John C Maxwell - 15 Laws of Growth (Chick-fil-A Leadercast)
hi i'm michael hyatt backstage at the
chick-fil-a Leadercast with my good
friend john maxwell John I can't get
enough of you I'm glad to have to dinner
with you last night I told your wife
Gayle last night that there are some
people of life that you just don't get
to spend enough time with you're one of
them well thank you I mean a lot many
times when I'm not with you I think oh I
wish I had just another hour you know
with you we've had some good times on
have we've had some fantastic some great
time especially sometimes on the golf
course yeah we sure have yeah but let's
not talk about our golf game let's not
talk about that yeah let's look people
to a higher level that's right okay
so you haven't spoken yet but just give
us a preview because the people that are
listening in on the web will not be here
to hear this sure so what are you going
to talk about well I'm going to talk
about my next book that comes out in
October the 15 laws of personal growth
about a year ago Mike awakened about
3:30 in the morning and it was just this
doesn't happen often I knew immediately
what I wanted to write put on the
bathrobe went downstairs to my office
and from 3:30 to noon I laid out these
laws of growth and I'm so passionate
about this book because if anybody has
ever heard me they realized that I have
been for many many years on a mission to
grow and to learn and to stretch myself
and get out of my own comfort zone great
example of that well I do my best and
and I would say I'm as passionate about
personal growth as I am about leadership
and when you really think about it your
personal your personal growth is going
to determine how well you lead I mean if
is there anything worse than a non
growing leader who basically is telling
you something they've been telling you
for the last ten years you know nobody's
home nothing to do so I began to write
these personal these personal growth
laws down and as you know because I
published these books with you when I
did the 21 irrefutable laws of
leadership basically there's these are
laws that always work in leading then
when I did the 17 laws of teamwork these
are laws that work in teamwork can
building well these 15 laws they just
work in helping a person develop and
grow so today of course in my time a lot
I don't I'll do two or three of them hey
I won't do it won't do 15 so he has to
get the book oh oh can't quite get done
but the book will finish it off give us
a couple of them just as a sample well
I'm gonna talk about the law of
intentionality and the law of
intentionality basically just says
growth
doesn't quote just happen yeah so I've
served many people who they just somehow
think that if they get up every day and
go to work and that they'll grow
automatically and I know that problem
because fruit as a young person that's
what I felt
until I had a man literally intersect my
life and asked me what my plan for
personal growth was and Mike and and I
didn't have a personal growth plan and
didn't have a clue and kind of stammered
around a little bit and and then he told
me said growth is not an automatic
process you're gonna have to do this
intentionally so I'm going to talk about
intentional growth and what does that
mean to for me to say I am committed to
developing myself and to grow myself
iii-i'll talked about the law of
environment and which basically says
that teaches that that we need to create
an environment conducive for growth I'm
convinced that most people don't live in
a growth environment we live in a you
know most people most people they don't
lead their lives they accept their lives
and so every day we whatever happens to
us is kind of what happens to us and
instead of us creating an environment
where we can learn and growth and be
intentional and have people around us to
challenge us and and help us to grow if
we let it just happen
it won't really just happen and then if
I have time if I have time I'm going to
talk I'm gonna talk about the law of
awareness which says you have to know
yourself to grow yourself and I don't
hear many people talk about that and
what we're talking to the to them about
the fact that the goal is not to grow in
every area the goal is to grow in the
area where you're where you're gifted
and oh you're strong and so you have to
know what that is before you determine
what areas are going to grow in and so
I'm going to talk to them about how do
you discover how how do you become aware
about what you do well so that you can
really work on that and really grow that
area to really go up to a whole new
level okay I want to probe a little bit
deeper on this because I just talked to
Marcus Buckingham that's just here and
we talked about strengths of oh of
course see and you just talked about
developing your strengths yes
what about weaknesses as a leader what's
your own philosophy of dealing with your
weaknesses well I know you do have a
philosophy that yes I do
well let me just say this in areas of
choice you need to work on your
weaknesses for example let's say I let's
say I am I'm lazy that scenario choice
that's I mean I'm not naturally lazy I'm
just lazy it's a choice so I need to
work on that because I in areas of
choices you can make vast improvement
and you can make fast and prove I've
never heard this distinction but yeah
yeah yeah actually helpful oh yeah in
choices so attitude does this have a
lousy attitude one day I wake up I say
this isn't getting me anywhere
I gotta have a good attitude you can go
from a zero to a ten I mean oh well also
don't you see people that you just say
my gosh overnight they just ya got good
and happy you don't say okay that's a
choice vast fast growth in choices in
giftedness DNA wiring your growth is
very very small and it's very slow so I
think for example a person can maybe
increase their giftedness skill set
maybe two numbers Wow so if I'm a if I'm
a little bit above average I was six if
I really work hard I can get become an
eight but but an eight is powerful yeah
eight has a huge return so what I tell
people is in in areas of giftedness
that's where you have to work on your
strengths if if I'm a two in something
I'm very weak in a skill if I worked
hard I could only become a force to be
but I tell people you gotta ask yourself
is going to give me the return so in the
area of strengths you've got to pour
yourself into the things that you're
already good at because that don't
really set you apart from average yeah
but in areas of choices go for those
weaknesses because you're not don't you
know people that are highly skilled but
they have a lousy attitude or they're
not soft
they're not self discipline attitude and
they're never gonna they're never gonna
they're never gonna get anywhere and
they're not going to get anywhere
because they didn't so in areas of
choices work on your weaknesses but in
areas of strengths and skills just work
on your strengths very helpful okay
another question is something I've
observed
your life is you seem to be very clear
about who are you add value and where
you don't and you extricated if we can
use that word yes from all those pretty
big word for me too
yeah so you've removed yourself yes oh
thank you oh thank you thanks for coming
down to my level oh dear God that was
close
so you remove yourself from all these
areas where you don't feel like you add
value but talk about your philosophy
about that because I think most leaders
feel like they got to do it all well
well you can't do it all and I did what
most leaders do in the beginning I try
to do it all and I began to understand
doing it all basically means doing
nothing well at all and and and so I had
to go back to say okay what am I good at
and what I discovered all myself Mike is
I'm bad at a lot more things that I'm
good at it's good for everybody
oh I think it's true for yeah well
especially for non gifted people like
myself I know works 95% of the stuff I
do can be done better by someone else
now that's all humbling but it's reality
so if 95% of what I can do can be done
by somebody better than myself then the
question is why would I do it
yeah because it's it's not going to make
any difference it's not going to add
value to people so I think to be good at
leadership and to be successful you have
to be very honest with your weaknesses
and then begin to find people that
really do excel in those weaknesses and
be very secure about the people I have
around me you know and well you know
we're their male circle I've had them
for 10 15 20 years they're so much
better at what I don't do that they do
and they just do it and when I say they
do it they do it all I have no desire to
get in their life and and tell them how
to do it it's just because I won't help
them so they they run with that and then
they let me do just a few things
what are those of you think well I I
lead well so when it comes to leadership
and direction and that kind of vision
yeah I want to be there I want to be at
the table because I'm gonna be there
communication connecting with people
relating with people oh I want to be
there because I can i I know I know
I know how to do that knew how to do
that well and then creativity whether
whether it's writing or opportunity or
what could happen if we did this
together I'm a very creative person in
fact probably that maybe my greatest
strengths and I think people don't
realize it because it's kind of the the
underpins a lot of stuff I do so so on
those three things I want to be right in
the middle but on everything else I I
have no desire to be there right there
many many things my team does for me
they don't even consult with me on
because they they know that what I need
and and we've had a trust relationship
what that allows me to do is that allows
me to specialize so when people say John
how do you write 70 books only do a few
things you know you can't write 70 books
and do 70 things you you know and let me
just say that my father was great my
father taught my brother who's older by
middle my century younger my father when
we were very young I'm talking about in
elementary school would say to us let's
find out what you do real well and
whatever that is we're gonna really work
on that and my dad really helped create
an environment when he found out my
brother had a business mind I had more
of a relational kind of a mind and he
immediately put us books in our hands
and things like that that would enhance
that strength and he really understood
that the you to succeed you really need
to settle in on strengths and stay there
and not go not go why that was very
forward-thinking for a long time I think
it was major because so many parents
focus on the weaknesses let's shore up
the law yes oh yeah yeah and point that
out yeah what are you the most excited
about right now in terms of your own
personal growth what are you learning
well you know the thing about when
you're always growing and you're always
learning you're excited about the latest
thing that you're learning I serves so
what I learned along when people ask me
what am I most excited about I said that
that's easy I can tell you but it won't
excite you probably because you're not
on that learning curve but what I found
out is that when you're enjoying what
you're learning and you tell somebody
else what you're learning and you pass
it on to them then they begin to catch
on and it becomes contagious nothing's
more contagious than a new idea or
or a new thought or something that is
stretching you or developing you and as
you know in this last year I started a
coaching company tell me about that well
this is I've watched it kind of from
afar but well I I'm 65 couple years ago
I really celled settled in on this issue
of legacy and I asked myself who really
has impacted my life as far as books and
training and Dale Carnegie stood above
everybody else now there are a lot of
writers who wrote more books than Dale
Carnegie I mean he had one classic book
and then a few others but he didn't have
a large tablet books but the reason that
Dale Carnegie lives today is because of
his training programs he said I'm not
even gonna write this book but I'm going
to teach people to train this material
and all of a sudden hit me I need to go
gets developed a coaching company I need
to I need to get a lot of em I and I
Minnie Maxwell's who love my stuff
practice those values who are going to
say look let me teach you how to do this
let me let me let me let me coach you
so I started coaching company a year and
just here a few months ago we have 1,800
coaches now around the world and they
are taking my books and they're
beginning to train with them and teach
them and they have what they call
mastermind groups and learning lunches
and and in fact at the chick-fil-a
Leadercast I've met a dozen I'm already
here who've totally what they're
teaching what they're training and so
what it's doing this is taking my stuff
and it's letting it live through other
voices and through other teachers and
it's just multiplying and and and I'm
just absolutely loving it now where does
somebody go to get more information
about that that if they're interested in
becoming a Maxwell coach well they can
go just a John Maxwell team and on the
web and get it John Maxwell team yeah or
they can go to the John Maxwell company
and just and it's the John Maxwell team
that is the coaching what we do is we we
teach them how to coach we teach them
how to communicate speak and we really
teach them how to lead and we teach of
those three distinct things and they go
through I think about 50 hours online
training then they go three days come
down to West Palm Beach where I and the
faculty teach them these things but when
we finish with all that we all of them
establish a webpage we I certify them as
a John Maxwell
coach and a fella I just was talking to
right before I did the interview with
Angela and he came up to me said John
you have no idea how many doors you've
open up to and he began to talk to me
where he was going in and talking to a
couple companies and and he said you
know the name has opened the door now I
can open the door for somebody you know
Mike as well as I do you can open the
door for somebody but they gotta be good
to stay all right so what I do for the
coaches is I train them and then I open
doors and then they tell the rest of the
story it's got to be very satisfying to
use the legal to see this being
replicated at a level that while books
are great this goes deeper this goes
deeper in fact on the Leadercast today
we have hundreds of our coaches all
across the country hosting Leadercast
today I mean I mean they when they found
those Leadercast they said where's the
closest one we're gonna go in there we
running to support it we're gonna help
people to get into it and in fact I was
talking to Jeremy the other day next
year we're gonna come as a conservative
plan we're gonna have our a lot of our
coaches literally become hosts and
satellite in Leadercast sites and so
anyway it's just it's another way to
carry on the vision of values that I
have that's what it is
okay last question a lot of people may
not know who are just tuning in
do you actually founded the Leadercast
what ten twelve years ago eleven years
ago eleven years ago how is it becomes
something different than maybe you
imagined it oh my oh my food if you had
a vision at the beginning well I did but
it is nothing like it I let me tell you
I'm so proud of what they've done with
with chick-fil-a and giant and what the
leader cast people have done it's this
is amazing it's so much bigger you know
when I started here was my original
intent you know I came out of the church
world as a pastor and I wanted to
connect the church world with the
business world and be in and I'm over
here in the business world and I'm
saying boy these people need to meet and
so the Leadercast started as a way a
bridge I wanted to do business stuff
kind of maybe in some settings in the
beginning we did only in church settings
you follow I mean it facilities and so I
wanted to bring them together and
Bridget so that the two could meet and
the two could benefit from each other
and so that was my intent and we started
off and I think the first year we had Oh
maybe a couple hundred sites and you
know maybe not bad not bad at all first
start and and and in the first two or
three years it was a little slow it was
it was a new idea and technology was new
and you know the satellites and you know
we had technology troubles and some
sites didn't come up and you know you
can imagine but as technology got better
and it's the idea got better and then we
developed better teams etc this
everything is better now today wavy
unbelievable I mean look what's
happening yeah and I get thanked the
giant people that chick-fil-a people
people like you we've got a great team
now but it wasn't I didn't put together
if I had to do a goal-setting seminar
with integrity I just have to say can't
do it because Mike this is almost trying
everything in my life I I think I'm I
think I'm a good dreamer and I think I'm
a decent creator but almost everything
of my life ended up better and bigger
then I thought it would you told me that
at dinner last night and I loved just
hearing that I don't know there's just
something innocent and precious um yeah
III effect I let me say this I mean I
think of equipped when I started
crippled one to train a million liters
now we trained five million liters were
in 155 countries I can't think of one
thing that I ever started that I had a
dream for that that didn't come out
better than what a dream for and and I
say that's the well I'm a person face
I'm not trying to put that on everybody
but I think that's God but but I think
it's also the fact that that I'm always
learning and growing and I'm always
right
and I'm always ready to bring other
people around me i I've been really
blessed with a lot of better people than
me who came around on the team you know
I'm saying who kind of helped me an
added value to me so it's been a total
team effort but this is that's awesome
bigger than life well thank you for
being a mentor to me hey my leadership
has gone to another level because you've
been a mentor to me too it's I think I
think that's a two-way street except in
golf we don't help each other yeah no
we're not good we just kind of pray lie
thanks we'll be back in a few minutes
