Summit: 20 Inspiring Quotes from John Maxwell

Attendees were blown away by Summit 2017. The speaker’s list was a who’s who of respected church leaders, authors, and technologists. These experts shared the trends shaping the church and their vision for the future of leadership, communications, and technology in the church.
And we couldn’t have been more excited about our keynote speaker, John Maxwell.

Ask people what names come to mind when they think of leadership training and equipping, and John Maxwell’s name is sure to come up. He’s a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and BusinessWeek bestselling author who has sold more than 18 million books. Plus, Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP, a nonprofit organization that has trained more than 5 million leaders in 126 countries worldwide.

Not only is Dr. Maxwell known for leadership advice that’s rooted in timeless truths about inspiring people to give their best, but he’s also on the cutting edge of leadership and management trends and philosophies. When it comes to leadership training, you couldn’t be in better hands than his.

If you haven’t saved your spot for the Summit 2018, there are still some spaces available. Register now!

And Now for 20 Inspiring John Maxwell Quotes:

1. “The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.”

2. “A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others.”

3. “Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character.”

4. “Don’t ever be impressed with goal setting; be impressed with goal getting. Reaching new goals and moving to a higher level of performance always requires change and change feels awkward. But take comfort in the knowledge that if a change doesn’t feel uncomfortable, then it’s probably not really a change.”

5. “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”

6. “Maya Angelou observed you can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Sadly, too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be a climate in which new ways of thinking, perceiving, questioning are encouraged.”

7. “When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.”

8. “In most cases, those who want power probably shouldn’t have it, those who enjoy it probably do so for the wrong reasons, and those who want most to hold on to it don’t understand that it’s only temporary.”

9. “Always turn to God in the midst of your struggle and view people who offended you as instruments of divine sovereignty.”

10. “I always try to remember that I am a work in progress. When I maintain that perspective, I realize that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to have it all together. I don’t need to try to have all the answers. And I don’t need to learn everything in a day. When I make a mistake, it’s not because I’m a failure or worthless. I just didn’t do something right because I still haven’t improved enough in some part of the process. And that motivates me to keep growing and improving. If I don’t know something, it’s an opportunity to try to improve in a new area.”

11. “Successful people do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.”

12. “If you are a leader, the true measure of your success is not getting people to work. It’s not getting people to work hard. It is getting people to work hard together. That takes commitment.”

13. “When it comes right down to it, I know of only one factor that separates those who consistently shine from those who don’t: The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Nothing else has the same kind of impact on people’s ability to achieve and to accomplish whatever their minds and hearts desire.”

14. “Nothing will make a better impression on your leader than your ability to manage yourself. If your leader must continually expend energy managing you, then you will be perceived as someone who drains time and energy. If you manage yourself well, however, your boss will see you as someone who maximizes opportunities and leverages personal strengths. That will make you someone your leader turns to when the heat is on.”

15. “Never complain about what you allow.”

16. “Don’t worry about making friends; don’t worry about making enemies. Worry about winning, because if you win, your enemies can’t hurt you, and if you lose, your friends can’t stand you.”

17. “If you keep nonproductive people, the productive ones become frustrated and leave. If you remove the people who don’t add value, then the whole team gets better. It’s just like trimming trees: If you don’t cut the deadwood, eventually the whole tree falls. But if you remove the deadwood, the tree becomes healthier, the healthy branches produce more, and there’s room for productive new branches on the tree.”

18. “Risk must be evaluated not by the fear it generates in you or the probability of your success, but by the value of the goal.”

19. “Good leaders motivate others by their listening skills. We are to: avoid prejudicial first impressions; become less self-centered; withhold initial criticism; stay calm; listen with empathy; be active listeners; clarify what we hear; and recognize the healing power of listening. Then we are to act on what we hear.”

20. “As people gain more authority, they often develop a lack of patience in listening to those under them. A deaf ear is the first indication of a closed mind.”