JohnC.

Maxwell|ExecutiveSummary

Everyonecommunicates,butfewconnect. Connect:theabilitytoidentifywithandrelatetopeopleinsuchawaythatitincreasesyourinfluencewiththem. If you could increase your influence with people, its amazing what it would do for your leadership. As Ive taught for manyyears,leadershipisinfluence,nothingmore,nothingless. Myfavoriteleadershipproverb:Hethatthinkethheleadethandhathnoonefollowinghimisonlytakingawalk. Connectingisallaboutothers. Ifweregoingtoconnectsuccessfully,wehavetounderstandthatitsnotaboutus.Idiscoveredthisinmy20swhenI heardZigZiglarspeakforthefirsttime.Hesaidsomethingthatabsolutelychangedmylife,Ifyouhelpotherpeopleget whattheywant,theyllhelpyougetwhatyouwant.Hisstatementledtoaeurekamomentformebecause,asayoung leader, I had it turned around. I thought it was my responsibility to get other people on my team, following my train, boughtintomyvision.Iwasrecruitingpeopletogetonmyteamandtocometome.ThatdayIunderstoodtheneedto relatetoothersontheirlevelandontheirground. Whenyoubecomealeader,yougiveupyourrightstothinkaboutyourselffirst. Inleadership,lifeisabouthowyouaddvaluetopeopleandtowhomyouaddvalue. Connectingrequiresenergy. You have to expend energy to forge a connection. If youre a connector today, I can promise you that you do it intentionallyandthatitshardwork.Thereasonsomanypeoplefailtoconnectisthattheydontwanttoexpendthe energyrequiredtodoit. Connectorsfindcommonground. Connectorsconstantlylookforaplacewheretheycanmeetothers.Theyunderstandthateffectivenessinleadershipand communication is based on similarity, not differences. Leaders look for common ground and use similarities to take peopletohigherground. CommongroundchoicesImakeinmylife: Walkslowlythroughthecrowd. Imakemyselfaccessibletoothers.Icareforpeople,andIgivethemmytime. Beopenwithmylife. Iletpeoplein.Wehaveachoiceasleaders:Wecanletpeopleintoourlives,orwecanstiffarmpeopleandkeepthemat adistance.Thegoodnewsisthatanyonekeptatadifferencewonthurtyou,butthebadnewsisthattheywonthelp you,either. 1

ActionPlan: Which relationship on your team tends not to be a natural connection? This week, find three ways to be intentionalaboutconnectingwiththatperson,andexpendtheextraenergytoinvestinyourrelationshipwith himorher. Connectingisallaboutothers.Approachoneteammemberandaskhowyoucanhelpthemwithaprojector assignment. Listen intently to them and spend half of one day serving them with your time, energy, and resources.