and brightest leaders, and these leaders in turn lift the lids off their people and uncork the latent talent inside of them.
John C. Maxwell
#20. Coming together is a beginning, and staying together is progress, but only when teams sweat together do they find success.
John C. Maxwell
#21. Leadership development is a lifetime journey, not a quick trip.
John C. Maxwell
#22. Leadership isn't about winning. It's about bringing people with you to the finish line.
John C. Maxwell
#23. Tend to the people, and they will tend to the business.
John C. Maxwell
#25. We cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves.
John C. Maxwell
#26. Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.
John C. Maxwell
#27. Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.
John C. Maxwell
#28. Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.
John C. Maxwell
#29. The great leaders in history were great not because of what they owned or earned but because of what they gave their lives to accomplish. They made a difference!
John C. Maxwell
#30. Thank God for the tough times. They are the reason you are there - to be the leader. If everything was going well, the people wouldn't need you!
John C. Maxwell
#31. Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.
John C. Maxwell
#32. It's lonely at the top, so you better know why you are there.
John C. Maxwell
#34. He that thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.
John C. Maxwell
#35. Without leadership ability,a person's impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#36. As a leader, you have to take responsibility for your own failures as well as successes. That's the only way you'll learn.
If you keep learning, you'll improve.
If you improve, your leadership will get better.
And in time, you will earn the right to lead on the level you deserve.
John C. Maxwell
#37. The best way to lose an enemy is to treat him like a friend.
John Maxwell
#38. As you start your day, are you wondering what you will reap, or are you wondering what you will sow?
John C. Maxwell
#40. How to prepare someone for leadership:
I do it.
I do it and you watch.
You do it and I watch.
You do it.
You do it and someone else watches.
John C. Maxwell
#42. Leaders who practice the Law of Victory believe that anything less than success is unacceptable. And they have no Plan B.
John C. Maxwell
#43. The more intentional you are about your leadership growth, the greater your potential for becoming the leader you're capable of being. Never stop learning.
John C. Maxwell
#44. People's purpose in life is always connected to their giftedness.
John C. Maxwell
#45. If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.
John C. Maxwell
#46. The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader. After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is the ultimate test of leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#47. Teams make you better than you are, multiply your value, enable you to do what you do best, allow you to help others do their best, give you more time, provide you with companionship, help you fulfill the desires of your heart and compound your vision and effort.
John C. Maxwell
#49. Don't buy into the notion that mistakes can somehow be avoided. They can't be.
John C. Maxwell
#50. Leadership involves the heavy burden of responsibility, and the fear of getting it wrong can paralyze a leader.
John C. Maxwell
#51. Character makes trust possible, and trust is the foundation of leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#52. The more credible you are, the more confidence people place in you, thereby allowing you the privilege of influencing their lives.
John C. Maxwell
#53. The best leaders realize their success depends on their people.
John C. Maxwell
#54. No matter where you are in your leadership journey, never forget that what got you to where you are won't get you to the next level.
John C. Maxwell
#55. Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.
John C. Maxwell
#57. If you want to be positive, upbeat, and passionate, you need to take responsibility for being that way.
John C. Maxwell
#58. Real leadership is not seeking the applause from followers; real leadership is applauding the followers who become leaders.
Onyi Anyado
#59. You are the only person who can label what you do a failure. Failure is subjective.
John C. Maxwell
#61. 42% of college graduates never read a book after college.
John C. Maxwell
#62. I vividly remember a conversation I had many years ago in 1974, which marked a turning point in my leadership journey. I was sitting at a Holiday Inn with my friend, Kurt Campmeyer, when he asked me if I had a personal growth plan. I didn't. In fact, I didn't even know you were supposed to have one.
John C. Maxwell
#63. Personnel determines the potential of the team. Vision determines the direction of the team. Work ethic determines the preparation of the team. Leadership determines the success of the team.
John C. Maxwell
#64. Inability to make decisions is one of the principal reasons executives fail. Deficiency in decision-making ranks much higher than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how as an indicator of leadership failure.
John C. Maxwell
#66. Confront your inadequacies and push your personal boundaries: It's the surest way to grow, improve and expand the scope of your influence.
John C. Maxwell
#67. Perhaps our greatest power in life is the power to choose. Without question, choices are the most determining factor in how our lives turn out.
John C. Maxwell
#68. Relational skills are the most important abilities in leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#69. Personal and organizational effectiveness is proportionate to the strength of leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#71. Leadership is more disposition than position - influence others from wherever you are.
John C. Maxwell
#72. Transmit your vision emotionally by gaining credibility, demonstrating passion, establishing relationships and communicating a felt need. Transmit it logically by confronting reality, formulating strategy, accepting responsibility, celebrating victory and learning from defeat.
John C. Maxwell
#73. In my experience, followers always ask leaders 3 questions: 1) Do you care 4 me? 2) Can you help me? 3) Can I trust you?
John C. Maxwell
#74. Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily.
John C. Maxwell
#75. Successful people do what is right no matter how they feel, and by doing right, they feel good.
John C. Maxwell
#76. Your leadership skills determine the level of your success, and the success of those who work around you.
John C. Maxwell
#77. Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.
John C. Maxwell
#78. Values hold the team together, provide stability for the team to grow upon, measure the team's performance, give direction and guidance and attract like-minded people.
John C. Maxwell
#79. While personal maturity may mean being able to see beyond yourself, leadership maturity means considering others before yourself.
John C. Maxwell
#80. Leadership has less to do with position than it does with disposition.
John C. Maxwell
#81. Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team.
John C. Maxwell
#82. Above all, don't dwell on yesterday's victory. If your focus is on what's behind you rather than what's ahead, you will crash.
John C. Maxwell
#83. If you can raise up leaders, you will always have followers, but if you can't raise up leaders, you will only have followers.
John C. Maxwell
#84. The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader and then the dream.
John C. Maxwell
#85. Great communication depends on two simple skills-context, which attunes a leader to the same frequency as his or her audience, and delivery, which allows a leader to phrase messages in a language the audience can understand.
John C. Maxwell
#86. People will summarize your life in one sentence - Pick it now.
John C. Maxwell
#87. But the law of magnetism really is true: who you are is who you attract.
John C. Maxwell
#88. Too often when people think of their journey into leadership, they envision a career path. What they should be thinking about is their own leadership development!
John C. Maxwell
#90. If you are in a leadership position, do not rely on your title to convince people to follow you. Build relationships. Win people over. Do that and you will never be a lonely leader.
John C. Maxwell
#91. Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. How do you gain influence from people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.
John C. Maxwell
#92. When leaders learn and live good values, they make themselves more valuable and lift the value of other people. That is the foundation of positive leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#93. The real leader holds the power, not just the position.
John C. Maxwell
#94. Knowing how to do a job is the accomplishment of labor - showing others is the accomplishment of the teacher - making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of the manager - inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of the leader.
John C. Maxwell
#95. Leadership ability determines a person's level of effectiveness.
John C. Maxwell
#96. Leadership is influence. It is the ability to obtain followers. When the leader lacks confidence, the followers have no commitment. A leader is great not because of his power, but because of his ability to empower others.
John C. Maxwell
#97. While everyone exercises influence, the size and strength of our influence depends upon our effort. No one leads well without paying the price of discipline. As we push ourselves to grow and to learn, we enlarge our sphere of influence.
John C. Maxwell
#98. Seek advice, but make sure it's from someone who has successfully handled mistakes or adversities.
John C. Maxwell
#99. To succeed in life, we must stay within our strength zone but continually move outside our comfort zone.
John C. Maxwell
#100. Character creates consistency, and if your people know what they can expect from you, they will continue to look to you for leadership.
John C. Maxwell
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