Book Review: Talent is Never Enough (by John C. Maxwell)

I’m a huge fan of leadership expert John C. Maxwell and seeing him and meeting him live earlier this year was a real treat for me.  During his conference in West Palm Beach a couple months ago,  I picked up one of his books Talent is Never Enough and as usual Maxwell has delivered.  He’s a fantastic writer and teacher and provides a lot of real world examples and insights in all of his books — this book was no exception.

Talent is Never Enough is all about how to maximize your talent by making 13 key choices that make you a “talent-plus” person.  He discusses how people put too much emphasis on talent alone when the truth is that there are many highly talented people who are not highly successful.  He believes that everyone has talent, that we should all develop the talent we have versus the talent we want, and that we can all make the below 13 choices to stand out vs. stand alone.

1. Belief lifts your talent.
2. Passion energies your talent.
3. Initiative activates your talent.
4. Focus directs your talent.
5. Preparation positions your talent.
6. Practice sharpens your talent.
7. Perseverance sustains your talent.
8. Courage tests your talent.
9. Teachability expands your talent.
10. Character protects your talent.
11. Relationships influence your talent.
12. Responsibility strengthens your talent.
13. Teamwork multiplies your talent.

Here are some awesome words of wisdom from Maxwell on 4 of the 13 choices:

Belief

• Your potential is a picture of what you can become. Belief helps you see the picture and reach for it.
• “Life is a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.” ~Charles Schulz
• Accomplishment is more than a matter of working harder or smarter. It’s also a matter of believing positively.
• Hope is not a strategy. If you want good results, you need to perform good actions. If you want to perform good actions, you must have positive expectations. To have positive expectations, you have to first believe.

Initiative

• Talent-plus people don’t wait for everything to be perfect to move forward. They take initiative. They know a secret that good leaders understand: momentum is their friend.
• Where you finish in life isn’t determine so much by where you are as by whether you start.
• It’s better to be 80% sure and make things happen than it is to wait until you are 100% sure because by then, the opportunity will have already passed you by.
• Tip: allocate specific times to tasks that you tend to procrastinate on — treat it like an appointment with a specific start and end time.

Practice

• You must be willing to start with small things.  Every time you conquer something small, it makes you that much stronger.
• Very small differences, consistently practiced, will produce results.
• Don’t change your circumstances to improve your life — change yourself to improve your circumstances

Courage

When John Maxwell began his leadership career he noted that he was a very ineffective leader.  After a four year process of making small difficult decisions to improve his leadership capabilities, he gained more confidence and courage and wrote the following:

Courageous Leadership Simply Means I’ve Developed:

1. Convictions that are stronger than my fears.
2. Vision that is clearer than my doubts.
3. Spiritual sensitivity that is louder than popular opinion.
4. Self-esteem that is deeper than self-protection.
5. Appreciation for discipline that is great than my desire for leisure.
6. Dissatisfaction that is more forceful than the status quo.
7. Poise that is more unshakable than panic.
8. Risk taking that is stronger than safety seeking.
9. Right actions that are more robust than rationalization.
10. A desire to see potential reached more than to see people appeased.

I hope you enjoyed this review!  Soon I will begin Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill which is the pick of the month for my friend Steph’s Flip This Book Club. If you missed last month’s discussion, you should check it out… we discussed Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs.

Looking forward to an outstanding and productive week this week!  Hope you are as well!

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3. The One Minute Millionaire (Book Review)
4. Inspirational Words
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Tags: Book Review, Books I Recommend, John Maxwell, Leadership

Category: Books I Recommend, Inspiration