Business Book Summaries

Hit the Mother Lode!

Smart leaders learn from their own mistakes. Smarter ones learn from others’ mistakes – and successes.

John C. Maxwell wants to help you become the smartest leader you can be by sharing Leadership Gold with you. After nearly forty years of leading, Maxwell has mined the gold so you don’t have to. Each gold nugget is one of twenty-six chapters designed to be a six-month mentorship from the internationally renowned leadership expert.

Each chapter contains detailed application exercises and a “Mentoring Moment” for leaders who desire to mentor others using the book.

Gaining leadership insight is a lot like mining for gold. You don’t set out to look for the dirt. You look for the nuggets. You’ll find them here.

This book has leadership thoughts that will quicken your pulse and stir your heart. It will help you learn more about leadership that will make a difference in you and will make a difference in the lives of others.

Here is an excerpt from his book, " Leadership Gold: Lessons Learned from a Lifetime of Leading" .

BE A CONNECTOR, NOT JUST A CLIMBER

Most leaders naturally fall into either the climber or connector camp. They are either highly positional or highly relational. Which type of leader are you? Take a look at some of the differences between climbers and connectors.

Climbers think vertical – Connectors think horizontal. Climbers are always acutely aware of who is ahead of them and who is behind them in the standings or on the organizational chart.

Climbers focus on position – Connectors focus on relationships. Because climbers are always thinking about moving up, they are often focused on their position. However, connectors are more focused on relationships. Unlike positional people who desire to climb the ladder, relational people are more focused on building bridges.

Climbers value competition – Connectors value cooperation. Climbers see nearly everything as a competition. For some, that can mean trying to win at all costs. Connectors, however, are more interested in using their relationships with others to foster cooperation. They see working together as a win.

Climbers seek power – Connectors seek partnerships. The way to create really high-powered teams is to form partnerships, which is what connectors are more likely to do.

Climbers build their image – Connectors build consensus. Connectors are more concerned with getting everyone on the same page so that they can work together.

Climbers want to stand apart – Connectors want to stand together. Climbers want to distinguish themselves from everybody else in the organization. Connectors, on the other hand, find ways to get closer to other people, to find common ground that they can stand on together.

"It is time and past time for this nation, this government, to react to the dangers inherent in its flawed farm and food policies and to reverse course from subsidizing wealth to subsidizing health.

We have to stop paying the largest farm subsidies to large growers of unsustainable and inedible crops like cotton. We have to stop paying huge subsidies to Big Corn, Big Soy and Big Chem to use prime farmland to grow fuel, plastics and fructose. We have to stop using federal and state agencies and institutions as taxpayer-funded research arms for the very practices that got us into this mess.

We have to start subsidizing health and well-being by rewarding sustainable practices in agriculture and assuring a safe, adequate and wholesome food supply to all our citizens. And we need to start this reform process now, as part of the national stimulus toward economic recovery.”

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult to catch the eyes of the consumer. Once you have them you have to keep them. Technology has transformed relationships between businesses and customers. Now, your job isn’t just to transact sales. Your job is to cultivate trust, build community, and interact with your customers on an ongoing basis.

Your job is to become a hub, a center of influence that creates value for your customers on their terms. Sales and profit are the result of fulfilling customer desires through educational, valuable content and remarkable products and services. Do this and your loyal community members become your advocates and evangelists.”

“It’s official: the word 'campaign' is becoming more and more scarce as it relates to the new world of marketing. And rightly so. People want to be engaged with a company, organization or cause beyond a short-term gimmick. So we’re starting to see the emergence of the term 'movement,' which makes a lot more sense.

Let’s compare the two.

“Synapses are natural, visceral, reactions connecting the soft organs of the body to the central nervous system. They can be trusted to be “on the money,” and most corporate bodies—human or otherwise—are lost without them. Not being in tune with one’s own ecosystem leads to unrewarded, misplaced effort and operational dysfunction.

Enabled by technology, we now have knowledge of how to make human connections work best in corporations connected by a common purpose.

This is a document that’ll show you how to make that happen.”