Maxwell - The Complete 101 Collection: What Every Leader Needs to Know

THE COMPLETE 101 COLLECTION

THE
COMPLETE

COLLECTION

JOHN C. MAXWELL

2010 by John C. Maxwell

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson.
Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, www.yates2.com

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Portions of this book have been previously published in The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The 360 Leader, Becoming a Person of Influence, Developing the Leaders Around You, Developing the Leader within You, Failing Forward, Your Road Map for Success, The Winning Attitude, Winning with People, Talent Is Never Enough, and Leadership Gold.

ISBN: 978-1-4002-0395-6 (HC)
ISBN: 978-1-4002-8108-4

Printed in the United States of America

12 13 14 15 16 QG 6 5 4 3 2 1

CONTENTS

I ve been passionate about personal growth for most of my life. In fact, Ive created and pursued a plan for growth every year for the last forty years! People say that wisdom comes with age. I dont believe thats true. Sometimes age comes alone. I wouldnt have achieved any of my dreams had I not been dedicated to continual improvement. If you want to grow and become the best person you can be, youve got to be intentional about it.

At the same time, life is busy and complex. Most people run out of day long before their to-do list is done. And trying to get to the bottom line in just about any area of life can be a challenge. Did you know that more new information has been produced in the last thirty years than in the previous five thousand? A single weekday edition of The New York Times contains more information than most people in seventeenth-century England were likely to encounter in their lifetime.

Thats why weve developed this series of 101 books. Weve cherry-picked the essentials in subjects such as leadership, attitude, relationships, teamwork, and mentoring and put them into a format that is easy to read. And now for the first time, weve combined all six of the 101 books in one volume.

In many of my larger books, I go into my subject in great depth. I do that because I believe it is often the best way to add value to people. But the 101 series is different. Each 101 book is an introduction to a subject, not the advanced course. I believe these concentrated versions will help you on your way to significant growth in specific areas of your life.

I hope you enjoy this volume, and I pray that it serves you well as you seek to improve your life and achieve your dreams.

ATTITUDE

WHAT EVERY LEADER NEEDS TO KNOW

2003 by Maxwell Motivation, Inc., a Georgia Corporation

All rights reserved. Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Published in association with Yates & Yates, www.yates2.com

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible. 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Portions of this book were previously published in The Winning Attitude, Failing Forward, Your Roadmap for Success, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Maxwell, John C., 1947
Attitude 101 / John C. Maxwell.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-7852-6350-0
1. SuccessPsychological aspects. 2. Attitude (Psychology). I. Title.
BF637.S8 M3415 2002
153.8'5dc21
2002011491

CONTENTS

PART 1
THE IMPACT
OF ATTITUDE

I
HOW DOES ATTITUDE IMPACT LEADERSHIP?

Attitude is always a player on your team.

G rowing up, I loved basketball. It all started for me in the fourth grade when I saw a high school basketball game for the first time. I was captivated. After that, I could usually be found practicing my shooting and playing pickup games on my small court at home.

By the time I got to high school, I had become a pretty good player. I started on the junior varsity team as a freshman, and when I was a sophomore, our JV team had a 15-3 record, which was better than that of the varsity. We were proud of our performancemaybe a little too proud.

The next year, critics who followed high school basketball in Ohio thought our team had a chance to win the state championship in our division. I guess they looked at the players who would return as seniors from the previous years varsity team, saw the talent that would be moving up from the JV, and figured we would be a powerhouse. And we did have a lot of talent. How many high school teams in the late 1960s could say that all but a couple of players on the team could dunk the ball? But the season turned out far different from everyones expectations.

FROM BAD TO WORSE

From the beginning of the season, the team suffered problems. There were two of us juniors on the varsity who had the talent to start for the team: John Thomas, who was the teams best rebounder, and me, the best shooting guard. We thought playing time should be based strictly on ability, and we figured we deserved our place on the team. The seniors, who had taken a backseat to the previous years seniors, thought we should be made to pay our dues and wait on the bench.

What began as a rivalry between the JV and varsity the year before turned into a war between the juniors and the seniors. When we scrimmaged at practice, it was the juniors against the seniors. In games the seniors wouldnt pass to the juniors and vice versa. The battles became so fierce that before long, the juniors and the seniors wouldnt even work together on the court during games. Our coach, Don Neff, had to platoon us. The seniors would start, and when a substitution became necessary, hed put not one but five juniors in the game. We became two teams on one roster.

I dont remember exactly who started the rivalry that split our team, but I do remember that John Thomas and I embraced it early on. Ive always been a leader, and I did my share of influencing other team members. Unfortunately, I have to confess that I led the juniors in the wrong direction.