Being a leader isn’t easy.

It takes a lot of great qualities and connections to become one.

So, where do we start?

How do we become influential?

I dive into this topic with the John Maxwell.

Who is John?
He is a bestselling author, a top business leader, and an accomplished leadership expert. His drive to help people learn how to lead well is what got him started into writing. He made it his mission to help people become successful in life by teaching them the following things:

• how to relate well to others;
• how to have the attitude to help overcome difficulties;
• how to lead and influence people;
• and how to train and equip others.

John’s formal training as a pastor helped him a lot in the journey to become the leader and speaker that he is today. He shared that it is during this time that he realized that leadership is key. “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” is the principle that he considers as the fuel to everything that he does in his leadership.

For him, the greatest thing that he can do to help people is to teach them and help them know how to lead. I remember him saying a while back that relationships are the foundation of leadership.

The Interview
So, during our interview, I grabbed the opportunity to ask him about his insights on how to make sure that we are building relationships the right way. Here are the most memorable learnings:

• Relationship is influence! You influence people by adding value to them. You are either a plus or a minus in relationships–either adding value or taking it away.
• There are simple things that you can do daily to make sure that you are adding and not subtracting. 
  • Value people. All of them.
  • Think of ways to add value to people.
  • Ask the question “who did I add value to today?”
  • Every day I do things that add value to people.
  • Encourage others to add value to people.
• Who you know will not help you a lot if you don’t know much. What you know will help you get opportunities. However, what will help you maximize and compound the things that you know, is who you know.

In this modern age where social media is a part of our everyday lives, it is essential that you go beyond who you know and where you’ve been. John encourages us to ask ourselves if what we want to have are fans or friends.

John Maxwell indeed is a very inspiring leader and he will surely improve your perspective on leadership and relationships just as how he did with mine. Listen to the whole episode here and leave a comment — let’s discuss!