Maxwell Leadership Podcast: “3 Questions to Become a Better Leader”

Host: John Maxwell
Co-hosts: Mark Cole & Chris Robinson
Date: January 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into three formative questions that have guided John Maxwell’s lifelong journey as a transformational leader. First encountered as a freshman in college, these questions are designed to help leaders at any stage unlock their purpose, passion, and growth trajectory. Mark Cole and Chris Robinson join John to reflect on how these questions anchor their leadership—for themselves and within their organization—and offer real-world tips for personal and organizational application.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origin and Power of the Three Leadership Questions

• [03:41] John Maxwell shares a pivotal moment as a college freshman, receiving three questions from a guest lecturer in a Psych 101 class.
• For 50+ years, John’s returned to these questions to guide his leadership.

The Three Questions:

1. What do you cry about?
2. What do you sing about?
3. What do you dream about?

2. Question One: What Do You Cry About?

Theme: What breaks your heart and compels you to make things right?

• John admits, as a young man, his answers were trivial (“the girl wouldn’t go on a date”). Maturity brings clarity to deeper pains.

• Mature Reflection:
  “What do I cry about today? Oh, it’s very simple. In my life, I cry about poor leadership. Because if we’ve ever needed good leadership in our world, it’s right now.”
  — John Maxwell [05:08]

• John urges reframing:
  “What’s not right—and you would like to make it right?”
  — John Maxwell [06:22]

• Chris Robinson’s Perspective:
  Chris confesses he doesn’t have a single overwhelming cause but acknowledges emotional responses to stories of overlooked potential.
  “At 45 years old now, I still do not have that one thing that just pierces my heart... I still struggle with this.” — Chris Robinson [14:07]

• Mark Cole on Organizational Emotion:
  “What makes us cry is bad leadership. We are sad with bad leadership, with bad models of leadership. That’s what makes us cry.”
  — Mark Cole [18:41]

Memorable Story:

Mark shares an intimate grandparent moment, moved to tears by his grandkids mirroring his positive influence:
“Paul, everything you do, I want to do better when I’m older…these little kids that need a voice in their life that makes them believe in their value, in their potential, is what they’re longing for right now…I literally went to bed last night weeping...”
— Mark Cole [22:15]

3. Question Two: What Do You Sing About?

Theme: What fills you with joy and fulfillment in your work?

• John’s revelation: It’s the discovery that people can learn to lead—leadership isn’t innate, it’s developed.
• Transformative book reference: “Developing the Leader Within You,” which reframed leadership as a skill to be built.

“Adding value to people, teaching, training leaders. That’s what makes me sing.”
— John Maxwell [08:18]

Co-host Reflections:

• Mark Cole:
  “For me, I sing about people overcoming great obstacles and experiencing a life they never dreamt. When I get in a movie and people have these high aspirations and they go through crazy difficulty and overcome the difficulty and then achieve...much greater than their dream—man, I become a musical performer."
  — Mark Cole [23:17]

• Chris Robinson:
  “What makes me happy...very early on...as a sales manager at a call center, I fell in love with leadership development...what if I can make a living just adding value to people, help develop leaders?”
  — Chris Robinson [25:08]

Notable Quote:
“Unhappiness is not knowing what you want and killing yourself to get it.”
— John Maxwell, quoted by Chris Robinson [25:04]

4. Question Three: What Do You Dream About?

Theme: The vision that drives your ambition and contribution

• John’s dream matured into making a difference through teaching leadership, based on his belief that “everything rises and falls on leadership.”

• 30-Day Challenge:
  “For the next 30 days, ask those three questions. What do you cry about? What do you sing about? What do you dream about?...I will promise you those three questions will make you a better leader.”
  — John Maxwell [10:53]

Personal & Organizational Applications:

• Chris: Dream is seeing people they help live out their dreams and then help others, creating a ripple effect of impact.
  — Chris Robinson [27:53]

• Mark’s Childhood Reflection:
  Describes dreams as a five-year-old “captain” bringing precious cargo to those in need—now realized in awakening and scaling others’ potential as a leader.
  “In my little world, what I was dreaming is what still I dream about right now: scaling my influence to awaken the potential in millions of people.”
  — Mark Cole [28:54]

• Organizational Dream:
  Creating an environment where dreams of every team member and coach are awakened and realized.

Practical Takeaways

• Reflection Assignment: Spend 30 days regularly contemplating the three questions for personal clarity and growth.
• Organizational Reflection: Challenge your team to answer these questions collectively to uncover your organization’s core drivers—what you collectively “cry, sing, and dream” about.
• Use these questions to align both individual and group actions to values and vision.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Fifty years ago, I heard them in a classroom. They still have brought improvement in my life.” — John Maxwell [11:31]
• “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing with passion.” — Mark Cole, quoting his father [15:49]
• “Are you dreaming and are you awakening the dream in others?...Let’s begin to pursue that in 2025.” — Mark Cole [32:57]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:41] — John Maxwell introduces the three leadership questions.
• [05:08] — John discusses “What do you cry about?”
• [08:18] — John shares “What do you sing about?”
• [09:32] — John examines “What do you dream about?”
• [14:07] — Chris Robinson shares his struggle with “cry about.”
• [18:41] — Mark and Chris discuss what makes the organization “cry.”
• [22:15] — Mark’s emotional story about his grandchildren and influence.
• [23:17] — Mark on “sing about”—joy in helping others overcome.
• [25:08] — Chris on personal joy in developing leaders.
• [27:53] — Chris on dreaming and the impact on others.
• [28:54] — Mark’s childhood dreams foreshadowing his leadership journey.
• [32:57] — Organizational dreaming and awakening dreams in others.

Conclusion

By returning to these foundational questions—what you cry about, sing about, and dream about—you can unlock deeper self-awareness and more effective, passionate leadership. Both individually and organizationally, these questions serve as guideposts for living and leading on purpose. As John urges, take the 30-day challenge to sit with these questions and see how they can transform your leadership journey in 2025.