21 Principles of Top 0.01% Leaders | John Maxwell Interview

About this video

This is a podcast conversation with leadership author John Maxwell, introduced as a best-selling author of over 90 books selling over 35 million copies, advising executives at Coca-Cola, Walmart, the NFL and IBM. Maxwell credits his father for spotting his relational, leadership tendencies early, and says he fell in love with leadership at 24, concluding everything rises and falls on it. Consistency, he says, must include daily growth, driven by daily essentials kept for decades — every day he reads, thinks, files, asks questions and writes, sometimes only 15 to 20 minutes. He describes three catalysts: a mentor in his 20s who taught him getting older is automatic but getting better is not, prompting an intentional personal growth plan; a 14-month study around age 28-29 that produced his five lanes — communication, leadership, equipping/developing teams, attitude, and relationships — in which all his books sit; and deliberately getting around people bigger, better, faster and smarter than him, including monthly learning lunches where he brings seven questions. On writing, he advises not to write a book until you have something to write about — a thought fills a page, not a book — to file good thoughts by category for years first, noting he wrote about 35 books before the 21 Irrefutable Laws and did not write a good book until his seventh, The Winning Attitude. He explains how he buys back his time through people: executive assistant Linda, with him 37 years, who took over calendar, travel and busywork; wordsmith Charlie, with him 30 years, whom he trained over three books to select research and quotes that fit him; content curator Erin, who connects ideas across talks, elaborates them and catches new lines when he speaks; and CEO Mark Cole, hired into the stock room 23-plus years earlier, who rose on merit, earned complete tested trust, and now carries leadership responsibilities so Maxwell can focus on writing and speaking. He stresses immediate, honest feedback — fixing problems now rather than at a three-month review — and closes on his 60-year faith walk since age 17 and his daily prayer since 1981 for God to send him people he needs.

Key takeaways

• Everything rises and falls on leadership, and consistency only counts if it includes daily growth: Maxwell’s daily essentials are read, think, file, ask questions, and write every day
• Pick a few lanes and go deep, not wide: after 14 months of study Maxwell chose communication, leadership, equipping teams, attitude, and relationships as his five areas
• Stay around people bigger, better, faster and smarter than you — if you are the head of the class, you are in the wrong class — and use structured learning lunches with prepared questions
• Buy back your time by delegating everything someone else can do, keeping only what no one else can do; train collaborators patiently at first, as Maxwell did with Charlie over three books
• Do not write a book until you have accumulated years of filed, categorized thoughts — Maxwell says a thought fills a page, not a book, and his breakthrough books came after dozens of earlier ones

Episode details: published September 10, 2024 · 1:02:28 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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