“Thinking for a Change shares the way that I think on a daily basis. My wife, Margaret, says it has more of my DNA than any of my other books.”
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John C. Maxwell
“People who wait for the one great opportunity often keep waiting.”
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John C. Maxwell
“application phase of the thinking process, land your ideas first with… Yourself: Landing an idea with yourself will give you integrity. People will buy into an idea only after they buy into the leader who communicates it. Before teaching any lesson, I ask myself three questions: “Do I believe it? Do I live it? Do I believe others should live it?” If I can’t answer yes to all three questions, then I haven’t landed it. Key Players: Let’s face it, no idea will fly if the influencers don’t embrace it. After all, they are the people who carry thoughts from idea to implementation. Those Most Affected: Landing thoughts with the people on the firing line will give you great insight. Those closest to changes that occur as a result of a new idea can give you a “reality read.” And that’s important, because sometimes even when you’ve diligently completed the process of creating a thought, shaping it, and stretching it with other good thinkers, you can still miss the mark.”
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John C. Maxwell
“communication comes from the Latin word communis, meaning “common.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Leaders have to grow into their roles, and if the role becomes more demanding, the leader has to keep growing. Leadership is never a right. It’s a privilege and a responsibility. But it’s one that is open to anyone who’s willing to work hard enough to get it.”
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John C. Maxwell
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” That may be true. But it’s also true that you can feed a horse salt and make him thirsty.”
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John C. Maxwell
“When you develop confidence, those around you—friends, family, and associates—will increase in their own confidence levels. Confidence breeds confidence.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Your mind will give back to you exactly what you put into it.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Write down somewhere in the margins on this page your answer to this question: How have you changed . . . lately? In the last week, let’s say? Or in the last month? The last year? Can you be very specific? Or must your answer be incredibly vague? You say you’re growing. Okay . . . how? “Well,” you say, “In all kinds of ways.” Great! Name one. You see, effective teaching comes only through a changed person. The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others. If you want to become a change agent, you also must change.2 Change the leader—change the organization.”
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John C. Maxwell
“I’ve learned that if you want people to be impressed, you can talk about your successes; but if you want people to identify with you, it’s better to talk about your failures.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Experience alone isn’t a good enough teacher – evaluated experience is.”
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John C. Maxwell
“In the end, people are persuaded not by what we say, but by what they understand.”
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John C. Maxwell
“A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Good leaders know when to display emotions and when to delay them.”
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John C. Maxwell
