Excerpt: John C. Maxwell has been leading for 40+ years and has touched the lives of millions. Check out this powerful collection of quotes from his book, Leadership Gold.
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Introduction: Sifting Through The Dirt To Find The Gold
John C. Maxwell has been leading for over forty years and has touched the lives of millions of people. Leadership Gold is his personal collection of leadership advice that he has compiled throughout his years of experience that he has condensed into 26 chapters—each chapter focusing on a different, “Leadership Gold Nugget.”
“I’ve wanted to write this book for years, but I promised myself I wouldn’t do it until I turned sixty,” said Maxwell. “My desire was to put the hardest-won leadership lessons of my life into a book that could be used to mentor leaders. I’ve sifted through a lot of dirt in order to deliver the gold.”
Some of his “nuggets” include: If It’s Lonely at the Top, You’re Not Doing Something Right; To See How the Leader Is Doing, Look at the People; Don’t Send Your Ducks to Eagle School; Don’t Manage Your Time – Manage Your Life; and You Only Get Answers to the Questions You Ask.
What I found unique and beneficial with Leadership Gold were the Application Exercises (for those looking to take the content of that chapter further) and the Mentoring Moment sections (for leaders looking to share Mr. Maxwell’s nuggets with members of their own teams) that he provided at the end of each chapter. This helps the reader apply the concepts taught and internalize them for continued use. Robert Pater said, “Success is less a matter of knowing what to do than it is remembering to do what you know.”
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As a result of reading this book I added over 50 quotes to the website—more than 35 directly quoted from Maxwell and over 20 from various other leaders cited in his book. I also adopted the idea of adding in Application Exercises at the end of posts because of the opportunity that it provides. In other words, it was definitely a worthwhile read for me!
Below are 26 of my personal favorite quote nuggets from Leadership Gold that I found to be insightful and worth sharing. As you read the nuggets below, don’t forget to stop and reflect on the ones that make you nod your head or stimulate some thoughts—it’s where the true value of reading quotes is discovered and internalized…! Enjoy :)
The List: 26 Inspirational John C. Maxwell Quotes from Leadership Gold
“One is too small a number to achieve greatness. No accomplishment of real value has ever been achieved by a human being working alone.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Most people use two totally different sets of criteria for judging themselves versus others. We tend to judge others according to their actions. It’s very cut-and-dried. However, we judge ourselves by our intentions. Even if we do the wrong thing, if we believe our motives were good, we let ourselves off the hook. And we are often willing to do that over and over before requiring ourselves to change.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Leadership develops daily, not in a day.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Being who you really are is the first step in becoming better than you are.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Find something you like to do so much that you would gladly do it for nothing; then learn to do it so well that people are happy to pay you for it.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“People’s purpose in life is always connected to their giftedness.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“I believe success is: Knowing your purpose in life, Growing to your maximum potential, and Sowing seeds that benefit others.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“To gain credibility, you must consistently demonstrate three things: Initiative: You have to get up to go up. Sacrifice: You have to give up to go up. Maturity: You have to grow up to go up. If you show the way, people will want to follow you. The higher you go, the greater the number of people who will be willing to travel with you.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Progress does not occur without change.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Cats do what cats do, ducks do what ducks do, and eagles do what eagles, do. If you take a duck and ask it to do an eagles’ job, shame on you. As a leader, your job is to help your ducks to become better ducks and your eagles better eagles – to put individuals in the right places and help them reach their potential.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Half of being smart is knowing what you are dumb at.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes, learning from them, and becoming superior.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Our days are like identical suitcases. Even though they are all the same size, some people are able to pack more into them then others. The reason? They know what to pack.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“The secret to success can be found in people’s daily agendas. If they do something intentional to grow every day, they move closer to reaching their potential. If they don’t, their potential slowly slips away over the course of their lifetime.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Thank God for the tough times. They are the reason you are there – to be the leader. If everything was going well, the people wouldn’t need you!”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“We cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with our beliefs.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“What I had been taught all my life was not true: experience is not the best teacher! Some people learn and grow as a result of their experience; some people don’t. Everybody has some kind of experience. It’s what you do with that experience that matters.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. How do you gain influence from people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Successful people make right decisions early and manage those decisions daily.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Perhaps our greatest power in life is the power to choose. Without question, choices are the most determining factor in how our lives turn out.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“The only thing we can control is what we do in the present. The more we replay yesterday, the further we get from today’s opportunities. And the further away we move from opportunities, the tougher the road is to get back. Opportunities never look as good coming as they do going, and they wait for no one. We need to be highly attentive to spot them. And we must be focused on our present capabilities, not past regrets.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“The great leaders in history were great not because of what they owned or earned but because of what they gave their lives to accomplish. They made a difference!”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Good leaders understand that they are stewards. They must find the best people they can, giving them the opportunity to join in the journey developing them, and encouraging them to reach their potential. But they must hold on to people lightly. Those who start with you seldom finish with you.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“It takes a lot of people to create a success. That’s why I say that few leaders are successful unless a lot of people want them to be.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“People will summarize your life in one sentence – Pick it now.”
John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
Application Exercises:
Level 1 Challenge: One of my favorite pieces from Leadership Gold was John Maxwell’s 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Daily! Check them out below:
- Am I investing in myself? (Personal Growth)
- Am I genuinely interested in others? (Motive)
- Am I doing what I love and loving what I do? (Passion)
- Am I investing my time with the right people? (Relationships)
- Am I staying in my strength zone? (Effectiveness)
- Am I taking others to a higher level? (Mission)
- Am I taking care of today? (Success)
- Am I taking time to think? (Strategy)
- Am I developing other leaders? (Legacy)
- Am I pleasing God/ My faith? (Faith)
My challenge for you is to write these down in a creative way and post them somewhere where you can see them and reflect on them daily. If you want to take it a step further, instead of asking yourself, “Am I…” ask yourself, “In what ways am I…” This will give you more insight and more in-depth responses. I believe that if you can stay focused on the answers to these questions on a daily basis your quality of life will significantly increase.
Level 2 Challenge: Make the decision right now to create a new daily habit. As Maxwell said in #14 in the list above, “The secret to success can be found in people’s daily agendas. If they do something intentional to grow every day, they move closer to reaching their potential. If they don’t, their potential slowly slips away over the course of their lifetime.” My challenge to you is to pick one beneficial thing (regardless of how big or small) that you can add in to your daily routine and commit to it! Tell somebody that you are close to that can help hold you accountable. Check in with them daily on your progress!
Level 3 Challenge: One of my favorite ‘Nuggets’ from Leadership Gold was #26 on the list above: “People will summarize your life in one sentence – Pick it now.” My challenge for you is to spend some time thinking about how you want to be remembered and what your life sentence might be. This is one of those paradigm shifting exercises that has the potential to completely change your life by changing the direction of the path you walk on every day. As Jim Rohn said, “You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” If you accept this challenge, please share your sentence with the other readers by posting it in the comments below – you never know who you’ll end up influencing!
If you enjoyed these John C. Maxwell quotes from Leadership Gold, then you should consider reading his book in full. It comes warmly recommended.
Book Overview: A leader among leaders, John Maxwell promised himself early in his career that he wouldn’t write this book until he was sixty. And now it’s finally here. Leadership Gold took Maxwell a lifetime to write, and it delivers his most valuable lessons from forty years of leading. With his signature style, Maxwell comes alongside like a mentor, candidly taking readers through what feels like a one-on-one leadership program. Leadership Gold offers the best of the best, the tried-and-true lessons that no one but Maxwell can share.
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Written by Matt Hogan
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