In 2011, I had the opportunity to meet John Maxwell, the world’s number one leadership expert. As the first person to become a founding member of John’s very first coaching program The John Maxwell Team, I had the opportunity to spend time with John. The highlight was watching the Super Bowl at his home in Florida.
John says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” Everything? Can that be true? He goes on to say that “leadership is influence.” Nothing more, nothing less. And to gain influence, you must “add value to people.” Is leadership required for marketing? Only if you want to influence people to do business with your company. And remember that all of business is about relationships. Marketing, sales, and service is about relationships. Tracking your numbers reflects your relationship with yourself! Are you serious about your life goals? Or are you using your business just to get by in life? To have something to do?
Speaking of this, John Maxwell also says the toughest person to lead is yourself. When you begin to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and you begin to understand how to add value to other people—to influence them and to “enlist their willing cooperation to reach a goal” (Dale Carnegie)—you can begin to build a phenomenal team.
This means that you don’t have to do everything yourself. It means you can now find those people who can do the things you don’t like to do (and probably aren’t very good at). My strengths are marketing, sales, service, and leadership. Did you notice that administration wasn’t listed? I hated the numbers! Until I got in trouble. Then I began to love the fact that I could predict a loss in the future and do something about it before it happened!
I have a staff of forty people who run my companies for me. I can tell you without hesitation that one of my greatest joys in life is watching my team grow. To watch my managers grow as leaders (there is a difference you know), is thrilling.
The reason it is thrilling is because we now have a phenomenal leadership system.