What I Learnt from Reading "Developing the Leader Within You" by John C Maxwell- Part I

This book is a must read for anyone who wants to develop or improve leadership qualities. It is a book you do not want to rush at all. The nuggets of wisdom ring true and are doable, if one wants to truly excel at leadership. In most cases  I will use his words and sometimes mine.

First John Maxwell says that Leadership can be taught; it is not an exclusive club for born leaders. This is encouraging as some people feel like they can never be leaders. He goes on to categorize those desiring leadership into four levels;

• The leading Leader
• The Learned Leader
• The Latent Leader
• The Limited Leader

For all of these levels most of the characteristic qualities can be acquired.

Leadership is the ability to influence others, and everyone can influence others to the level where they become followers of some sort. So a Leader can be defined as someone who has followers.
He shares that sociologists tell us that even the most introverted person influences about ten thousand people in a life time. This influence too is a skill that can be learned.

There are Five Levels of Leadership

1. Position
2. Permission
3. Production
4. Personnel development
5. Personhood

In climbing through these levels of leadership, it gets considerably longer to get higher and your level of committment also progressively increases.
John Maxwell calls the key to leadership, "Priorities" and the most important ingredient, "Integrity". I found these interesting.
A funny anecdote I got from reading the part on integrity building compared to image building was, "Two old ladies were walking in a somewhat overcrowded English country churchyard and came upon a tombstone. The inscription said: "Here lies John Smith, a politician and an honest man." "Good heavens!" said one woman to the other. "Isn't it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave!"

I found these questions which he posed for self assessment on whether you are an image builder or an integrity builder very helpful, and I hope others will:
Consistency:   "Are you the same person no matter who you are with? Yes or no."

Choices:   "Do you make decisions that are best for others when another choice would benefit you? Yes or no."

Credit:   "Are  you quick to recognize others for their efforts and contributions to your success? Yes or no."