Leadership Expert John C. Maxwell: ‘Being The Best Requires Sacrifices’

You may know John Maxwell as the New York Times best-selling author who has sold more than 35 million leadership books worldwide and that have been translated into 50 languages and used by leaders around the world. Perhaps you know him as the prolific speaker and coach who has trained six million leaders and recently reached the milestone of having trained leaders from every country in the world.

But did you know that he began practicing leadership at a tender age when, as a sophomore on the Circleville, Ohio High School basketball team, he was named captain? “He might be the youngest,” his coach said to the team, “but there is nobody here that wants you to succeed as much as John.” It’s no stretch to say that what was true then remains true of his team at Maxwell Leadership, as well as the countless teams they have coached and inspired worldwide.

“We often look at people who are stars and say, I want to do what they do. But the question you must ask yourself is: Do you want to do what they did? Being the best requires sacrifices,” noted Maxwell, whose newest book, The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication, shares what has helped him become one of the most successful public speakers and motivational teachers of his time.

Authoring books while traveling the globe coaching top executives and world leaders does require sacrifice, but it also takes a suite of qualities Maxwell is ready to share with all who are willing to “sacrifice” a bit of their time to grow as leaders.

Listeners to this podcast will acquire a trove of insights each bearing the stamp of Maxwell’s unique perspectives and experiences. Lessons include:

• The #1 time-waster in leaders’ lives and how to eliminate it.

• The one thing leaders don’t realize they must do in order to learn from failure.

• Strategies on how to fuel your competitive fire with goal-setting.

Leave it to a former basketball player to articulate the importance of competing in the right frame of mind. As Maxwell once said, “Respect for your competition comes from learning how you complete one another while you compete against each other.”