John Maxwell on Leadership

You hear from top marketing gurus that the best way to make it to top is to become a leader.

What does this mean and how can this help you?

A fellow networker, Josh Garcia wrote a fantastic article about Leadership.

And, I’d like to expand on this just a bit to get you to think more along the lines of what it takes to be a leader.

What about these three values do they have in common:

1. Providing value

2. Sense of value

3. Always self-improve

John Maxwell, the master of leadership, provides us the answer here…

“Leadership is to influence – nothing more, nothing less.”

When we are providing value, radiate with a sense of value, and we are always self-improving ourselves, we find what we are really doing is strenthening our ability to influence.

We are preparing the field we are about to lead.

How Does This Apply to Me?

So, if we know leadership means the ability for the leader to influence others, does this mean they are going to have instant success?

Yes and no!

First let’s explain why NO is a fitting answer.

No, because when it comes to leadership there are so many different variables that amount to success.

For example, you can be a great leader who guides others but at the same time you can be a lazy pain in the _ _ _ _ and do nothing but expect others to do all the work for you.

There is a saying that you can’t get something for nothing. You need to put something in, to be able to receive.

To their dismay, acting in this manner will soon catch up with them and they will find themselves losing that leadership status. 

On the flipside, it CAN be, emphasis on can, if what the leader is doing is also providing mutual benefit.

For example, you have a very successful home business where you have put time and effort into it and you have developed a process by which all of your distributors can easily follow.

This is a perfect example of how you are providing mutual benefit, and at the same time by demonstrating this, you are influencing others.

What do you think John Maxwell’s take on this would be? I believe he would agree with me 100%.

What About Those Who Don’t Grasp the Power of Leadership?

Some misfortunate people may intrepret leadership as influencing others by cohersing them into doing something they don’t feel is appropriate or ethical.

This missinterpretation of leadership does not work and I definitely don’t recommend acting in this manner.

Given all of that you now know about leadership, what would be a better way to define leadership?

Let’s start with John Mawell’s definition and tweaking just a bit.

“Leadership is the ability to influence others where there is mutual benefit gained.” ~ Jerome Ratliff

I’ve come to realize, being a student of leadership and applying it in my life and business, that it’s not just about influencing.

It’s about influencing people who are willing to get something in return.

True leaders understand this and they operate their life like this. This is no surprise, but it may not be quite as apparent to the average Joe or Betty.

What can you do?

Picture this, you’re a home business owner that just got started in the industry. You’ve been doing your homework on what it takes to be successful. You completely understand it’s not a get rich quick scheme, although you can get rich quick (not always monetarliy by the way).

You’ve been in business for 3 weeks now and you’re so pumped with all of the new information you learned, from your upline (leader) and the various courses you took, that you want to know where to begin.

The best time to begin is now and the best place to start is at home. You see, leadership doesn’t have to directly relate to your business. It needs to relate to ALL that you do.

If you have children, then you’re being a leader for them as we speak. They are learning from your example.

If you don’t have any children then think of anyone you know and act in a confident manner that demonstrates how you lead.

Please don’t confuse leading with being rude. I see a lot of this, this is not how to lead. Remember mutual benefit!

If you’re rude, how is that providing mutual benefit? It’s not.

The more you practice being a leader with everyone you come in contact with, the sooner people will begin to recognize you. When they do recognize you, they will instantly become interested in what you are doing.

Are you a leader? If you think you are, tell us why you think so by commenting below.

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Jerome Ratliff is the creator of Maverick Business Builders where his passion is to make a difference for struggling network marketers. You can get more training and learn about what Jerome is up to by visiting him at his blog...

This article was directly from the Maverick Business Builders Blog