The following contains excerpts from the book, Leadership Gold (John Maxwell).
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we believe that music is much more than sound. Rather, it is relationships. The subject of leadership is of utmost importance when discussing relationships and community. Music and the arts function in the context of both community and leadership dynamics.
In this book, Maxwell, turning 60 years of age, writes 26 “nuggets” of wisdom he has learned over the course of his lifetime. He shares from his life with candor, revealing his own weaknesses and lessons learned through experience. He opens by challenging the reader, “It’s said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others’ mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others’ successes.”
- If it’s lonely at the top, you’re doing something wrong. A leader’s credibility begins with personal success. It ends with helping others achieve personal success.
One of the most important goals we have at our music school in Odessa, Texas is to give students the ability to one day be fully autonomous in their own capacity to learn and grow, becoming teachers themselves.
2. The toughest person to lead is always yourself. John Foster writes, “A man without decision of character can never be said to belong to himself. He belongs to whatever can make a captive of him.” When we are foolish, we want to conquer the world. When we are wise, we want to conquer ourselves. That begins when we do what we should no matter how we feel about it.
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we teach students that the road to success always starts and ends with winning internal victories.
3. Defining moments define your leadership. Winston Churchill remarked, “In every age there comes a time when a leader must come forward to meet the needs of the hour. Therefore, there is no potential leader who does not have an opportunity to make a positive difference in society. Tragically, there are times when a leader does not rise to the hour.”
4. When you get kicked it the rear, you know you’re out in front. Parkenham Beatty advised, “By your own soul learn to live. And if men thwart you, take no heed. If men hate you, have no care: Sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope and pray your prayer.”
5. Never work a day in your life. David Ambrose said, “If you have the will to win, you have achieved half of your success. If you don’t, you have achieved half of your failure.” If you want to reach your potential, find your passion.
6. The best leaders are listeners. a) Understanding people precedes leading them. b) Listening is the best way to learn. c) Listening can keep problems from escalating. d) Listening enables trust. e) Listening can improve the organization. Author and speaker Jim Rohn says, “One of the greatest gifts you can give anyone is the gift of attention.”
Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons students can learn at our music school in Odessa, Texas is the skill of listening. Studying music refines one’s ability to listen in multiple spheres – a truly transformative ability that can have long-range effects in all walks of life.
7. Get in the zone and stay there. a) ask, “What am I doing well?” b) Get specific c) Listen for what others praise d) Check out the competition. Help others on your team do the same.
8. A leader’s first responsibility is to define reality. “Realistic leaders are objective enough to minimize illusions. They understand that self-deception can cost them their vision.” (Bill Easum)
9. To see how the leader is doing, look at the people. People may teach what they know, but they will reproduce who they are.
At our music school in Odessa, Texas, we endeavor to be a positive example and role model for our students, demonstrating competency and leadership for them to follow.
10. Don’t send your ducks to eagle school. As a leader, you should always challenge people to move out of their comfort zone, but never out of their strength zone.”
11. Keep your mind on the main thing. Ask, “What gives me the greatest return? What is most rewarding? What is required of me?” A study of 39 mid-sized companies stated that the characteristic that differentiated the successful companies from the unsuccessful was simplicity. The companies that sold fewer products to fewer customers, and who worked with fewer suppliers than other companies in the same industry were more profitable. If you can simplify your life, you will become more focused, you will possess more energy, and you will experience less stress.
12.Your biggest mistake is not asking what mistake you’re making. No one ever sized people up more accurately than the person who invented the pencil eraser. Author William Saroyan observed, “Good people are good because they have come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success.”
13.Don’t manage your time, manage your life. Poet Carl Sandburg advised, “Time is the most valuable coin in your life. You and you alone will determine how that coin will be spent. Be careful that you do not let other people spend it for you.”
14.Keep learning to keep leading. Contrary to popular belief, the greatest obstacle to discovery isn’t ignorance or lack of intelligence. It’s the illusion of knowledge. “Never let a day pass without looking at some perfect work of art, hearing some great piece of music and reading, in part, some great book.” (Goethe)
15.Leaders distinguish themselves during tough times. Because most tough calls also result in an outward battle, a leader must win the first victory on the inside. If you are unsettled internally on an issue, you will not have the security you need for the external battle.
16.People quit people, not companies. Exceptional leaders do two things: they develop other leaders, and they work themselves out of a job. It’s wonderful when the people believe in their leader. It’s more wonderful when the leader believes in the people.
17.Experience is not the best teacher. Everybody has some kind of experience. It’s what you do with that experience that matters. Experience teaches nothing, but evaluated experience teaches everything.
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we understand that each student will face challenges and even set-backs, but we hope to encourage them in the truth that ‘failure isn’t final.’ If they learn from their failure, they will have gained a true reward.
18.The secret to a good meeting is the meeting before the meeting. Give influencers the right perspective before the meeting and they’ll help you spread it to everyone else. How do you gain influence with people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.
19. Be a connector, not just a climber. The question for leaders is not should you try to get to the top, but how should you try to get to the top. According to the book, “Why Smart People Fail”, the greatest problems professionals have don’t relate to their competence; they relate to their relationships. A survey of 2,000 employers asked them to review the reason for dismissing the last three people from their businesses. Two out of three said it was because the person they fired couldn’t get along with other people.
20. The choices you make, make you. H.P. Liddon observed, “What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are: and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.”
21.Influence should be loaned but never given. Giving influence to people who can’t or won’t use it appropriately is a waste of a leader’s time, effort, and resources. Influence should never be given to others; it should only be loaned. It’s like an investment, and you should expect a return. Just like a financial investment, when there isn’t a good return, you should invest elsewhere.
22.For everything you gain, you give up something. The greatest obstacle leaders face can be their own achievement. Max Depree writes, “By avoiding risk, we really risk what is most important in life- reaching toward growth, our potential and a true contribution to a common goal.”
23.Those who start the journey with you seldom finish it with you. The question is not, are people leaving? The question is, who is leaving? If the people joining your team have high potential and those leaving have limited potential, the team’s future is bright. If those who are coming on board are limited and those who are leaving are gifted, your future is dim.
24.Few leaders are successful unless a lot of people want them to be. If you want to be a successful leader, you will need the support of many people. And if you are wise, you will appreciate and acknowledge their contribution to you success. Self-made men don’t make much.
25.You only get answers to the questions you ask. A Chinese proverb says, “He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask is a fool forever.” When you know the right questions and go to the right people with them, you will ultimately get the right answers. Important questions: a) Am I investing in myself? b) Am I genuinely interested in others? c) Am I doing what I love and loving what I do? d) Am I investing my time with the right people? e) Am I staying in my strength zone? f) Am I taking others to a higher level? g) Am I taking care of today? (You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.) h) Am I taking time to think? i) Am I developing other leaders?
26.People will summarize your life in one sentence- pick it now. Eleanor Roosevelt remarked, “Life is like a parachute jump, you’ve got to get it right the first time.” Most people are not intentional about what legacy they want to create. They should be. Nobody will ever care about the legacy you leave as much as you do. If you don’t take responsibility for it and see it through, then nobody else will. Sociologist Anthony Campolo tells about a study in which fifty people over the age of ninety-five were asked one question: “If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?” Answers: a) I would reflect more b) I would risk more c) I would do more things that would live on after I am dead.