Thoughts on the first 2 chapters of Developing Leader Within You

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February 13, 2012 at 9:35 am #11362
Kevin Guest	Here are a couple of my thoughts about the first two chapters. I loved that the book begins by focusing on “influence.” The thought that to be a leader you must have followers. That’s fundamental to building a business. We are in the “people attraction” business on many levels. As I considered the 5 levels of leadership he outlines, I was evaluating myself. I do believe we have to honestly evaluate ourselves in order to progress to the next levels. I think I am somewhere between 3 and 4. I am going to start working on the concept in level 5 to become a more effective mentor. Now it’s time to start prioritizing. There are so many things that require my attention every day. I do prioritize daily, but I’m going to review how and where I spend my time and efforts. Also, I have to be careful not to have too many urgent priorities, or I won’t get anything accomplished. I like in chapter 2 where he says, “choose or loose.” I certainly don’t want to loose….it’s time to think about what I am choosing.
February 14, 2012 at 8:21 am #11387
Mary Carol Gennett	Just got my book today. Need to catch up!
February 14, 2012 at 10:20 am #11390
Rosie Bank	Kevin, I am with you on those levels. As Maxwell says, it is a decision to become an effective leader. It is not like some of us are born with it and others did not luck out. I commend you for your decision to raise yourself up. By doing this, by extension, you will be able to raise up others. I believe what he teaches can be monetized, which is only one of the reasons why I am behind you on this book club and why I am imploring my team to read his books. Interestingly, I read all of his book approximately ten years ago. I am now rereading them. They are timeless and even more significant to me now that I have more years under my belt with USANA.
February 14, 2012 at 4:01 pm #11409
Pam Buhr	The nature of a USANA business almost jumps all Associates to Level 2. We are in the ‘relationship’ business and we do care about others and want others in our ‘team’ to gain success. Our downline consists of people who work for themselves and others as well as for us without obligation. We must be patient and nurture these leaders in our organization so that we can achieve the Production level where the momentum begins. Then while that is going on we return to Level 2 and nurture our newest members to the team. There is a lot of jumping back and forth with this type of business. This is an excellent idea – got me reading a book I would not necessarily have chosen. Loving it already…
February 14, 2012 at 6:16 pm #11411
Dyann Lyon	I love that we have a book club at USANA that focuses on the speakers coming to Convention and offering real value for our business right now. I have read other John Maxwell books, but not this one until now. I am keeping up and love the book so far and the great comments here. Thank you Kevin for your Leadership!
February 20, 2012 at 9:27 am #11470
Pam Pearson	When I worked in “traditional corporate america” I was part of a “Leadership Team.” It consisted of anyone in the organization who managed someone. To me it dovetails what John said that being a manager does not make you a leader. There were people in that group who were not leaders in the organization. And, there were people not in the group who were. The other piece that resonated with me was the Importance/Urgency grid for priorities. Being a results-oriented person I often can get caught up in making sure EVERYTHING gets done. This reminds me that somethings just don’t have to and I can fill that time with really important tasks to grow my business and advance as a leader. On to chapter 3….!!
February 23, 2012 at 3:28 pm #11564
Tim Haran	I’m a relatively new manager at USANA and I’m learning every day what it takes to be an effective leader. For me, it’s difficult at times to step outside my day-to-day responsibilities and see the big picture (especially considering the immediate, always-dynamic nature of social media). After reading the first two chapters of this book, I realized that in order to maximize the potential of my team I need to do a better job of focusing not only on the daily tasks but also the long-range goals of the department and the company. I appreciated Maxwell’s “organization” chart and am working to be conscious of the “low importance/high urgency” tasks, which seem to take up a considerable amount of time.