Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2013-02-15) from his book, Be A People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships (p. 83). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) There are lots of ways to persuade but to be effective in our persuading is another thing.   As John says, “It speaks to the heart as well as to the head. Therefore, persuasion does not make use of force or intimidation.” But we believe that intimidation is effective because we found it to be successful.   At least we’ve seen people do what we want.   But people are more important than getting our way, aren’t they? John says, “Getting someone to do something without convincing them it’s the right thing to do is not the result of effective motivation; it’s the result of intimidation. It’s like the mom who told the little kid to sit down in the grocery cart at the supermarket. He kept standing up and she kept telling him to sit down. Fi

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2013-02-15) From his book, Be A People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships (p. 74). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is so important to realize.   John goes on, “The key is to use a crisis as an opportunity for change. You’ll never succeed if you throw up your hands and surrender.” He then quotes the Greek poet Homer who understood the value of a crisis. He wrote, “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” John goes on, “Remember the story of the chicken farmer whose land was flooded virtually every spring? Even though the floods caused him horrendous problems, he refused to move. When the waters would back up onto his land and flood his chicken coops, he would race to move his chickens to higher ground. Some years, hundreds of them drowned because he couldn’t move them out in t

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2013-02-15) From his book, Be A People Person: Effective Leadership Through Effective Relationships (p. 60). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   I like that word momentum.   Here is what John says, “Confidence can provide the momentum you need to be the person God meant you to be. It cannot substitute for character, or skill, or knowledge, but it enhances these qualities so that you can be a person who makes a difference. When you have knowledge or skill and the momentum that confidence brings, then things begin to happen in your relationships.” He gives an illustration, “The largest locomotive in the New York Central system, while standing still, can be prevented from moving by a single one-inch block of wood placed in front of each of the eight drive wheels! The same locomotive, moving at 100 miles per hour, can crash through a wall of steel-reinforced concrete five feet thick