Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 Workbook

John C. Maxwell

• Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9780310094081
• Edition: 25
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Leadership

“My greatest discovery in forty years of leading: Leadership can be developed.”  ~ Inc. Magazine’s No. 1 Leadership Expert, John C. Maxwell 

Twenty-five years ago, John Maxwell published the book that forever transformed how people think about leadership. Developing the Leader Within You showed that leaders are made, not born, and helped more than two million people in the process. Maxwell now returns to this classic text to include the insights and practices he has learned in the decades since that work first appeared. 

In this completely revised and expanded workbook, based on the book of the same title, you will receive everything you need to take a significant step in your leadership journey, along with in-depth activities designed to help develop the leader within you. If you complete all the readings and exercises and answer all the questions, you will be amazed at how your influence, effectiveness, and impact will increase in such a short time. And if you’re going through this process with a group, you’ll enjoy the challenging discussion questions at the end of each lesson so you can explore the ideas in even greater depth. 

With insights gleaned from his forty-plus years of leadership success, Maxwell will especially help readers explore the value of: 

• Achieving success using the Five Levels of Leadership 
• Developing people—a leader’s most appreciable assets 
• Identifying and solving problems and preventing their recurrence 
• Defining and articulating a vision for your organization 
• Building on the leadership skills you already possess 

No matter the arena in which you find yourself called to serve—family, business, or nonprofit—the principles Maxwell shares in this workbook will help you develop the vision, value, influence, and motivation required of successful leaders.  

Designed for use with Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 (9780718073992), sold separately. 

LESSON ONE

THE DEFINITION OF LEADERSHIP:
INFLUENCE

Why has leadership become so important? Because people are recognizing that becoming a better leader changes lives. Everything rises and falls on leadership. The world becomes a better place when people become better leaders. Developing yourself to become the leader you have the potential to be will change everything for you. It will add to your effectiveness, subtract from your weaknesses, divide your workload, and multiply your impact.

CONSIDER

How would your life change if your influence increased, your workload decreased, and you focused on using your strengths while others used their strengths in your areas of weakness?

[Your Response Here]

WHY MANY PEOPLE DON’T DEVELOP AS LEADERS

More and more people recognize the value of good leadership, yet not very many work to become better leaders. Why is that? Despite the widespread prevalence of leadership books and classes, many people think leadership isn’t for them. Maybe it’s because they make one of these assumptions:

I’M NOT A “BORN LEADER,” SO I CAN’T LEAD

Leaders are not born. Well, okay, they’re born. I’ve never met an unborn leader. (And I wouldn’t want to.) What I really mean is that your ability to lead is not set at birth. While it’s true that some people are born with more natural gifts that will help them lead at a higher level, everyone has the potential to become a leader. And leadership can be developed and improved by anyone willing to put in the effort.

A TITLE AND SENIORITY WILL AUTOMATICALLY MAKE ME A LEADER

I believe this kind of thinking was more common in my generation and that of my parents, but it can still be seen today. People think they need to be appointed to a position of leadership, when the reality is that becoming a good leader requires desire and some basic tools. You can have a title and seniority and be incapable of leading. And you can have no title or seniority and be a good leader.

WORK EXPERIENCE WILL AUTOMATICALLY MAKE ME A LEADER

Leadership is like maturity. It doesn’t automatically come with age. Sometimes age comes alone. Tenure does not create leadership ability. In fact, it’s more likely to engender entitlement than leadership ability.

I’M WAITING UNTIL I GET A POSITION TO START DEVELOPING AS A LEADER

This last assumption has been the most frustrating to me as a teacher of leadership. When I first started hosting leadership conferences, people would say, “If I ever become a leader”—meaning if they were ever appointed to a leadership position—“then maybe I’ll come to one of your seminars.” What’s the problem? As legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” If you start learning about leadership now, not only will you increase your opportunities, but you’ll also make the most of them when they arrive.

CONSIDER

Which of these false assumptions may be holding you back? Mark whether you have thought or said these statements.

YES	NO
		I’m not a “born leader,” so I can’t lead.
		A title and seniority will automatically make me a leader.
		Work experience will automatically make me a leader.
		I’m waiting until I get a position to start developing as a leader.

What must you do to change the way you think in any area you marked yes?

[Your Response Here]

HOW WILL YOU DEVELOP THE LEADER WITHIN YOU?

The bottom line is that if you’ve never done anything to develop yourself as a leader, you can start today. And if you have already begun your leadership journey, you can become a better leader than you already are by intentionally developing the leader within you.

What will that take? That’s the subject of this workbook. These ten lessons contain what I consider to be the ten essentials for developing yourself as a leader.

Let’s start with the most important concept of the ten: influence. After more than five decades of observing leaders around the world and many years of developing my own leadership potential, I have come to this conclusion: Leadership is influence. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less. That’s why my favorite leadership proverb is “He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following ...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Ebook Instructions
• Contents
• Preface to the 2.0 Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Lesson 1: The Definition of Leadership: Influence
• Lesson 2: The Key to Leadership: Priorities
• Lesson 3: The Foundation of Leadership: Character
• Lesson 4: The Ultimate Test of Leadership: Creating Positive Change
• Lesson 5: The Quickest Way to Gain Leadership: Problem Solving
• Lesson 6: The Extra Plus In Leadership: Attitude
• Lesson 7: The Heart of Leadership: Serving People
• Lesson 8: The Indispensable Quality of Leadership: Vision
• Lesson 9: The Price Tag of Leadership: Self-Discipline
• Lesson 10: The Expansion of Leadership: Personal Growth
• What’s Next?
• About the Author
• Notes