John Maxwell
Over the past week, I’ve been watching and listening to John C. Maxwell talk about many concepts a 360° leader should have, and here are three that I found particularly interesting.
Number 1: The myths often believed by Those in the Middle, Myth #7: The All-or-Nothing Myth
The All-or-Nothing Myth basically means, “If I can’t get to the top, then I won’t try to lead” (Maxwell, 2006). The idea behind this myth is that members of an organization think that, since they aren’t at the top of the organization, they shouldn’t lead, and that success in an organization would be leading from the top. Maxwell says that individuals can become better leaders in any part of an organization. Anyone can improve their leadership skills and impact and change the group they are working with and the lives of people around them. Basically, you can lead and add value to the organization without being the “top leader”. This was interesting to me since for a period of my life, I thought I had to speak a lot and try to control things to be seen as a leader since that’s what my teachers would compliment and refer to when they wrote that I was a good leader on my report cards. A little before coming to TALONS I learnt that leadership could mean different things. In relation to TALONS, this myth should be quickly busted as sometimes when the class splits into groups for projects, I or others in my group will stand around and listen to whoever we think is the highest leader without objecting and imputing what we think is right or try to organize the task in a way we might think makes more sense. I think knowing that this concept is a myth can further my leadership skills by reminding me that I don’t have to try and act like the manager of the project, but also remind me that if I have an idea, I shouldn’t be afraid to guide others with it, like a leader.
Number 2: The Challenges 360° Leaders Face, How to Handle the Ego Challenge
Simply put, the ego challenge is wanting to be upfront and centre and thinking that everything will go perfectly according to your plans. Maxwell talks about a few ways to handle this challenge. The first point he makes is about “concentrating more on your duties than your dreams” (Maxwell, 20066). He explains that you should think of your dream and then put it aside and think and focus on the duties you need to perform in order to reach that dream. The second point he mentions is that you should appreciate your position’s value. Maxwell explains that your work will not be appreciated by everyone, but the most important thing is that you appreciate your own work. The third point that helps deal with the ego challenge is that you should “find satisfaction in knowing the real reason for the success of a project” (Maxwell 2006). You should find satisfaction because you know you are a contributing factor to why the plan succeeded. The last point is that you should understand that self-promotion and selfless promotion are different. How I saw it listening to the recording was that self-promotion focuses on raising your own pedestal. Selfless promotion has everyone build a skyrise together for everyone to live in. I picked out this concept because I find that I have dreams for how many things, be it an assignment, presentation, or something else, will turn out. Sometimes I’m not satisfied, or sometimes I feel like my contributions are less or worse than someone else’s. In TALONS we are all a group working on being leaders in projects together. We all contribute together, and no one is better than anyone else, unless someone is obviously not trying their hardest. This concept can help my leadership skills by reminding me not to be discouraged by my work and accept that I have tried my hardest and that certain things get better in time.
Number 3: The Principles 360° Leaders Practice to Lead Across, The Leadership Loop
Leading is not a one-time event, as stated by Maxwell. Leading takes time and is an ongoing process. You can’t gain influence very suddenly and quickly; it takes time and technique. You can’t gain influence among your peers by taking shortcuts but rather by connecting with your party members. This is where the leadership loop comes into play. The loop contains 7 parts. The first is caring, caring about the lives of your fellow group members, and making them feel good. The second is learning, learn about the people who are working alongside you and get to know them. The third is appreciating, respect what the people do. Fourth, contributing. Add value to the people around you. Next, verbalizing. Affirm people, make it firm in their mind what they are doing well. Sixth, leading people and influencing them. You need to connect with people and understand that you are working as a team. And lastly, succeeding. Succeeding not as one person winning, but everyone who contributed winning. This is a very important topic in my opinion. All too often, we start a project with a strict deadline and not much time to do them, and we don’t have enough time to converse and get to know each other so it feels like we are a real group. In TALONS we are able to mingle outside of working times, so getting to know each other on a personal level before working on a project could be beneficial to everyone. There were times early in the year where the grade 10s would try to lead us right away, which was understandable due to the circumstances but didn’t make the process enjoyable. This can help my leadership skills as I know how to connect with the others in my party before getting into a project to make the entire process of the project more enjoyable and rewarding.
Overall, the 360° Leader was very useful and insightful and opened my eyes to the little intricacies of leadership outside of a high position.