The Leader's Greatest Return: Attracting, Developing, and Multiplying Leaders

This book is definitely a home run hitter. The most frustrating thing in the workforce is having poor leadership responsible for ones success. This book is a must own for everyone who is a leader in the workforce. These principles will help the morale of the staff, influence others, and create a productive working environment. Overall a great read and with it being just over 200 pages a quick read. No excuse as to why you can’t invest in your organization.

I liked it, thus the 4-star rating. I found the material included here to be a regurgitation of many management books I've read over the years. Emphasis should be placed on MANAGEMENT rather than leadership. The author is a noted leadership expert. And to me he seems to be stretching his topic a bit too thin by adding this book. Leaders exist at the top of the food chain. While managers can become leaders, they are not leaders in and of themselves. And the author throughout this book confuses the two roles.

By definition there can be only one team leader. He can mentor, but it's very difficult to develop a subordinate to be a leader. If that subordinate learns from the leader, then the leader will be out of a job.

I've read several books by this author over the years. I think I even reviewed a few of them several years ago. I stopped reviewing them a long time ago because they all started to sound the same. This one is a little different because it really is a management book rather than a leadership book.

I didn't see that the book outline was included at the Amazon order page. So here are the 10 chapter titles:

1. Identifying leaders
2. Attracting leaders
3. Understanding leaders
4. Motivating leaders
5. Equipping leaders
6. Empowering leaders
7. Positioning leaders
8. Mentoring leaders
9. Reproducing leaders
10. Compounding leaders

I think anyone who regularly reads business books will agree that if you change the chapter titles by substituting “leaders” with “managers” (except for Chapter 8) you've seen this book before. You really won't see anything different in those 9 chapters when you read the book.

Chapter 8 is a different story. Leaders are typically mentored. It's the nature of leadership. There can only be one leader, and if someone is mentored to be a leader, then they are probably going to take over the helm eventually.

I'm not of the opinion that leaders can be MADE. They certainly can be nurtured, but rarely are they made except in the political arena. And most politicians are anything but leaders. Getting elected has nothing to do with talent, and everything to do with politicking. Leadership involves TALENT. 4 stars!

PS. I could have dropped this book's star rating to a 3. Nothing really novel here. But I gave the author the benefit of the doubt.

Whatever their size and nature may be, all organizations need effective leadership at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. I agree with John  Maxwell and countless others that one of a leader's most important responsibilities is developing other leaders. In my opinion, no one else has done more to do that than has Maxwell, author of more than 70 books since 1979.

In this latest volume, he explains HOW TO

o Find leaders and potential leaders
o Invite them to "the leadership table"
o Connect with them before leading them
o Encourage them to make/sustain a best effort
o Train them to produce high-impact results
o Release/empower them to fulfill their potential
o Team them up to maximize their impact in collaboration
o Mentor/coach them to higher levels of performance
o Serve as a model for developing others as leaders

This process will enable those who participate in it to "compound" the scope, depth, and impact of leadership development.

In or near the downtown area of most cities, there is a farmer's market at which a few merchants offer fresh slices of fruit as sample os their wares. In that same spirit, I now provide a representative selection of observations, Maxwell's as well as others':

- "If you desire to fulfill a bold vision or do something great, you have to let go of a microwave mindset for leadership." (Page xvii)

- "For a leader who develops leaders, there is something scarcer and much more important than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability." (3)

- Alexander Solzhenitsyn "Talent is always conscious of its own abundance and does not object to sharing." (13)

- "The function of leadership isn't to gather more followers. It's to produce more leaders." (85)

- "Leadership is like swimming. It can't be learned by reading about it. Leaders become leaders by practicing." (115)

- Phil Jackson "The strength of the pack is the wolf. The strength of the wolf is the pack." (143)

- "Today's peacocks are tomorrow's feather dusters." (203)

Almost $90-billion (that's a b) was spent in 2018 on leadership development in the U.S. and much (if not most) of it was wasted. It seems certain that the total was even more in 2019. If the leadership development efforts in your organization have been only OK, if that, I highly recommend this book. It offers just about all the information, insights, and counsel needed to strengthen the leaders you already have, and, help them to develop other leaders that will be needed in months and years to come.

Here is my favorite passage in Lao-tse's Tao Te Ching.  It describes a workplace culture within which leadership development is most likely to thrive.

"Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves."

Do you want a blueprint for identifying, developing, equipping, and leading LEADERS? The Leader's Greatest Return is it. I enjoyed participating in the 3-week book club and will be using this book as a guide within my organization! Thank you John!

“There is nothing in this world that gives a greater [return on investment] to a leader than attracting, developing, and multiplying leaders,” writes John C. Maxwell. “It’s the key to success for any country, family, organization, or institution.” Though written with a broad readership in mind, The Leader’s Greatest Return holds obvious applications for Christian ministry. It outlines 10 steps you can begin taking today to invest in the people who will multiply the effectiveness of your ministry.

"The Leaders Greatest Return..." by John Maxwell is an excellent book on the dynamics of identifying, developing and cultivating leadership in an organizational setting.The objective of the author is to define,teach,practice,measure and model highly desired behaviors for current leaders and prospective candidates being groomed to lead.

The initial challenge is to identify people with leadership potential who fit comfortably within the existing organizational culture.The ideal people are those with an ability to act in the facilitator role, as used in the organizational development/design trade or profession.

A facilitator assembles small groups of people and works to define specific goals and implementation scenarios.Team members interact together with the facilitator who manages routine disagreements with the intention of moving the agenda forward.

A strength of this book is that the author explains what good leaders seek to accomplish. For instance, leaders help people understand the company vision and implement it in their everyday work.

The ultimate goal of the institutional vision is to produce superior results that grow the business and engage more customers.Leaders need to be supported by senior management. Their efforts should be well compensated and the company should empower its leaders to act.

Prospective leaders first must connect with people positively before sound principles of leadership can be applied.Connecting with people means creating space for open conversation and honest discussion and evaluation of feedback.

Oftentimes, front end questions help to set an agenda; whereas, backend questions invite reflection.Listening engenders trust and connectivity. And so,the job of a facilitator is to listen to the team discussions with great care in order to formulate approaches leading to a successful conclusion.

Overall,"The Leaders Greatest Return..." by John Maxwell is a roadmap on identifying, cultivating and empowering leaders to act.This work would be very helpful for management throughout an organization. Professionals in
the managerial sciences, psychology, information technology and philosophy would benefit significantly from acquiring this book. An extensive set of research notes is put forward at the end of the book.

"The Leaders Greatest Return..." by John Maxwell has some similarity to "How To Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. In Carnegie's book, the author discusses empathy with people,appealing to noble motives,asking questions rather than just giving orders, discussing what matters to people,listening longer and connecting with core desires/values. Similarly, Maxwell discusses the importance of listening, empathy and key attributes of the facilitator
role in developing leadership.

Maxwell's books are at the top of the heap in the field of Leadership and this book is no exception. Very linear and practical, easy to read, full of personal stories and anecdotes, it is the one book I would purchase for anyone wanting to develop a culture of leadership in their organization.

You can easily see John Maxwell's years of leadership experience and influence oozing throughout each page and chapter. I LOVED this book. A must read for those who are close to or at the stage of passing the torch and building organizations that outlast themselves.

In John's book, The Leader's Greatest Return, John has provided another great resource for business leaders and CEOs. This book helps a leader to focus on that which matters most and will provide the greatest benefits after a life in leadership. This book will help leaders know where to focus their time and energy to have a life payoff for all of their effort. The book inspires, motivates, and convicts.

This book is choke full of leadership wisdom. Dr. John Maxwell expains difficult leadership concepts in simple language that anyone can understand.

1) Leaders don't have to know and do everything.
Find, hire, and incentivize the right people with the right skill sets. What leaders need to do is install the right attudes, and culture.

2) Hire people better than you
Otherwise the organization will never grow.

3) Let go
A growing organization is a leader willing to let go and let the next set of leaders lead. This is very difficult.

A must read book for any leader leading any organization.

William Teh
Investor | Author | Entrepreneur
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