Craig T. Owens

I recently reviewed The Complete 101 Collection by John Maxwell. These are a great introduction to many of his more in-depth books (you can read my review by clicking here). Here are some quotes from Dr. Maxwell in Mentoring 101.

“Most people who desire success focus almost entirely on themselves, not others, when they start to make the journey. They usually think in terms of what they can get—in position, power, prestige, money, and perks. But that’s not the way to become truly successful. To do that, you have to give to others.”

“A person consumed with himself never considers spending time raising others up.”

“I believe that innate sense of motivation continues to exist in adults, but for too many people it has been beaten down by lack of support, busyness, stress, bad attitudes, lack of appreciation, scarce resources, poor training, or faulty communication. To get people excited about growing to their potential, you need to re-motivate them. Once you help them overcome the old things that knocked them down, they often motivate themselves.”

“As you develop people, remember that you are taking them on the journey towards success with you, not sending them. Stay with them until they’re ready to fly. And when they are ready, get them on their way.”

“The people closest to me determine my level of success or failure. The better they are, the better I am. And if I want to go to the highest level, I can do it only with the help of other people. We have to take each other higher.”

“When we examine ourselves, we naturally give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. Why? Because we see ourselves in the light of our intentions. On the other hand, when we look at others, we usually judge them according to their actions. Think about how much more positive our interaction with others would be if we believed the best in them and gave them the benefit of the doubt, just as we do for ourselves.”

“A study of 105 executives determined many of the characteristics shared by successful executives. One particular trait was defined as the most valuable: they admitted their mistakes and accepted the consequences rather than trying to blame others.”

“You can hire people to work for you, but you must win their hearts by believing in them in order to have them work with you.”

“Encouragement helps them reach their potential; it empowers them by giving them an energy to continue when they make mistakes. Use lots of positive reinforcement with your people. Don’t take acceptable work for granted; thank people for it. Praise a person every time you see improvement. And personalize your encouragement any time you can.”

“When you equip people, you teach them how to do a job. Development is different. When you develop people, you are helping them improve as individuals. You are helping them acquire personal qualities that will benefit them in many areas of life, not just their jobs.”

“There is no development without hard lessons. Almost all growth comes when we have positive responses to negative things.”

“When you don’t want to have a difficult conversation, you need to ask yourself: Is it because it will hurt them or hurt me? If it is because it will hurt you, then you’re being selfish. Good leaders get past the discomfort of having difficult conversations for the sake of the people they lead and the organization. The thing you need to remember is that people will work through difficult things if they believe you want to work with them.”

“Experience alone isn’t a good enough teacher—evaluated experience is. As the leader, you need to evaluate what looks like a win to make sure it is actually teaching what your employee needs to learn in order to grow and develop.”

“There is no greater accomplishment for mentors than when people they develop pass them by!”