“If you are interested in success, it’s easy to set your standards in terms of other people’s accomplishments and then let other people measure you by those standards. But the standards you set for yourself are always more important. They should be higher than the standards anyone else would set for you, because in the end you have to live with yourself, and judge yourself, and feel good about yourself. And the best way to do that is to live up to your highest potential. So set your standards high and keep them high, even if you think no one else is looking. Somebody out there will always notice, even if it’s just you.”
―
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
“Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted individual will influence ten thousand other people during his or her lifetime! This amazing statistic was shared with me by my associate Tim Elmore.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“How to prepare someone for leadership:
I do it.
I do it and you watch.
You do it and I watch.
You do it.
You do it and someone else watches.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Nobody is a whole team . . . We need each other. You need someone and someone needs you. Isolated islands we’re not. To make this thing called life work, we gotta lean and support. And relate and respond. And give and take. And confess and forgive. And reach out and embrace and rely . . . Since none of us is a whole, independent, self-sufficient, super-capable, all-powerful hotshot, let’s quit acting like we are. Life’s lonely enough without our playing that silly role. The game is over. Let’s link up.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“William A. Hewitt, Chairman of Deere and Company, says, “To be a leader you must preserve all through your life the attitude of being receptive to new ideas. The quality of leadership you will give will depend upon your ability to evaluate new ideas, to separate change for the sake of change from change for the sake of me.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“No one can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Before you attempt to set things right, make sure you see things right.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Being heard is so close to being loved, that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“It’s a simple thing to offer encouragement, but it can have a tremendous effect on someone’s life.”
―
John C. Maxwell
