“Successful leaders are like icebergs. When you look at an iceberg, you see only about 10 percent of it, and the rest of it is hidden under the water. When you look at successful leaders, you see only a fraction of their lives. You see the part that looks really good, but there’s usually a lot that remains hidden that’s neither exciting nor glamorous.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated.” —Fred W. Smith”
―
John C. Maxwell
“If your face is going to “talk” for you anyway, you might as well have it communicate something positive.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“No one can understand that mysterious thing we call influence . . . yet . . . everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“No matter what our circumstances, our greatest limitation isn’t the leader above us—it’s the spirit within us.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“To lead any way other than by example, we send a fuzzy picture of leadership to others. If we work on improving ourselves first and make that our primary mission, then others are more likely to follow.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“UCLA basketball coach John Wooden told players who scored to give a smile, wink, or nod to the player who gave them a good pass. “What if he’s not looking?” asked a team member. Wooden replied, “I guarantee he’ll look.” Everyone values encouragement and looks for it.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less. If you are being salt and light as Jesus commanded, then you have begun to obey God’s call to leadership.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“I feel like one little fellow who knelt at the side of his bed, closed his eyes, and prayed, “God bless Mom. God bless Dad. God bless Grandma.” He said it the same way every time. But one night he added, “And please take care of yourself, God. ’Cause if anything happens to you, we’re all sunk!”
―
John C. Maxwell
“distinct vision, a precise plan, plenty of resources, and incredible leadership, but if you don’t have the right people, you’re not going to get anywhere.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“I may not be able to change the world I see around me, but I can change what I see within me.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Nothing of significance was ever achieved without people working together.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Few things build a person up like affirmation. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition (Simon and Schuster, 1991),
the word affirm comes from ad firmare, which means “to make firm.” So when you affirm people, you make firm within them the things you see about them. Do that often enough, and the belief that solidifies within them will become stronger than the doubts they have about themselves.”
―
John C. Maxwell
