John C Maxwell is the founder of the John Maxwell Group and EQUIP, organizations that train and build up leaders to make an impact in the world.
His style of leadership training is in line with what the Word of God commands when it says, “Commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Being a great leader points to the ability to build teams that achieve great things as well. He wrote a book entitled, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork which I urge you to read.
Below are 8 Powerful John C Maxwell quotes on teamwork to keep in mind as you build teams around you in your sphere of influence:
1. “If you think you’re the entire picture, you will never see the big picture.” ~ John C Maxwell
Team players that don’t have an appreciation of the overall vision have a difficult time giving their best to the team. To be a valuable team player, you need to see beyond your own individual role and understand the overall vision. The vision comes from the team leader and if necessary, get more information about where they are coming from.
When you understand the overall vision, look at how your contribution makes a difference. Doing that will give you a greater appreciation and motivation for being a part of the team. Quite honestly, if you’re self-centered and prioritize your own goals over the team, then you shouldn’t be on the team. You should either surrender your personal goals, or find a team whose vision you can support.
2. “You are most valuable where you add the most value.” ~ John C Maxwell
The best teams in the world are those that have the right people, in the right places, doing the right things. It’s true that sometimes you can get things done with certain positions not performing at their best; in the short-term it could work but, to achieve excellence you need your best players.
As a team player, the best way to help your team is by using your strengths to help the team win. This might not always be the case, however, if you’re in a job or sports team for example. Your leader or coach might have other ideas or doesn’t realize your full potential. Take it upon yourself, however, to at least sell them on putting you in a position to help the team win.
3. “The size of your dream should determine the size of your team.” ~ John C Maxwell
Since making your vision become a reality is impossible without the involvement of others, work on finding the right partners. A common mistake with most people is trying to do all that’s required by themselves. In the early stages of developing your vision you might start alone as most do, but you shouldn’t end there.
Working with other people is a part of life which shows that we need each other. Different skills are required to bring your vision to pass, therefore focusing more on team development as a leader is necessary. With the right team in place, and the right attitudes, making the vision a reality becomes possible.
4. “Winning teams have players who make things happen.” ~ John C Maxwell
Instead of waiting for other team mates to take initiative, winning teams take it upon themselves to take the initiative. It’s not that easy to see the importance with the naked eye, but it is to see the results of it. Members of a winning team recognize that it’s not one person that can carry the team, but everyone.
Certainly, you will have star players on any team that go the extra mile, but they are not the whole team. Sometimes the star players might not be at their best, and that’s where the other team members need to step up.
This approach also keeps the competition guessing and not gain confidence that they can defeat you. When everyone is taking responsibility for the team’s success, it enhances the chances of winning.
5. “Good attitudes among players do not guarantee a team’s success, but bad attitudes guarantee its failure.” ~ John C Maxwell
One rotten apple on a team has the potential of spoiling the whole bunch. If you’re the leader of your team, your own attitude for starters must be spot on. When you recognize bad apples on your team, deal with them decisively to avoid affecting the rest of the team. This requires courage especially if the team member is a star player.
Failure to deal with rotten apples will cause you to lose the respect of the other team members. While it’s not easy process, it must be done to keep the team thriving. It’s one of the reasons why employers hire slow and fire fast; it can take time to find the right person, and they don’t hesitate to remove the wrong people.
6. “The greatest compliment you can receive is being counted on.” ~ John C Maxwell
What matters most to the team is achieving desired results, and knowing that your contribution made a difference is beautiful. Knowing that people can count on you is a sign of their confidence in your abilities. One of our deepest needs as human beings is being recognized for the valuable contributions we make in life.
In some cases, people may not always like you, but they’ll respect you enough knowing you get things done. This is important to understand because at times there’s a mistaken belief that teammates must always love each other. In an ideal world, this could be the case, but it’s not reality unfortunately.
7. “When it comes to the Law of the Price Tag, I believe there are really only two kinds of teams who violate it: those who don’t realize the price of success, and those who know the price but are not willing to pay it.” ~ John C Maxwell
Success at a personal level doesn’t happen by chance, and the same applies to team success. That is why great leadership is essential and a sought after skill in the different areas of life. The team leader must first have an appreciation of what needs to be done to win at the highest level. Communicating that to his or her team is just as important so that everyone gets on the same page.
As a leader, you must then lead by example and demand the best from yourself every single day. If you don’t give your best, most of your followers won’t give their best either. On top of that, demand the best from your teammates if the team as a whole is to win big.
8. “Your team will reach its potential only if you reach your potential.” ~ John C Maxwell
Being on a team with others, doesn’t exclude you from giving your best, even if others seem to be better players. Whether or not you’re a starter or role player, for the team to maximize its potential, give your best. The legendary basketball icon, Michael Jordan, did this very well with the Chicago Bulls’ teams of the 90s.
If you’ve had the opportunity to watch the documentary, The Last Dance, giving their best was something of a trademark. Michael Jordan gave his best in practice sessions and during game time.
In his first few years in the NBA, he was more focused on himself until he realized he couldn’t do it alone. He then made a concerted effort to push others to develop their potential and they soon began winning championships.
One time when I was running a business on our college campus, I made quite a decent profit; I did this food business over six weeks during a short semester. Students on campus often wanted a variety of food options to choose from. I would buy bread from the local supermarket in town and resell it to students on campus. I did the entire process by myself – getting a ride into town, buying the bread and carrying it myself back to the campus.
This limited the quantities I could buy and sell on a given day because I could only do so much. That’s the best I could do and for that season it was OK. Once I got to the campus, I would sell the bread myself depending on whether I was in my room. That was another limitation to my business- if I wasn’t around, I wasn’t making any money.
I also had to go around the campus sticking up adverts to let people know about my business. Most businesses start that way however where the owner does everything to get the business off the ground. It was a lot of hard work but it paid off and I made a decent profit in those six weeks. I started with capital of US$40.00 and at the end of the six weeks, I had US$100.00.
By reinvesting the profits I made to make that possible and hardly spent any of them. I used those profits towards buying my first-ever laptop and got the rest of the money from my mum. That was quite an achievement for me and I was delighted. Going into the next semester it was going to be useful for working on my final year project. I was so proud of that achievement.
Image credit: Unsplash
A friend of mine had seen the progress I made with that business and had attempted something similar. He approached me and proposed we do a partnership and do the business together in the new semester. Because he was a friend I had known for a long time and worked with in other things, I agreed. It didn’t take me long to make the decision. We didn’t have any crazy targets when we started if I’m honest. Our goal was simply to have extra pocket money for our needs on campus.
Ironically, we started with US$40.00 just as I had with my business in the previous semester. This new semester was back to the normal three-month period. My friend brought to the table ideas that boosted the business performance in comparison to what I did on my own.
He arranged for bread deliveries to our campus which came in bulk. That meant we could sell more in one day and we didn’t have to go buy it ourselves. It saved us time which we could use to focus on studying instead of traveling to town all the time. He also suggested we introduce canned food to our menu which boosted our sales.
“How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord surrendered them?” – Deuteronomy 32:30
To sum it all up, in the three months we ran the business we grossed US$980.00 in that time. We started with US$40.00 and made a total profit of almost 19 times our capital, wow! Although the business I did myself was over six weeks, the difference when I did it with my friend was huge. It was a classic case of how one can put a thousand to flight, and two ten thousand.
That to me was phenomenal and to him to be fair more because it was unexpected. One of the reasons I believe our business was blessed so much was that we were faithful in tithing. That was what I encouraged my friend we do as it wasn’t something he practiced before. We saw God bring us customers despite the competition we had from others doing similar businesses. He granted us so much favor we didn’t always comprehend it.
It was a special experience that stuck with us since then and that we shared as a testimony of God’s goodness. Because we shared the same desire for financial education and becoming wealthy, we explored other opportunities after college. We liked the idea of leverage and having a system to make us money without our direct involvement. So, my friend came forward with another idea that fit that aspiration and we got into business again.
Being on a team with others, doesn’t exclude you from giving your best.
He found someone to sell mobile phone airtime for us on the streets whom we paid for each consignment. As we did before, we both invested a certain amount of capital and hired the vendor to sell for us. At least once a week, we would make time to meet with him and evaluate the progress he made. It was a business we did for some time until the guy left to do other things.
For the duration of the business, it was another valuable learning experience. We both loved Robert Kiyosaki’s books about financial freedom so being able to apply the lessons was exciting to us. We tried getting into printing through a third party whom we gave some equipment but the guy was dishonest. After realizing inconsistencies and no tangible results, we ditched the idea and ended our partnership with him. Despite that, it was remarkable to reflect on what my friend and I accomplished together.
We’ve remained friends to this day though we don’t talk regularly as our lives have taken different directions. He’s one of those guys I learned a lot from and vice versa and one I’d do business with again. My relationship with him showed me how powerful a team with a shared vision and focus can be. Our relationship isn’t only business-focused but one that’s genuine where we want to add value to one another.
Success at a personal level doesn’t happen by chance, and the same applies to team success.
It’s good to have friends like that whom you can count on and do life together. I’ve had other experiences that demonstrate that teamwork is powerful and necessary to achieve big things. My natural disposition is that of an introvert so most of the time I’ve had to foster building relationships. For other people like introverts, building relationships comes naturally so making those connections and fostering teamwork isn’t a big deal.
Although it doesn’t come naturally to me, I will say it’s worth the effort to go the extra mile to cultivate it. When considering a relationship with someone I’ll often ask myself questions like:
- Will this relationship glorify God?
- Does the relationship align with my purpose?
- How can I add value to this person?
- How can they add value to me?
- Will this be a long-term or short-term relationship?
I’ve learned from the Word of God and experience that you don’t have to be friends with everyone you meet. Some people may be doing great and noble things but may not be in your area of calling. You therefore can’t waste valuable time involving yourself in things that don’t lead to fulfilling your purpose. Be aware that other people could be destroying your life. You therefore need discernment to identify such people and stay away from them. I hope this has given you valuable insights into the power of teamwork to help you achieve more.