Jennifer Linke

Jennifer Linke

Maxwell, John C.. Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc.,

1993. Print. 

Developing the Leader Within You

“Developing the Leader Within You” written by John C. Maxwell takes a different focus on leadership compared to traditional management books. Normally, management books attempt to teach people how to mold their group or company into an efficient group. However, Maxwell focuses directly on the reader.

Throughout the book, the responsibility is handed to the reader. Positive results are entirely dependent upon the leader. The company is nothing without the leader but most importantly, the leader is nothing without their employees. Your company, employees and output are a reflection of the leader’s attitude, methods and actions. No changes can be made unless the leader is willing to change first. Leaders must be the person that they want their followers to be. 

As a leader, you influence everyone that surrounds you. It is the leader’s responsibility to influence others positively. Leaders must build relationships with their followers. Followers work the best when they trust those that lead them. To be trustworthy, the leader needs to be a person of integrity. Maxwell defines integrity as “the state of being complete, unified”. When someone has integrity, their actions and words match no matter where they are. With integrity comes trust and honor and eventually greater output. 

Another important aspect of leadership is attitude. Leaders can not expect their followers to work to their fullest potential with a negative attitude from their leader. Followers will adopt their leaders attitude. A leader must spread their positive attitude throughout their followers. Our attitudes are our most important assets. We must take responsibility of our attitudes because it is impossible to be successful with a bad attitude. Ultimately, the leaders attitude determines the followers’ attitudes. 

Some are born natural leaders, but some are not blessed with these skills and characteristics. With Maxwell’s book, those wanting to become leaders can acquire the skills necessary. Leadership is more than a position, leadership is a responsibility. Constant development and growth for all leaders, including those natural born leaders, is required. The followers are a direct reflection of its leader. To develop your followers, development of the leader needs to take place first. 

I believe that John C. Maxwell offers a great approach to management and leadership. In many situations, people blame others for failure. In the book, the person to blame is clearly made. Your followers can only be as successful as you are as a leader. 

In class, we discussed Follet’s Collaborative Theory. Maxwell discusses similar strategies, especially emphasizing a leader has to work with their employee instead of working over their employees. The position only gives them greater responsibility to lead with integrity and honor. 

We also discussed leadership characteristics and mission/vision statements. Maxwell explains that a leader must not have a goal but a vision. With a clear communication of the vision from the leader, a group can be successful.

Maxwell takes the successes of the past methods to create the basics of developing a leader and eventually a successful group or company. 

I would definitely recommend this book to my classmates. From a small to large level, everyone is some type of leader and can benefit from Maxwell’s writings. I found myself relating my life to the situations in the book. I was constantly finding situations where I could use these skills, but more importantly, I found many skills that I could develop within myself. 

These skills taught are very valuable and can be the difference between success and failure. Motivating yourself to develop yourself is the first step to being a great leader. With this book, you will be beginning that process.