Developing the Leaders Around You: How to Help Others Reach Their Full Potential

I am addicted to John Maxwell's books on leadership! This one is excellent! It challenges you to become a strong leader in order to develop leaders. Maxwell always presents information in a way that is challenging and he gives practical ways to put new skills into action. If you are leading a corporation or a small group I think you would benefit from this book.

This is one of the best books I have ever read in term of the leadership development.

I really enjoyed this book, it was very well written and funny. I love the added stories and comic relief it provides. I would reccommend this to anyone who is a coach or a boss in the workplace. It is a top reference for leadership and how to be successful with it. I will use this book for a long time. The only thing that might be a concern is that the author is a preacher and he uses references to God sometimes. Might be a turn off for some, but it didnt bother me at all. He is an excellent writer and knows what he is talking about...

The basic premise of this book is that you can multiply the efficiency of your organization by devoting time to developing the potential leaders around you. The idea is that once you commit to developing potential leaders, they in turn become leaders who can develop other leaders, and as the number of leaders grows, productivity increases. The book provides guidelines as to how to identify those individuals who have the potential for leadership, and then gives instruction on how to develop them. The guidelines and instruction Maxwell gives can be summarized as follows: choose the individuals who are the most willing to grow and learn new things as your potential leaders, and grow them by investing time in them, empowering them for success by delegating wisely and providing counsel. Maxwell views the development as a nurturing process, very relationally based. His ideas are sound (though I have oversimplified them here in the interest of brevity), and his examples and descriptions thorough. There is a somewhat general nature to his examples in some cases, mostly because the book is written for leaders of all types (coaches, supervisors, CEOs, parents...) and it is meant to be universal in scope. The book does contain a wealth of information, (I must have marked 10-12 pages in order to refer to them later) and gives the reader an opportunity for self-assessment with a questionnaire. Additionally, the universal quality of his principles enables individual application to unique situations, which is perhaps the most valuable quality of this fine book.

Maxwell's approach to leadership is one of great encouragement and releasing the potential within people being called to a greater responsibility. Being of authority while being under authority and achieving all that you can be as a leader.