Qualities of a Leader: Part III

John Maxwell's 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader Part III

RELATIONSHIP
“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.

• “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
• People truly do want to go along with people they get along with.  And while someone can have people skills and not be a good leader, he cannot be a good leader without people skills.
• The first quality of a relational leader is the ability to understand how people feel and think.
• The ability to look at each person, understand him, and connect with him is a major factor in relational success.  That means treating people differently, not all the same as one another.
• Leaders have empathy for others and keen ability to find the best in people by truly caring for others.  You cannot be a truly effective leader, the kind that people want to follow, unless you love people.
• People respect a leader who keeps their interests in mind.  If your focus is on what you can put into people rather than what you can get out of them, they’ll love and respect you.
  

RESPONSIBILITY
“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility… In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.

• “A leader can give up anything – except final responsibility.”
• In a study of self-made millionaires, it was found that all have one thing in common – they work very hard.
• If you want to succeed, be willing to put the organization ahead of your agenda.
• “Stress comes from doing less than you can.”
• Excellence is a great motivator.  People who desire excellence – and work hard to achieve it – are almost always responsible.
• The ultimate quality of a responsible person is the ability to finish.
• “When an archer misses the mark he turns and looks for the fault within himself.  Failure to hit the bull’s-eye is never the fault of the target.  To improve your aim, improve yourself.”
• If you have trouble achieving excellence, maybe you’ve lowered your standards.
  

SECURITY
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.

• Don’t follow the crowd; make up your own mind.
• What great banner would have been fought and won under the banner, ‘I stand for consensus’?
• No one can live on a level inconsistent with the way he sees himself.  You may have observed that in people.  If someone sees himself as a loser, he finds a way to lose.  Anytime his success surpasses his security, the result is self-destruction. That’s not only true for followers, but it’s also true for leaders.
• An insecure leader hoards power.
• “Nothing is a greater impediment to being on good terms with others than being ill at ease with yourself.”

SELF-DISCIPLINE
“The first and best victory is to conquer self.”

• “A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself… He belongs to whatever can make captive of him.”
• Self-discipline can’t be a one-time event.  It has to become a lifestyle.
• “Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we think up to hide them.”
• Anytime you concentrate on the difficulty of the work instead of its results or rewards, you’re likely to become discouraged.  Count the benefits of doing what’s right, and then dive in.
• “Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates.  There’s plenty of movement, but never know if it’s going be forward, backwards, or sideways.”

SERVANTHOOD
“You’ve got to love your people more than your position.

• Servanthood is not about position or skill.  It’s about attitude.
• The truth is that the best leaders desire to serve others, not themselves.
• Definition = Intentionally being aware of your people’s needs, available to help them, and able to accept their desires as important.
• The real heart of servanthood is security.  Show me someone who thinks he is too important to serve, and I’ll show you someone who is basically insecure.”
• The Law of Empowerment says that only secure leaders give power to others.  It’s also true that only secure leaders exhibit servanthood.
• Great leaders see the need, seize the opportunity, and serve without expecting anything in return.
• It is true that those who would be great must be like the least and be the servant of all.
  

TEACHABILITY
“Value your listening and reading time at roughly ten times your talking time.  This will assure you that you are on a course of continuous learning and self-improvement.

• “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” John Wooden
• Leaders face the danger of contentment with the status quo.
• “As long as you’re green, you’re growing.  As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot.”
• If what you did yesterday still looks big to you, you haven’t done much today.
• Teachability requires us to admit we don’t know everything, and that can make us look bad.  In addition, if we keep learning, we must also keep making mistakes.  “The greatest mistake one can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”
• “If you don’t like the crop you’re reaping, check the seed you are sowing.”
  

VISION
“A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

• “The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious.”
• Vision leads the leader.  It paints the target.  It sparks and fuels the fire within, and draws him forward.  “Show me a leader without vision, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t going anywhere.”
• If you lack vision, look inside yourself.  Draw on your natural gifts and desires.  Look to your calling if you have one.
• The greater the vision, the more winners it has the potential to attract.  The more challenging the vision, the harder the participants fight to achieve it.
• “The first thing you do is to teach the person to feel that the vision is very important and nearly impossible.  That draws out the drive in winners.”