Maxwell believes success is…
Knowing your purpose in life
Growing to your maximum potential, and
Sowing seeds that benefit others.
People’s purpose in life is always connected to their giftedness. It always works that way. You are not called to do something that you have no talent for. You will discover your purpose by finding and remaining in your strength zone.
In this section of Leadership Gold, Maxwell talks about developing our strengths, and the strengths of orders in order to succeed. He explains that working on your weaknesses means taking all that effort to end up with something just mediocre. While others are all working on what they are good at, the competition obviously wins.
Leaders should not be selfish. They should recognize the needs of others and work towards improving others as they improve themselves. The biggest mistake I find with many people placed in leadership positions is that they place a boundary between them and the people they supposedly lead, or manage. They see themselves “higher” because of their position. Then, When others recognize them as “higher”, they like it. In reality, this gap is fear in the people. Leadership isn’t about fear. I also noticed that if a subordinate talks straight, not acknowledging the “hierarchy” the person established; the person’s response is that the subordinate is not respectful and lacks communication skills.
I started paying attention to different leadership and management styles. Maxwell said, “Leadership is a trust, not a right.” I think about the many people that demand respect from others but don’t go their way to earn it. If you earn the trust of people around you they will choose to follow you. Listen and understand the team, their interests, values, goals, strengths, desires.
We must differentiate between the responsibilities of the leadership position, and the individual; and learn about ourselves before we can lead others.
