Beyond Sunday with Pastor Nic

Multiplying Impact: Applying the Law of Explosive Growth

July 26, 2024 Nicholas Williams

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Want to unlock the secret to multiplying your organization's impact? Discover the transformative power of John Maxwell's 20th law from his "21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership"—the law of explosive growth. We'll explore how shifting your focus from developing followers to cultivating leaders can lead to exponential growth. Learn actionable strategies, like targeting high-potential individuals, leveraging strengths, and investing quality time in leadership development. This episode promises practical insights to elevate your leadership journey and boost your organization's success.

Join us as we share inspiring examples, including Jack Welch's leadership pipeline at General Electric and the mentoring relationship between Moses and Joshua. By focusing on leadership development, you'll create a culture of continuous growth and set the stage for explosive organizational success. Tune in to understand how you can multiply your impact and drive your team's potential to new heights. Don't miss these valuable lessons on building a robust leadership culture and achieving monumental growth!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back to Beyond Sunday where, for this month, we're exploring the principles of leadership and personal growth through John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Today, we're diving into the 20th law. That's right, we're almost done. The 20th law is the law of explosive growth. This law states to add growth, lead followers To multiply lead leaders. Let's unpack what this means and how you and I can apply it to our lead leaders. Let's unpack what this means and how you and I can apply it to our leadership journey.

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In my leadership journey, I've seen the difference between leading followers and leading leaders. Early on, I focused on developing my team members individually, which resulted in steady growth. However, it wasn't until I started investing in developing other leaders that I saw truly explosive growth in my organization other leaders that I saw truly explosive growth in my organization. This shift not only multiplied our impact, but also created a culture of continuous development and leadership. John Maxwell defines the law of explosive growth by saying to add growth, lead followers to multiply lead leaders. This means if you develop yourself, you can experience personal success. If you develop a team, your organization can experience growth. But if you develop leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth. Maxwell emphasizes that developing leaders requires more time, more energy and more resources, but the payoff is exponential more energy and more resources, but the payoff is exponential. Leaders who develop leaders experience an incredible multiplication effect in their organizations that can't be achieved by simply increasing resources or reducing costs or improving systems.

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Here's some practical advice for leading leaders that John includes. Number one, he says develop the top 20% of people around you. Focus on the high potential individuals rather than spending time catching up with the bottom 20%. Number two focus on strengths instead of weaknesses. Help leaders capitalize on their strengths. I think this is one of the biggest mistakes that people make in their leadership journey is they think these are the areas I'm weak in, so I need to focus on those. And while it does help to improve your weaknesses, if you can make your strengths even stronger, you'll go further faster. Number three treat individuals differently. Recognize and cater to individual needs and potentials. Number four invest quality time in others. Make meaningful investment in others rather than just spending time together.

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2 Timothy 2.2 says and the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. This verse highlights the importance of developing the leaders around you who can, in turn, develop more leaders. Consider the relationship between Moses and Joshua in the Bible. Moses invested in Joshua, preparing him to lead the Israelites into the promised land. This investment and leadership development ensured the continuity and success of their mission. John Maxwell said if you develop yourself, you can experience personal success. Right, he said, if you develop a team, your organization can experience growth. If you develop the leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth. This quote underscores the power of multiplying leadership through developing leaders.

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Another great quote from Warren Bennis says the most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born, that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense. In fact, the opposite is true. He goes on and says leaders are made rather than born. This highlights the importance of investing in developing leadership skills. I've talked about it before, but that quote not in particular, but that idea in that quote was a mind-changing moment for me in my early 20s when I realized man, just because I wasn't born the strongest leader in the world doesn't mean that I can't learn leadership qualities, and it took me on a journey through John Maxwell and many others to get me to where I am today.

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Now imagine a manager who focuses solely on developing individual team members. While this approach can lead to steady growth, it often limits the potential for exponential impact. Now consider a manager who invests in developing other leaders within the team. These leaders then go on to develop their own teams, creating a ripple effect for growth and leadership. Consider the example of Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric. Welch was known for his focus on developing leaders within the organization. His investment in leadership development created a strong leadership pipeline that drove GE's explosive growth during his tenure. Maxwell, in his book, shares a story about a business leader who shifted from managing tasks to developing leaders. This shift not only increased the organization's capacity, but also created a culture of empowerment and continuous growth. Now let's take just a moment and talk about how you and I can apply the law of explosive growth to our own leadership journey.

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Five quick things. Number one assess your leadership stage. Consider what stage of leadership development you are in Developing yourself, developing your team or developing leaders. If you are not yet developing leaders, create an action plan to get you to that place. Number two develop a plan for finding and recruiting leaders. What is your plan for finding or recruiting the next leader in your organization. If you don't have one, create one. Identify high potential individuals and invest in their growth. Number three invest in the top 20%. Focus your efforts on developing the top 20% of people around you. These individuals have the highest potential to lead and multiply growth. Number four foster a climate for growth. Ensure that your organization's climate is one in which leaders can achieve and grow. Empower them to be creative and lead. Provide the responsibilities and support they need to succeed. Number five commit to continuous development.

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Developing leaders requires ongoing investment. Make a commitment to continuously invest your time, energy and resources in developing leaders. Remember to add growth. Lead followers To multiply lead leaders. Remember to add growth. Lead followers To multiply lead leaders. By focusing on developing leaders, you can achieve explosive growth and maximize your impact. Today, we explored the law of explosive growth and how leading leaders can result in exponential growth for your organization. By investing in leadership development, you can create a ripple effect that multiplies your impact and drives success. Join us next time as we delve into the final law, the law of legacy. You won't want to miss it. Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please subscribe, leave a review, share it with a friend. Until next time, keep growing and leading with purpose.