From Stockroom To Leading The Boardroom
Mark Cole began his career working for John Maxwell 21 years ago. It was an inauspicious start for the man who would go on to be Chief Executive Officer of The John Maxwell Company and his nine organizations. Mark began in the mailroom and doing tele-sales. He was spending literally everyday picking up the phone and calling people trying to get them to come to John’s leadership events. A good day was when not only did he make a sale but those people brought a group of friends with them!
But even back then you could tell Mark had extraordinary giftedness and a unique calling on his life. I should know. We were in the building together. He simply oozed leadership.
This was on full display today as Mark led a training where he discussed how to view problems, the shifts leaders must make, and identified four questions all leaders must ask.
His thoughts were so helpful I want to share them with you. First are the four questions followed by how to view the leadership problems you may be facing. Next are his lessons on shifts leaders must make to maximize their influence. Finally, I have included some additional leadership lessons he provided.
4 Questions All Leaders Must Ask
- When is the last time I learned something for the first time?
- When is the last time I did something for the first time?
- When is the last time I found something better for the first time?
- When is the last time I saw something bigger for the first time?
How To View Leadership Problems
- P – Predictors are a picture of what type of person you are.
- R – Reminders that life is tough. Leadership is demonstrated in the difficult times.
- O – Opportunity will make you and other people better.
- B – Blessings. Problems sometimes point you in a more beneficial direction.
- L – Lesson. What did I learn from this problem?
- E – Everywhere. Even before COVID, problems were everywhere.
- M – Message. In every problem, there is a takeaway.
- S – Solvable. Every problem has a solutions.
- People who have a leadership mindset love solving problems.
- In every problem is an opportunity to learn and grow.
- Real leaders know there’s always an answer. Most of the time there’s multiple answers.
- COVID taught us to take problems and solve them.
Shifts In Leadership You Need To Make
Before reading these thoughts, make sure you purchase John’s book Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace by clicking HERE if you have not done so already.
- To become a better leader, you must deliberately undergo shifts.
- “You can get everything in life you want if you help others get what they want.” – Zig Ziglar
- Your success will be determined by if everyone on your team can operate at peak performance and have high accomplishment.
- The personal growth you experience as you work toward your goals will be much more significant. Becoming better carries more weight than doing better.
- Many people who become leaders do so for the wrong reasons.
- True leaders find their motivation in what they give to other people.
- As a leader you need to be in the leadership business, not the friendship business.
- Your job is to challenge the people.
- Doing what you’ve always done will produce the results you’ve always gotten.
- Everybody focuses on innovation, not maintenance. Leaders need to be asking, “Is there a better way?”
- You can be more successful when you reproduce yourself in others.
- Ladder-climbing leaders must transition to ladder-builders.
- Don’t climb the ladder. Hold the ladder for others.
- Today’s leadership focuses on connecting, not directing.
- You will be a more effective leader when you focus on asking questions, not giving directives.
- Listen. Learn. Love. Lead. (in that order)
- Our differences can help us leverage other people’s brilliance.
- Bringing diversity into your team will help you get better.
- Winning is about completing each other.
- Diverse teams fill the perspective and experience gaps in your organization.
- Just because you have been designated the leader doesn’t mean you have leadership authority.
- The recognition of a person’s leadership is based on who they are, not what position they hold.
- Transformational leaders are visionaries. They believe in a cause much bigger than themselves.
- Everyone falls in one of three categories. Those who just do a job. Those who have a career. Those who have a calling.
- Finding your calling helps you shift your calling and change your long-term view.
Additional Thoughts
- Influence is directly tied to your ability to help others achieve extraordinary results.
- The greatest threat to our success is the gap between what we know and what we do.
- Maximizing your influence means increasing your leadership capacity.
- Before leaders can become great at helping their teams, they must become better themselves.
- Powerful questions asked by a coach can unlock life-changing answers.
- If you want to become the best at what you do, you must invest in yourself.
To learn more about John Maxwell, Mark Cole, and how to spread the message of personal growth, influence, and transformational leadership to all you serve, click HERE.
The Top 60 Leadership Quotes From 2021 Part 1 is my latest ebook. For many entering a post-pandemic environment, leadership looks completely different than the pre-pandemic world. People are more broken now. They are more uncertain. Fear and anxiousness are unwelcome constant companions. Cultures are more unhealthy. Relationships are more dysfunctional. Hope seems to be in short supply. Every day seems to bring a new hacking, natural disaster, or unexpected calamity.
Therefore, the fundamentals of leadership are more important than ever. The quotes in this book deal with the basics of leadership. If you want to be the best leader you can possibly be, click HERE or on the image provided to download this FREE resource. The lessons learned from last year, if applied, will sustain you for years to come.