The Power of Empowerment

The Power of Empowerment

– John Maxwell

 

The ability to empower others is one of the keys to personal and professional success. John Craig said, “No matter how much work you can do, no matter how engaging your personality may be, you will not advance far in business if you cannot work through others.”

 

When you become an empowerer, you certainly work with and through people, but you also do much more. Simply defined, empowering is giving your influence to others for the purpose of personal and organizational growth. It’s seeing others’ potential, then sharing yourself-your influence, position, power, and opportunities-with others with the purpose of investing in the lives of others so that they can function at their best.

 

The act of empowering others changes lives, and one of the greatest things about it is that it’s a win-win for you and the people you empower. If you empower others by giving them your authority, it has the same effect as sharing information. You haven’t lost anything. You’ve increased the ability of others without decreasing yourself.

 

Excerpt from Becoming a Person of Influence

Need a Lift?

Need a Lift?

– John Maxwell

 

With good leadership, everything improves. Leaders are lifters. They push the thinking of their teammates beyond old boundaries of creativity. They elevate others’ performance, making them better than they’ve ever been before. They improve people’s confidence in themselves and others.

 

While managers are often able to maintain a team at its current level, leaders are able to lift a team to a higher level than it has ever reached before. The key to that is working with people and bringing out the best in them. For example:

 

• Leaders transfer ownership for work to those who execute the work.

• Leaders create an environment where each team member wants to be responsible.

• Leaders coach the development of personal capabilities.

• Leaders learn quickly and encourage others to learn efficiently also.

 

If you want to give a team a lift, then provide it with better leadership.

 

Excerpt from The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork

 

 

Give Yourself Away

Give Yourself Away

– John Maxwell

 

Nothing has such a positive impact on a person as giving to others. And people who have a giving spirit are some of the most positive people I know. That’s because giving is the highest level of living. They focus their time and energy on what they can give to others rather than what they can get from them. And the more a person gives, the better his attitude.

 

Most unsuccessful people don’t understand this concept. They believe that how much people give and their attitude about it are based on how much they have. But that’s not true. I know many people who have very little but are tremendous givers. And I know people who have been blessed with money, good families, and wonderful careers who are stingy and suspicious of others. In life, it’s not what you have that makes a difference. It’s what you do with what you have. And that is based completely on attitude.

 

Excerpt from Your Road Map for Success

Be Conscious Of Your Conscience

Be Conscious Of Your Conscience

– Harvey Mackay

I have always been a fan of comics, or what I call the funny pages. Recently I was looking at The Family Circus” by Bil Keane. The littlest boy has a cupboard open and is looking at various boxes of food when his older brother sees him and says, “Conscience is like Mommy tellin’ you not to do somethin’, but she isn’t there.”

Or as I like to say, act like your mother is watching. All the time.

Conscience is that little voice inside that tells us what we already know is right or wrong. Unfortunately for some, when it is talking, they aren’t listening. And that’s when the trouble begins. Whether in our personal life or business life, it’s important to heed that little voice.

Perhaps you remember the lesson that Jiminy Cricket taught to Pinocchio: “Always let your conscience be your guide.” It may seem pretty elementary, but our consciences are actually formed as children, long before many other personality traits are developed.

Investor’s Business Daily identified 10 traits for getting ahead in business – 10 traits for turning your dreams into reality. They included many things you would expect: a positive attitude, a definitive goal, a courageous spirit, an inquisitive mind, a strong heart, an analytical brain, a focused eye, a fearless approach and a disciplined tongue. Number 10 on the list was a clear conscience.

Like “The Family Circus” cartoon, they harkened back to the lessons of childhood. Don’t forget the rules you learned in kindergarten. Play nice. Be dependable. Tell the truth. If you can’t get to the top by being true to yourself and straight with everyone around you, your success will be hollow – and probably short-lived.

Read the headlines: business scandals, political scandals, religious scandals, sports scandals, entertainment scandals – Have we lost all our sense of right and wrong?

I don’t think so, or these stories wouldn’t be so shocking. But as business people, we need to be critically aware of our role in keeping things honest. People are watching, and given the 24-hour news cycle and the reach of social media, we need to understand that taking chances with the truth is never worth the risk.

Consider these lessons from two highly principled leaders.

Once when U.S. President Harry Truman was asked what principles guided his career, he said that he let his conscience be his guide. Then he elaborated: “My father used to say, ‘That is all you can do.’ … What more can a man do? Do the best you can. Sometimes you come out successfully, sometimes you don’t. You have to have luck and ability and be ready to meet the situation as it comes. All this happened to me. I never thought I would go to the United States Senate, but then I never thought I would go to the White House either.”

Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi said he had a formula for achieving balance both in one’s personal life as well as in the modern world. His prescription called for recognizing and avoiding the seven big sins of life: wealth without works, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle.

Do you detect a theme here? Most of them relate to having a clear conscience.

Make no mistake; customers are watching how businesses perform through an ethical lens. Businesses cannot hide their questionable practices for long – they will be exposed. Trying to mend a bad reputation is a lot harder than maintaining a good one.

Just ask the big bank that’s in the news for questionable sales practices. Or the airbag maker whose defective products are hurting people instead of protecting them. Or the movie mogul who went from the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel after multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior surfaced.

But you don’t have to make national headlines for your true colors to be exposed. Doing business with this shopkeeper might be a challenge.

An eager-beaver salesperson was trying to have a country storekeeper carry his product, and finally tried to bribe the fellow with a bottle of champagne.

“Oh, my conscience wouldn’t let me take a gift,” the storekeeper protested.

“What if I sell it to you for one dollar?” asked the salesperson.

“In that case,” replied the man, “I’ll take two.”

Mackay’s Moral: Putting profit before principle is always bad business.

The best ideas are the honest ones. Ones

The best ideas are the honest ones. Ones born out of personal experience. Ones that originated to help a few but ended up helping many. ~ Simon Sinek

One of the advantages of being disorderl

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries. ~ A. A. Milne

Our sense of belonging can never be grea

Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance. Be You. Belong. ~ Brene’ Brown

Behind the mask of ice that people wear,

Behind the mask of ice that people wear, there beats a heart of fire. ~ Paulo Coelho

Share the Burden

Share the Burden

– John Maxwell

 

Easing people into delegation is important. You can’t simply dump tasks on people, not if you want them to succeed. Delegate according to the following steps:

 

1. Ask them to be fact finders only. It gives them a chance to become acquainted with the issues and objectives.

 

2. Ask them to make suggestions. This gets them thinking and it gives you a chance to become acquainted with their thought processes.

 

3. Ask them to implement one of their recommendations, but only after you give your approval. Set them up for success, not failure.

 

4. Ask them to take action on their own, but to report the results immediately. This will give them confidence, and you will still be able to perform damage control if necessary.

 

5. Give complete authority. This is the final step-what you’ve been working toward.

 

Excerpt from Developing the Leaders Around You

The Generous Leader

The Generous Leader

– John Maxwell

 

If great leaders err, they do so on the side of generosity. They are givers, not takers. They feel motivated to:

 

1. Serve others – to help them grow and thrive.

 

2. Solve problems – that prevent potential from being reached.

 

3. Save causes – that benefit mankind.

 

God instructs His leaders and the entire nation of Israel to imitate His generosity and grace. At the end of every seventh year, every Israelite was to cancel all debts owed by fellow citizens. If they would indeed cancel debts, model graciousness and forgiveness, and care for the poor, God would favor their land with abundant crops and freedom from invasion. Imagine! They simply needed to trust that God was in control and let Him worry about rain and sun and fruitful harvest times.

 

Excerpt from The Maxwell Leadership Bible