What determines your potential as a leader? Today on Beyond Sunday, we unpack John Maxwell's Law of the Inner Circle and explore how the people closest to you can make or break your leadership journey. Reflecting on personal experiences and the wisdom of the Bible, we highlight the critical need for leaders to build a powerful, cohesive team. Learn practical strategies for identifying and nurturing your inner circle—those who bring complementary skills, hold key positions, and consistently add value to you and your organization.
Discover the profound impact of continuous self-improvement and the strength of teamwork through insightful quotes from John Maxwell and Mother Teresa. We use the analogy of a sports team to show how balanced units achieve remarkable success. Plus, hear a real-life example from a recent trip to New York City, where we observed the power of a cohesive baseball team in action. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, this episode will equip you with the tools to maximize your leadership potential by surrounding yourself with the right people. Join us and transform the way you lead!
What determines your potential as a leader? Today on Beyond Sunday, we unpack John Maxwell's Law of the Inner Circle and explore how the people closest to you can make or break your leadership journey. Reflecting on personal experiences and the wisdom of the Bible, we highlight the critical need for leaders to build a powerful, cohesive team. Learn practical strategies for identifying and nurturing your inner circle—those who bring complementary skills, hold key positions, and consistently add value to you and your organization.
Discover the profound impact of continuous self-improvement and the strength of teamwork through insightful quotes from John Maxwell and Mother Teresa. We use the analogy of a sports team to show how balanced units achieve remarkable success. Plus, hear a real-life example from a recent trip to New York City, where we observed the power of a cohesive baseball team in action. Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, this episode will equip you with the tools to maximize your leadership potential by surrounding yourself with the right people. Join us and transform the way you lead!
Welcome back to Beyond Sunday, where we explore the principles of leadership and personal growth through John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Today we're diving into the 11th law. So for the month of July if you haven't been listening I'm going through John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I take the month of July and really try to dive into some books and learning and work on myself every year, and so this year I decided man, one of the first books I ever read on leadership was this book and I wanted to dive back through it and thought you could go with it. Go through it with me the Law of the Inner Circle. This law states a leader's potential is determined by those closest to him. So let's take a few moments and unpack what this means and how you and I can apply it to our leadership journey.
Speaker 1:
In my leadership experience, I found that the people I surround myself with significantly impact my growth, but also my effectiveness as a leader. As John said, a leader's potential is determined by those closest to him. This means that the people you choose to surround yourself with will shape your leadership potential and effectiveness. With will shape your leadership potential and effectiveness. The quality of your inner circle can either propel you forward or hold you back, and as adults we don't think about this a lot. But with kids we always do right. We're always trying to figure out who our kids are hanging out with, making sure they're a good influence, not a bad influence, helping them mold their inner circle. But as adults we don't focus as much on it. We don't realize the impact that the people that are closest to us have on our life.
Speaker 1:
Maxwell emphasizes that no leader can do all 21 laws. Well. That's the good news, right? We're spending this month going through these 21 laws and you and I are never going to be able to accomplish all of them well, but it's my hope that one of these laws or two of these laws are stuff that you can work on to build your own leadership. Hope that one of these laws or two of these laws are stuff that you can work on to build your own leadership. But Maxwell goes on and says because no leader can do all 21 laws well, every leader needs a team that strengthens each other's weaknesses, he states, to increase your capacity and maximize your potential as a leader, your first step and I want you to hear this your first step is always to become the best leader you can be. The next step, number two, is to surround yourself with the best leaders you can find. Your inner circle should consist of individuals who have high influence with others. Bring complimentary gifts to the table, hold strategic positions in the organization, add value to you and the organization, positively impact each other in the inner circle and display excellence, maturity and good character in everything they do.
Speaker 1:
Proverbs 12, 17 says as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. This verse and I love it. I use it all the time. It highlights the importance of you and I surrounding ourselves with the right people, people who challenge us, people who help us grow.
Speaker 1:
Consider the relationship between Moses and Aaron in the Bible. Moses relied on Aaron to speak on his behalf and support him in leading the Israelites. Aaron's complementary skills and loyalty were crucial to Moses' leadership success. Now John Maxwell said to increase your capacity and to maximize your potential as a leader, your first step is to always become the best leader as you can, and the second is to surround yourself with leaders right? This quote emphasizes the importance of continuous self-improvement and surrounding yourself with capable individuals.
Speaker 1:
Another quote to consider is from Mother Teresa. She says you can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do, but together we can do great things. I love that quote. It underscores the power of teamwork and the value of complementary strengths. Imagine a sports team where the coach selects players not only for their individual skills, but also for how well they complement each other. A successful team is one where each player's strengths are utilized and weaknesses are covered by others. This balance creates a powerful and cohesive unit capable of achieving great things. We just came off a week with baseball in New York City with Noah, and that can be said of his team. His team is made up of kids that all have different skills and different strengths, but together, and we've spent a lot of time making sure that they are cohesive and that they're friends and trying to build that up, because it changes how they play together.
Speaker 1:
Consider the example of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Jobs was a visionary leader, while Wozniak he was a technical genius. Together, though, they created Apple, a company that revolutionized technology and design. Their complementary skills and mutual respect formed a strong inner circle that drove their success. John Maxwell shares a story about a business leader who realized that his potential was limited by the quality of his inner circle, he began to intentionally seek out and recruit individuals who possessed strengths that he lacked. This strategic move not only enhanced his leadership, but it also significantly improved the organization's performance.
Speaker 1:
Now, as always, I want to take just a moment and talk about how you and I can apply the law of the inner circle to your own leadership journey. It's one thing to know what a law is. It's another to really spend some moments reflecting. How can I be better at this? So, number one identify your inner circle, first step. Who's in it? List them, record what they bring to the table or what potential they have, find areas that are weak or duplicated, and decide how you can strengthen the weak areas or remove the duplications. Number two surround yourself with the best To leverage the law of the inner circle. Continually surround yourself with people you admire and respect, people you want to become like as you grow. This may involve stepping out of your comfort zone and recruiting individuals who are stronger in areas where you are weaker. Number three develop your inner circle. So you've identified it, you've begun to surround yourself with the best people, but now develop that inner circle.
Speaker 1:
A strong inner circle is not created by chance.
Speaker 1:
Strong leaders identify, develop and recruit their inner circle. This can be done by mentorship and developing relationships. It can be done by delegating more responsibility, having high expectations, recognizing things done well and having the courage to confront and hold members accountable when things do not go well. Number four evaluate potential members. When deciding on candidates for your inner circle, consider the following questions Do they have high influence with others? Do they bring a complimentary gift to the table? Do they hold a strategic position in the organization? Do they add value to me and the organization? Do they positively impact other inner circle members? Do they display excellence, maturity and good character in everything they do? And then finally, number five, this has been on multiple weeks. Just continue improvement. Right.
Speaker 1:
Focus on continuously improving yourself and your inner circle. Encourage personal and professional growth within your team and foster an environment where everyone can thrive and contribute their best. Remember, a leader's potential is determined by those closest to him. By intentionally building and developing a strong inner circle, you can enhance your leadership effectiveness and achieve greater success. Today, we explored the law of the inner circle. You can enhance your leadership effectiveness and achieve greater success. Today, we explored the law of the inner circle by focusing on surrounding yourself with capable and complimentary individuals, you can transform the way you lead and impact those around you. Join us next time as we delve into the 12th law, the law of empowerment Promise. You don't want to miss it. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, subscribe, leave a review, share with a friend. Until next time, keep growing and leading with purpose.
