Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John C. Maxwell from his book, Leadershift (p. 111). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And we want that, don’t we? John says, “You’ve probably heard the expression, ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’ Well, I have news for you. It can get better. Everything can get better. And as leaders, we should be catalysts for improvement. We need to champion the idea expressed by poet James Russell Lowell, who said, ‘Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but making something out of it after it is found.’” John goes on, “I have a process for making things better that I use with my team. I call it 10-80-10. Whenever we start on a task or project, the first thing I do is identify the target, which represents approximately 10 percent of the process. So, the first 10 of 10-80-10 focuses on knowing what we want to accomplish. After all, how can I find what I don’t know that I’m looking for? Thi...

A thought by John C. Maxwell from his book, Leadershift (p. 105). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It really is! John says, “And if you also happen to have an inherent tendency toward inactivity when it comes to innovation, you have even more to overcome.” He goes on, “I’ve observed that we all tend to fall into one of four different zones when it comes to innovation, which impacts how we live, how we lead, and what we achieve. Here are the zones, along with attitude statements that represent them: 1.     THE COASTING ZONE—'I do as little as possible.’ 2.     THE COMFORT ZONE—'I do what I have always done.’ 3.     THE CHALLENGE ZONE— ‘I attempt to do what I haven’t done before.’ 4.     ​THE CREATIVE ZONE—'I attempt to think what I have never thought before.’ ” He then says, “To which zone do you naturally gravitate? Do you ...

A thought by John C. Maxwell from his book, Leadershift (p. 99). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And relationships are so important, aren’t they? John says, “I’ll explain why that’s so important in a moment. But first, let me set it up for you by explaining one of the core teachings I use to develop leaders. It’s called the 5 Levels of Leadership. It illustrates a process whereby people can develop influence with others. Here is a brief description of each of the five levels: 1.     POSITION (based on rights), where people follow you because they have to. 2.     PERMISSION (based on relationships), where people follow you because they want to. 3.     ​PRODUCTION (based on results), where people follow you because you help improve the team. 4.     PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT (based on reproduction), where people follow you because you imp...