Developing The Leaders Around You

6 Pages 1587 Words

Developing the Leaders Around You
By John C. Maxwell
Developing other leaders is what great leaders do. Every day you are having an impact on individuals, over time, will have an impact on thousands of others. You will have the most impact if you have a plan for developing leaders. The basic main point of this book is that you can multiply the efficiency of your organization by devoting time to developing the potential leaders around you. The idea is that once you commit to developing potential leaders, they become leaders who can develop other leaders, and as the number of leaders grows, productivity increases. The book provides guidelines as to how to identify those individuals who have the potential for leadership, and then gives instruction on how to develop them. The guidelines and instruction that author gives can be summarized; choose the individuals who are the most willing to grow and learn new things as your potential leaders, and grow them by investing time in them, empowering them for success by delegating wisely and providing counsel.
Another aspect of the book looks at the effects of true leaders are able to attract potential leaders because; leaders think like them; leaders express feelings that other leader's sense; leaders create an environment that attracts potential leaders; leaders are not threatened by people with great potential. The author says what happens when strong leaders are not selected. They hire people with less leadership skills than they have. The organization as a whole suffers as a result of this domino effect.

Leaders who mentor potential leaders multiply their effectiveness. While this sounds simple, it is rare. "There is no success without a successor" (Page 11). Leaders take others with them, or they are not true leaders but mere managers. Delegation is the most powerful tool a leader has. (Page 159) However, if delegation is so important then why do some leaders fail to delega...