Disagreeing with John Maxwell!
With a title like this, I better hit this blog out of the park! Disagreeing with a man that has written over 100 books on leadership takes a little guts, but I am pretty confident he will agree with my premise. Full transparency, I am a John Maxwell Certified Coach. I admire John as a mentor, a thought leader, and as the worlds leadership guru. However, there is one quote of his that I am beginning to disagree with. This quote comes from his book "Good Leaders ask Great Questions".
"Who do you know, that I need to know?"
Although it is a great quote and something to think about for your own personal growth, when I think about leadership it is contrary to what I want to achieve with my team.
Great Questions
As a leadership coach I push my clients to get out of the WIIFM (what's in it for me) mindset. How can we help our team, company, organization and the people around it? That requires a similar question, but at the core of leadership, it truly is a great question;
"Who do I know, that this person I am trying to lead needs to know?" - Mike Kole
If our job as leaders is to build leaders around us, add value, and truly help mentor our team, we need to have a WIIFT (what's in it for THEM) mindset. Maxwell says that "leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less". How better to influence your flock than connecting them with others that can help them grow.
When you start thinking of ways to help your team improve, ask yourself this question. Who can you introduce them to that can add more value?
At the Kole Performance Group, we focus on helping you become a great leader. This can only happen when you help others around you. Think about the great questions you can ask them, as well as yourself the next time you go into a mentoring session.