452: How to Motivate Leaders, with John Maxwell

John Maxwell: The Leader’s Greatest Return

John Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than thirty-one million books in fifty languages. He has been identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association and the most influential leadership expert in the world by Business Insider and Inc. magazine.

He is the founder of The John Maxwell Company, The John Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation, organizations that have trained millions of leaders from every country of the world. He is the author of the new book The Leader’s Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders*.

In this conversation, John and I discuss his work to develop leaders and the distinctions between motivating followers and motivating leaders. We also explore the seven key motivations of leaders that John has uncovered.

Key Points

• Successful people have discovered what they are good at. Successful leaders discover what other people are good at.
• “I didn’t have any sudden big hits early in my career. I wasn’t a home run hitter. My secret was to get up to bat every day and just try to get on base consistently.” -John Maxwell
• “You can have everything in life you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.” -Zig Ziglar

The Seven Motivations of Leaders:

1. Purpose: leaders want to do what they were created to do.
2. Autonomy: leaders want the freedom to control their lives.
3. Relationships: leaders want to do things with others.
4. Progress: leaders want to experience personal and professional growth.
5. Mastery: leaders want to excel at their work.
6. Recognition: leaders want others to appreciate their accomplishments.
7. Money: leaders want to be financially secure.

Resources Mentioned

• The Leader’s Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders* by John Maxwell

Book Notes

Download my highlights from The Leader’s Greatest Return in PDF format (free membership required).

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• Ten Steps to Create a Recognition Program, with Michelle Smith (episode 80)
• Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223)
• The Scientific Secrets of Daily Scheduling, with Daniel Pink (episode 332)

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