Life
John Calvin Maxwell was born in 1947 in Garden City, Michigan. He served as pastor in several churches, longest at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego. His experience of leading a congregation became his starting point for teaching leadership. He founded, among others, EQUIP (1996), which trains leaders in many countries, and a training company now known as Maxwell Leadership.
Works
Maxwell has written dozens of books on leadership, including:
- Developing the Leader Within You (1993) - with the motto “leadership is influence”;
- The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (1998) - see The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership;
- The 5 Levels of Leadership (2011) - see the five levels of leadership.
Key ideas
- Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less.
- Everything rises and falls on leadership.
- Leadership can be learned - it develops daily, not in a day.
- Reproducing leaders - a leader's highest task is developing other leaders.
Assessment and connection with the Academy
Maxwell is a popular rather than an academic author - his “laws” grow out of observation and experience rather than empirical research. His language, however, is simple and practical, and his Christian perspective makes him close to community leaders.
Members of the leadership of the Akademia Przywództwa Foundation are connected with Maxwell's network: Mariusz Marcinkowski (Maxwell Leadership Certified Team) and Piotr Gąsiorowski (national coordinator of Equip by John C. Maxwell, responsible for the Polish edition of The Global Leadership Summit).
Sources
J. C. Maxwell, Developing the Leader Within You, Thomas Nelson 1993 J. C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Thomas Nelson 1998 J. C. Maxwell, The 5 Levels of Leadership, Center Street 2011 Maxwell Leadership, maxwellleadership.com Akademia Przywództwa, About, akademiaprzywodztwa.pl