Investing in Your Leadership Legacy

This week on The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast we wrapped up a month of lessons that my father, Melvin, taught me. Dad went home to Jesus on July 4, and we’ve spent the past few weeks sharing the 29 lessons he taught me with his life and his wisdom.

But during this week’s episode, Mark Cole opens up his discussion by mentioning my book, Developing the Leader Within You 2.0—it’s the first book of mine that Mark ever read, and he credits the book for affirming his calling to leadership. Mark and I have spoken often of the book’s impact on him personally and professionally, and how the lessons he learned decades ago still impact him today.

That’s the thing about leadership. It’s an investment that continually pays dividends.

I can say that because of the legacy my father left me. My dad was my very first leader, my very first mentor, and my very best friend. I watched him continually develop himself as a leader through reading books, growing in his strengths, serving others, and living an intentional life. He marked me with his leadership, just as he marked thousands of others through his ministry.

Whether it was students from Circleville Bible College (now known as Ohio Christian University) or his fellow residents at the retirement home where he served as their Chaplin, my father’s decades of investment into his leadership paid dividends to the people around him.

I can say that with all confidence because those dividends are still being paid today. The leadership lessons my father lived and shared with me are a foundational part of my work and calling. I pass on to leaders what was first handed down to me, and like my father I continue to develop myself so that I can continue to develop others.

As a leader, you can never stop investing in your own growth. There will never come a day when you know enough, have experienced enough, or have seen enough to get you through the challenges every leader faces. My father was 98 years old when he died; I’m now 73; but no matter what age you may be, my friend, you can always be better tomorrow than you were today.

That’s why I’m still passionate about helping leaders like you invest in yourself. This week my team has created a special offer for leaders to double-down on their personal growth investment: they’re offering a Developing the Leader Within You package that includes both the book and the digital course for a significant discount.

If nothing else, it’s an opportunity for you to decide which is better—the book or the movie?

Kidding aside, I’m grateful to my team for making this offer available to you. Growth as a leader is essential for a life of significance. I cannot overstate how true that sentence is in our current culture. We are desperate for women and men of values who value people and want to add value to people daily. Our world is changing and that change calls out for leaders of integrity who will help guide that change in ways that will benefit everyone, not merely a chosen few.

We need leaders like you investing in yourself, and when you do, you become more than just a better leader. You become part of my family’s legacy.

What my dad passed on to me, I’ve passed on to Mark and to leaders like yourself. We are all connected now by the thread of leadership, weaving a tapestry of a brighter, more brilliant future than any of us could ever dream. I am grateful for you being part of this legacy. I know my father was too, even though he may have never met you. Dad always understood that our influence went far beyond just our presence.

My friend, today is the perfect day to begin investing in yourself as a leader. It’s the perfect day to rekindle an investment in yourself that you allowed to go dormant. It’s the perfect day to continue investing in yourself and in those you lead.

You will never be sorry that you did. I promise.