Leadership 101

John C. Maxwell is an Evangelical Christian author, speaker, and pastor. He has written over sixty books, known internationally as a leadership expert and coach. Dr. Maxwell has co-founded the company Equip, which is a non-profit leadership company. Also he founded The John Maxwell Company, known for training leaders all over the world. He speaks at many companies and different organizations throughout the years, as well write many books within that time. He has written books for people who cannot attend one of his incredible conferences. The book written by John C. Maxwell, titled “Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know. He discussed three main points important to enhancing people leadership abilities. These points include leadership development, traits of successful leader, and what type of impact a leader could have. The first point Dr. Maxwell explains his concept called “The Law of the Lid. ” In this principle the lid is the leadership ability that determines a person level of effectiveness. The lower the lid indicates an individual lack of leadership ability which leads to poor effectiveness. On the other hand leaders with greater abilities have greater effectiveness. This means your leadership ability determines your level of effectiveness.

Dr. Maxwell said “Success is within the reach of everyone, and personal success without leadership brings limited effectiveness” (Maxwell 7). Basically leadership and effectiveness goes hand and hand. The next topic Dr. Maxwell discussed in his book was the traits that every leader should posses. One important trait for leaders is self discipline. Dr Maxwell said “no matter how gifted a leader is he will never reach his full potential without the application of self discipline” (Maxwell 26). Self discipline is the ability to accomplish goals within a certain time period.

In order for a leader to be successful they must be able to manage and prioritize their time to reach their goals. Another important thing related to time manegment and leadership is where to focus your time. Dr. Maxwell also dicusses the twenty / eighty principle, which states twenty percent of your priorities, will give you eighty percent of the production (Maxwell 30). This means the top twenty percent of an individual leadership produces and the next eighty percent is spent to develop it to its greatest potential. Additional traits important for leaders include character traits and vision.

Vision allows you to see the final goal that you want to obtain. A leader also needs to relate or connect with others to share that vision. The last topic Dr. Maxwell discusses was the type of impact a leader could have. A leader needs to be able to influence the people around them. Dr. Maxwell said “the true measure of leadership is influence- nothing more, nothing less” (Maxwell 61). Basically leadership is influence. Influence can be develop and use effectively to get an amazing outcome that every leader wants to see. By having influence you can make your leadership last. A leader is a lasting value measure by succession”, said Dr. Maxwell (Maxwell 98). Leaders leave legacy of succession. As I read this book, I’ve realize I can be more effective leader by growing and also learning. As I get older, I’m getting wiser. Reading this book the points Dr. Maxwell discussed developing and traits of a leader. I have certain traits that each leader has, and I’m not using my full potential to be as effective as I can be. Dr. Maxwell asked “Will you leave a legacy? ” (Maxwell 99). I know I will one day leave a legacy in the world. I just need to grow and keep learning to be a good leader.