According to John Maxwell if “you’re through changing, you’re through”. I recently picked up his highly motivating 1993 book Developing The Leader Within You. Which is a culmination of skills and principles to become an effective leader. “Leadership is developed, not discovered”, Maxwell explains in his book introduction.

The meaning of leadership is *****e*c*

At first, I was hesitant to pick up this book. But as I continue to read on – and the reason for me wanting to share my thoughts – I am starting to realise that being a leader is more than having the title or job of doing so. Maxwell sums it up brilliantly: “Leadership is influence”. 🤔 It is being able to influence people and obtain followers.

While I am no social media influencer, or in any leadership roles at work, I have realised that I still have influence. Through my actions and speech, I can influence the thinking and actions of my family, friends, colleagues and online supporters.

During the Winter of 2023, I had a scary experience at the bus terminus. A man verbally attacked me, cussing and threatening me as I waited to board the bus. This left me feeling so unsafe that I made it a point not to take the bus during the winter (when the sun sets earlier in the day). I even cautioned my colleague Danielle against taking the bus when it’s dark. We ended up taking lifts home, rather than the bus, for the entire season.

Becoming an instrument of change

I think it is the nature of youth to always find new, efficient ways of doing things. Like women to make things safer and accessible. And like men to ensure things are more helpful and reinforced. It is all within us to desire or exact change in our communities (the smallest example being a household). But to enjoy the path of least resistance, Maxwell explains that we need to understand what change FEELS like. “After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others,” he writes. 🫵

Maxwell quotes a challenge by Howard Hendricks for every potential leader to take. Let’s do it together! Write down your answer to this question: how have you changed…lately? Don’t be vague. Any changes in the last week? Last month? Last year? Name one way you have changed. Maxwell ends this challenge by saying, “The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others.”

After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others

John C. Maxwell

And that is the one piece of wisdom I leave with you all. Before we can change the world, we must understand what it takes to change. Do we know what it takes to become “better”? The work, the sacrifice and the difficult change in mindset required to let your comfy past self go, for a new unknown self.🤝

I still have a few chapters to read in Maxwell’s book, but introducing some non-fiction into my life has been a surprising delight and a necessary wake-up call. Shout-out to John C. Maxwell for this brilliant work, and my mother you highly recommended it.