Editor's note: John Maxwell will deliver the keynote address at the September 11th edition of our popular CEO Masterclass series, kicking off an exciting new year of sessions and speakers. Get involved >
As global tensions rise and the post-pandemic world continues to grapple with unprecedented challenges, cultural divisions, and one of the toughest and most unpredictable presidential election cycles of our lifetimes, CEOs' role as stewards of society has never been more important. In this environment, best-selling author and leadership expert John Maxwell argues that walking the high path in leadership is not just an option, it's a necessity.
“We live in a very 'me' culture,” said Maxwell, who is the author of more than 100 books, including classics. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The Five Levels of Leadership“We're losing respect for people. We're disrespecting people. It's a vicious cycle… So someone has to speak up, and someone has to show pictures like this: What kind of person is a high road leader?So what kind of people are they? Yes, high road leaders bring people together.”
Providing a model of how to do that precisely and practically is the focus of Maxwell's latest book. High Road Leadership: Connecting People in a Divided WorldIn a recent conversation chief executive officerSpeaking ahead of a CEO Masterclass on Sept. 11, Maxwell made the case for a high-road approach that emphasizes unity, integrity and long-term vision. of He set the tone and highlighted the way forward, emphasizing that leaders who put collective goals above individual or factional interests are the leaders who thrive in today's environment and will thrive in tomorrow's. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
talk High Road LeadershipWhy did you write it now?
I've been saddened by the leadership side of things these last few years because COVID has changed us forever. We haven't seen all the impacts of COVID yet. But most of what's happened with COVID hasn't been good for our lives. Most of us are less because of COVID, not more. And when you combine that with the dysfunction of the culture we're in, something much more good has to come.
We have two generations of a dysfunctional culture that is all about me and “what's in it for me” and instant gratification and everything that comes with it. This started in the 90s. With kids, when you're dysfunctional, it doesn't show. But when they become adults, it shows. So all of a sudden, the kids from the 90s are adults and they're in leadership positions, and they're completely dysfunctional and they don't deserve to be in leadership positions. They need help.
I came to the conclusion that this year is not a good year for us. How can things ever work when they are led by dysfunctional people? I thought I might as well write about what high-road leadership looks like, because today we don't have a model for it.
We live in a very “me-centered” culture. We lose respect for people, we belittle people. It's a vicious cycle. So someone has to speak up, and someone has to show pictures like this: What does a high road leader look like? So what are they like? Well, high leaders unite people. They don't divide people. Low leaders divide people. If they're dividing people, they're not caring about a common purpose or the bigger picture, they're caring about their own purpose. Why divide people? Unless they want to win an election more than they want to help their country.
Or maybe you're in a company situation and you want your team to beat another team, or your team is more important to you than the company, or your product is more important than another product.
In companies, we call it siloing. “This is our silo. This is who we are. We don't really care what they do. It's all about us.” High road leaders care about everyone. They care about everyone because they know that diversity brings greater balance. There is no such thing as a balanced leader, but there is such thing as a balanced team. There is no balance in the singular, only balance in the plural.
Do you feel like people are craving leadership, that people are realizing there is a lack of leadership in organizations and in society, or are we just used to what we're used to?
Well, remember that dysfunctional people can't see the whole picture. It's impossible. They only see their own perspective. The reason they're dysfunctional is because they can't see the perspective of others. It's like self-awareness. When people say they're self-aware, I want to go into their life and say, “If you're self-aware, that's possible, but you're only self-aware because you have people around you who make you aware.”
Self-awareness comes from leaders being humble and open enough to ask those around them to be self-aware. I always look at everyone after we gather and ask, “What are you missing?” People say, “Why are you asking what are you missing?” Because I'm missing something. I know I am. Or I ask, “What is it like to be on the other side of me? Listen to me talk about that, because I'm not on the other side of me. I am me. So I don't know what it's like, but you do. Give me insight. Help me.”
A few years ago, I gave a talk for Johnson & Johnson. I was in a session about vulnerability and humility, and I said, “One of the things that you really need to do is go back to your workplace, sit down with your coworkers, and share with them the areas where you're weak, the areas where you're not good. You need to share your weaknesses with them.”
I felt the whole room explode very quickly. So I said, “Let's take a break. I thought they needed some fresh air.” I was signing books. [divisional] The CEO was standing next to me, so I looked up and said, “Can I help you with something?”
“Well,” he said, “you're not helping.”
He said, “What you said in our last session is completely wrong and I need to challenge you on that.” I said, “Of course.” He said, “What do you mean, show your weaknesses to others? That's not how leaders lead. We don't lead from our weaknesses, we lead from our strengths.”
He gave me a pep talk about strengths, like someone with low confidence might. I just listened to him quietly, and when he finished I said, “Okay, what you said makes a lot of sense to me, but you're missing something. You're assuming your people don't know about your weaknesses. That's a big oversight. They talk about weaknesses every day. In fact, they worry. They look around and ask each other, 'Who is going to tell him?'”
What I want to say is this: I don't know my weaknesses. The only way for me to be self-aware is to say, “You have to help me. You have to talk to me. I have to listen to you.”
It has to come from the top, because those who don't have that permission are usually not open enough to share it — keeping secrets that undermine the best that leaders can be.
How do you start to get buy-in to change the mindset and elevate the leadership mindset within your organization?
You can only get buy-in if you buy in. I tell leaders that you can't get buy-in by title or position. “I'm the CEO, and I want you all to get this book and talk about this book.” I run seven companies, one of which is a leadership trading company, and I have several leadership training courses.
What we've found is very simple: none of it works unless the people at the top are involved. We screen leaders at all of our trainings. We say, “We'll come to your company and do leadership training only if you participate. It's OK if you don't participate, but please leave the leadership training to someone else.”
Success is not about the programs you create, it's about the people who participate. What CEOs need to understand is that the best leadership advice they can give to anyone is this: Follow me.
What is the first step on the path to high road leadership?
Awareness is always the first step. It is the first step in anything that gets improved. You can't fix what you don't know about. Leaders have a responsibility to be aware because they see more than others and they see before others. As a leader, I have a responsibility to help people understand what is happening, what is about to happen, and communicate the big picture.
That's a big deal. A really big deal. That's what this book is about. If you can't see the picture, you can't take action. And without action, there's no success. And that's never been the case before.
