Book Review: Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell

Over the past 4 weeks Pastor Russ and I have been reading through John Maxwell's book "Developing The Leader Within You." This is like the 4th or 5th time Pastor has read it, and is my 2nd time to read it. Over the past 4 weeks, I have taken 32 pages of notes. Those 32 pages of notes are in addition to the highlighting I did in the book the last time I read it. This is an AMAZING BOOK!!! Thanks John Maxwell for being an awesome person and sharing this book with people.

The entire premise of this book is in the title… "Developing the Leader Within You."

In the book, Leadership is defined as Influence. It is the ability to obtain followers. Now the question is: How do I influence people to follow me? The rest of the book talks about how to influence people to follow you as a leader. This is where having a mentor (Pastor Russ) comes in.

There are 5 levels to leadership, and each of the levels stands on top of the level before it. If you forget or fall off of one level then you have fallen out of Leadership. The 5 levels are: 1. Position (people follow because they have to; 2. Permission (people follow because they want to); 3. Production (people follow because of what you have done for the organization); 4. People Development (People will follow because of what you have done for them); 5. Person hood (people follow because of who you are and what you represent).

As a leader, there are 2 things we need to do. First we need to think for ourselves, and second, we need to do things in order of importance. Thinking ahead and prioritizing responsibilities makes the difference between a leader and a follower. In order to do this we need a strategy to enable us, as leaders, to think and prioritize.

Leaders must also be men and women of integrity. Our words and our deeds must match up, we must practice what we preach, and it isn't what we do but who we are. Integrity is who we really are when nobody else is around.

Creating positive change is the ultimate test of leadership. In order to create positive change the first thing we have to change is the leader (aka Me, Myself, and I). The quality of our leadership depends on our ability to evaluate new ideas, to separate change for the sake of change from change for the sake of me. If you want to continue to lead, you must also continue to change.

Problem-solving is the quickest way to gain leadership. We all have problems, and those problems give meaning to our lives. Problems are only ours when we can do something about them. Leaders must have the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. The biggest thing here is that as a leader we must know the problem-solving process.

Our attitude is a huge plus when it comes to leadership. Our attitudes are our most valuable asset. With out a good one, you will never reach your full potential. Our attitudes are something that we are responsible for. People will catch our attitudes just like they catch our colds - by getting close to us. That is why we need to have a good attitude, not necessarily for ourselves, but for the benefit of those around us.

If your not developing people they your not leading very well. The more people you develop, the greater the extent of your dreams and influence. To develop people well as a leader you need to make the correct assumptions, ask the right questions, and give the right assistance to people. If you do then it will make a huge difference.

A vision is important for all leaders. Effective leaders have a vision of what they want to accomplish. That vision should produce energy that pushes our churches forward. Our vision as leaders is our rally cry, and a clear statement of what your there fore. Not only do leaders need to have a vision, they also need others to take ownership in that vision. If you have a vision, you will talk little and will do a lot.

When it comes to the leader, their price tag is self-discipline. This is the choice of achieving what you really want by doing things you don't really want to do, and is a responsibility when it comes to personal growth. Each leader needs to look at the process for developing personal discipline. The biggest benefit of self-discipline is that although your paying now, you will be able to live later.

The most important lesson of leadership is staff development. The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. A leader who grows personally and grows people within their church will influence many and develop a successful team. Great leaders, pick good people, play to win, make others more successful, and keep improving.

The key to leadership is that "Everything rises and falls on the leader." That is a quote that Maxwell uses throughout the book. That is one of the reasons why he wrote this book, and is one of the most important things we need to know as a leader.

"Developing the Leader Within You" is an awesome book. It has tons of resources and ideas to help you become a better leader in your church or organization. This is a book that you can read time and time again and still learn new things that maybe you didn't catch the first time, or that you may have forgotten about. This book should be on every Pastors shelf. To purchase this book go to http://www.johnmaxwell.com/, your local book store, or at Amazon.com (Least Expensive).