Transcript
A (0:08)
Welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. This is the podcast that adds value to you so you, as a leader, will multiply value to others. I'm Mark Cole, and today I cannot wait for you to listen to what John Maxwell is sharing with us. Here's why. Because there's a winner in every one of us. There's a desire to be a winner in all of us, and there is a desire to be around winners within every one of us. John often says it like this. If you become better and bigger on the inside, you'll become better and bigger on the outside. The lesson today is all about how you can develop the character of the winner within you. How you can develop the character of the winner within the people that you lead and where you can identify and create winners all around you. Our desire is to help you become the winner you should be, so you can help those around you be as successful as possible at being the winner within them. Once the lesson is finished today, I'll be talking to a winner. My co host today is Traci Morrow, and she and I are going to offer you some practical advice that will help you apply John's lesson to your life and to your leadership. If you would like to download today's free bonus resource, or if you'd like to watch us on YouTube, you can go to maxwellpodcast.com Winner I'm ready. Are you ready? I want to be on the winning team. I want to be a winner. It's within you. Here is John to teach you how.
B (1:49)
How a leader develops the character of a winner. This is a very important lesson because there are people that are kind of inclined to success because they have a lot of good ability. But what we discover is sometimes that the detriment to the ability that we have that would give us success is the fact that we lack character, we lack values, we lack on the inside, those things which would help us take the good, strong, long, successful journey. So let's talk a little bit about character. And how do you develop in a winter? I'm still reminded of my friend Truett Cathy, who has built a great restaurant company in the United States called Chick Fil A. And to be honest with you, in the fast food industry, they're number one. Everybody knows that nobody doesn't like Chick Fil A. And in the earlier days when Chick Fil A was growing, but they probably had potential to grow a lot faster than they were. Truett Cathy, the founder, was sitting around with the board, and the board kept saying to Truett, let's get Bigger. Let's get bigger. Let's have more stores. Let's get bigger. Let's get bigger. Truett Cathy looked at them and said, no, no, let's get better. They kind of looked at him for a moment and thought, what do you mean by that? He said, well, here's what I know. If we get better, the customers will demand that we get bigger. He was exactly right. You see, Truett Cathy was thinking about the character of the company. He knew that if you are better on the inside, you'll become better on the outside, that if you're bigger on the inside, you'll become bigger on the outside, and that what character is all about. So how do I develop character in my people to help them be successful? Number one, I would encourage you to get a personal definition of success. Now, success is very subjective. So if I asked you what success is, you'd give me a different answer than perhaps the person beside you. Success is very subjective. But I want to challenge you to get a personal definition of success that is inward. Start with the insight. Start with the character. Get a character definition of success. For example, mine. It's very simple. As I look at successful people and as a young person, I was beginning to experience some of that success. I was watching some of them literally fall down, fail, get out of the business. And I kept thinking they were doing so well. What happened. And what happened is they had an outward definition of success. They had goals to reach, money they wanted to make, but they never started with the inside first. And so I developed an inside definition of success, which is those closest to me, those who know me the best, they're the ones who respect me the most. It's very simple, isn't it? The people that know me well, my family, my close friends, they know me. They know my strengths, they know my weaknesses. They know what I do well, they know what I don't well, but they love and respect me the most. Why is that? Because I'm a person of character. That became my inward definition of success. Now, I want you to get that for yourself, and I want you to teach your people on your team. You need an inward definition of success, because you can't travel without till you're traveled within. The inside determines the outside. And so it's very important for me to have a personal inside definition of success which will now allow me to travel outside. Now, the moment that I get my inside definition of success, those who are closest to me love and respect me the most. Now, I can get an outward definition of success for Me, it's knowing my purpose in life, growing at my maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others. But get the inside definition first. That's how you develop character and help your people to really win from the inside first. Number two, learn and live good values. Values are what give you stability. As we went through Covid, my CEO Mark Cole and I sat down and he said, john, with COVID and uncertainty, we what's going to happen to our companies? I said, I don't know. I said, In 12 months we could lose it all. It's okay. I said, here's what we need to know. Let's keep our values intact. Let's follow our values. We don't give up our values. We hold to them, especially during crisis. Let's value our people, let's take care of them. Let's make sure we do the right thing. I said, if we all go under, we all go under together. But let's make sure that we keep our values intact. So when you learn good values and you live good values, wow, you just become more valuable. I wrote a book called Change youe World. It's a life changing book. If you get a chance, pick it up. It will teach you all about this character on the inside, the values on the inside, which so determine the success on the outside. Outside. The third way that you develop characters that allow them to become winners in life is to teach them that everything worthwhile is uphill. That if they're going to be a success, it's all uphill. There's nothing quick about it. There's nothing easy about it. There's nothing that just happens. There's no luck about it at all. It's all uphill. You have to be intentional to climb this hill. You've got to give energy every day to this. You've got to expect adversity, difficulties, hardship, all of your dreams, everything. It's all uphill. It's right up here. Now. Once you teach people that, then when they have adversity, they don't think that they've done something wrong or that they're an exception. They say, well, John said it would be uphill all the way. He said it wouldn't be easy. He said it would take a long time. He said there were no quick fixes. There were, wow. The difference between people who succeed and people who don't is quite simple. Let me give it to you. People who succeed, they do what is right and then they feel good. People who do not succeed, people who fail, they want to feel good before they do what is right. Those are two totally different worlds. Remember, everything worthwhile is uphill. What does that mean for the people on your team? Encourage them that the first battle they must win is the battle with themselves. Then they can take care of the outward battles. The first victory you want them to have is a personal self victory. Then they can have victory with others and for others. I think developing character in your personal life and in the life of your team is what's going to help you get through the difficult times. And when other people fall off, your people stay the course. Why? Because they're bigger on the inside than they are on the outside. Because they're better on the inside than they are on the outside. That's what I want for you, and that's what I want for your people.