The 21 Indispensable Qualities of Leadership

Project Description

Subtitle: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow

By: John C. Maxwell

Notes:

• Seek therapy if character is an issue.
• Stay clear of the grey areas.
• First impression seals the deal.
• Charisma ability to draw people to you.
  • Make others feel better than they normally do.
  • Ex: Feel he was the smartest man alive. Vs. He mad me feel like the smartest person alive.
  • Number one: Love life!
  • Think of others and their concerns before themselves.
  • Focus on their interest.
  • Pride, insecurity, moodiness, perfectionism, sinicism is a roadblock.
  • 100 top people had one common denominator: could only see the good in people.
• Commitment
  • Only way to measure commitment is with action.
  • Know what’s worth dying for? See if actions follows ambition.
  • Make something public, then finish it.
• Communicator
  • Take something complicated and make it simple.
  • Always simplify your message.
  • Figure out what the audience wants.
• Competence
  • Build it and they will come.
  • Show that you can be successful.
  • Succeed at everything you touch.
  • Always keep improving!
    • Do this by asking “WHY” in every situation.
  • Always show up.
  • Inspire others.
  • Go the extra mile.
• Courage
  • Doing what you are afraid to do.
  • Moto: Fight like a wild cat.
  • Must take risks. Must take a stand.
  • Courage deal with principle.
  • Face fear by inviting it. Skydive if afraid of other fears. Then they aren’t as bad.
  • Must believe we are destined for something and then pursue it.
• Discernment (intuition)
  • Smart leaders only believe half of what they hear. Discerning leaders know which half.
  • Never discount a gut feeling, but never rely on it.
  • Find other respected leaders and read their biographies. Understanding how they made decisions will help you.
• Focus
  • Do what you do to the furthers degree.
  • Focus on your strengths only.
  • Focus time and energy.
  • Focus 70% on strengths. Make list of three or four things you do well.
  • Figure out what you don’t do well and develop hiring to fill those gaps.
  • Delegate to others who are gifted at those tasks.
  • Can’t be affective alone.
• Give / Generosity
  • Be grateful for what you have.
  • Do not own things you.
  • Giving does something to one’s health.
  • All that is not given is lost.
• Initiative
  • Leaders make mistakes, but don’t stop moving.
  • Their are most risks and costs to comfortable inaction.
  • They make lots of mistakes.
  • The way to succeed is to double your failure rate.
  • See what people are practically dying for what you have to offer.
  • Everyone has great ideas in the shower, but what about when you leave the shower.
• Listening
  • Key.
• Passion
  • Take this life and love it.
  • Have passion like a drowning man wants air.
  • Passion and few skills always outperforms a leader with great skills and no passion.
  • Is the first day of the week your favorite?
  • Lose sleep because of an idea?
  • Return to your first love.
• Positive Attitude
  • Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.
  • Many of life’s failures are from ppl who didn’t realize how close they were to success.
  • Your attitude is a choice.
  • Positivity attracts people.
  • Maintaining positive attitude is easier than getting a good one.
  • Read books and listen to positive attitude to regain it.
  • Achieve a daily achievable goal.
• Problem Solving
  • Anticipate problems.
  • Plan for the worse.
  • Accept the truth.
  • The majority see the obstacles, the few see the objective.
  • Never try to fix all problems at once. Line them up.
• Ability to develop relationships / related to people
  • Only treat people in one way, then you will only close deals with the people who respond to that way.
• Accept final responsibility.
  • Insecure leaders limit others.
• Self-discipline
  • Make self-discipline a lifestyle and create a plan to continue it.
  • Challenge your excuses.
  • Find the two of three things that will help your success.
    • Make them a part of your lifestyle.
    • Get rid of excuses.
• Servitude
  • Serve out of love.
  • Perform small acts of kindness to others.
  • Walk slowly through the crowd. Meet ppl. Kind their wants and needs.
    • Go home and help those people.
  • Serve on the lowest leverl
• Keep Learning
  • Value listen and reading time at 10x your speaking time.
  • Find what you did wrong and improve it.
• Remain teachable
  • Stay you stop growing is the day it all ends. Green means growing. Mature, start to rot.
  • Swear off short-cuts.
  • Never pay twice for the same mistake.
  • Not making mistakes, not learning.
  • Read 6 to 12 books a year in your specialty.
• Vision
• Overall:

• Focus 70% on strengths. Make list of three or four things you do well.
• Figure out what you don’t do well and develop hiring to fill those gaps.