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Your Motives Matter


In this episode of the Maxwell Leadership Podcast, John Maxwell explains why true leadership skills begin with Do you know why you want to lead? What drives your interactions with people? These are critical questions every leader must ask themselves for the good of those they lead — and in today’s episode, John Maxwell is walking you through how to examine your motives as a leader! 

After John’s lesson, Mark Cole unpacks John’s teaching points so you can apply them directly to your life and leadership. 

Key Takeaways

  • Motivation is about mutual advantage and empowering people, while manipulation is about personal gain and controlling people. 
  • Most aspiring leaders want to lead and be loved, but sometimes, they are mutually exclusive. 
  • To keep your leadership motives in check, regularly serve others without a title or position. 

Our BONUS resource for this episode is the Your Motives Matter Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. You can download the worksheet by clicking “Download the Bonus Resource” below. 

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