I used to think that leaders liked change and followers didn’t. I had this idea that leaders were out on the edge; they had a machete and they were cutting a path through the jungles of life, and they were always out in the front leading change, and the followers were way back crossing their arms singing, “I Shall Not Be Moved.”
What I’ve learned is this—that leaders don’t like change any more than followers unless it is their idea!
Think about it for a moment—when change does not occur in an organization, it’s never a follower’s problem because followers do what followers do—they follow. When change does not occur in the organization, it’s because some of the leaders in that organization didn’t like the change.
And why don’t leaders like the changes? Because they’re always asking, “What’s this going to do to me? How’s this going to affect my turf?” And they say to themselves, “This could affect my turf. This could hurt me.”
Followers seldom stop change because they lack influence; leaders often stop change because they have influence.
The potential for change in your organization increases with participation. What you want to do is involve as many people as you possibly can in the change process.
In fact, successful people know how to get shared thinking in their arena. They not only have their thinking but they know how to bring people around and say, “What do you think about this?”
A great idea just doesn’t become a great idea. A great idea is a compounding effect of a lot of good ideas; it’s out of the getting a lot of good ideas on the table that you get a great idea.
The right kind of collaboration will drastically improve the quality of the ideas being shared. So the value of understanding shared thinking is that the more good people you bring into a room and get around the table, the higher your odds of getting great ideas.
I do this exercise all the time: Every week, I put different groups of people around a table, depending on what I’m trying to accomplish, to get their ideas on the table. I don’t, however, just open up the door and say, “Okay, what do you all think?” You don’t want to do that because most people don’t think.
You don’t want to say, “Everybody tell us what you think.” Ninety percent of the people don’t think at all. Ninety percent of the people just look for a line that’s moving and get in it!
So how do you know what kind of person to bring around the table? Listed below are ten kinds of people you want.
- People whose greatest desire is the success of the idea.
You don’t want people around the table who want to see the idea fail. You have to have people around the table who are committed to the success of the idea. - People who can always compound another person’s thought.
You want to bring people around the table who can take somebody else’s thought and play off of it and tweak it and make it better. - People who emotionally can handle the changes of conversation.
The creative conversation is going to go left and right, and up and down. It’s an emotional roller coaster, and you want someone who won’t let their feelings get in the way of progress. - People who appreciate strengths in others where they are weak.
These are people who can complement one another. For example, where you’ve got one person who’s a focus thinker and another person who’s a creative thinker, they will have to be able to appreciate the input of the other. - People who recognize their place of value at the table.
They know why they’re there. If they don’t, you will have a problem. - People who place what is best for them below what is best for the team.
These people know to check their egos at the door. Subordinating your own agenda to what is best for everyone is always good. - People who can bring out the best thinking of those around them.
When somebody comes up with a great thought, they can probe a little and say, “Come on, go a little bit deeper here. Talk to me a little bit more. Give me some more out of this.” - People who possess maturity, experience, and success in the issue being discussed.
I want all three. I don’t want maturity without success, I don’t want experience without success, and I certainly don’t want success without either. - People who take ownership and responsibility for the decisions that are made.
They have the ability to come to the table and, after there is a shared concept and idea or thought that evolves around it, they can take ownership of it. - People who can leave the table with a “we” attitude and not a “me” attitude.
Teamwork is essential to accomplishing great things. You always want people who are willing and able to grasp this concept on your team.
Commit to getting these 10 types of people around the table in a shared thinking meeting and watch the results!
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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.