No LimitsSample

Everything rises and falls on leadership. And leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.

I’ve been teaching those words—or some variation of them—for over 40 years. That’s because nothing gets done without leaders, so there’s always a need for more!

And that includes you.

I often have people tell me that they don’t consider themselves leaders because they don’t have a leadership position at work or within their organization. Because no one else has tapped them on the shoulder to say, “You’re a leader!”, they don’t think of themselves in those terms.

Maybe you’re in that category. If so, let me point you back to the truth that leadership is influence. Leadership is not a title. Leadership is not a birthright. It’s not something that someone else bestows on you.

Leadership is your ability to influence others, and you have influence in some way with every person you meet. Your spouse. Your kids. Your nieces and nephews. Your co-workers. Your pastor. Your next-door neighbor.

This ability to influence others is your leadership capacity, and since the world always needs more and better leaders, that means you need to increase your leadership! To make that happen, you need to make it a priority in your life.

Start by asking questions of other people, and then pay attention to their answers. Seek to understand others by listening to their thoughts and ideas and dreams. People value being heard, and the simple act of listening makes you someone others will value in return.

As you get to know others, make it a priority to connect with people where they are. I call this finding common ground—an idea, a dream, a passion that links you to others. You might also find common ground in areas as simple as interests or hobbies. The point is creating healthy bonds between you and others that give you permission to speak into their lives.

But leadership is more than just listening and connecting—it’s also about being vulnerable. Vulnerability is often associated with weakness, and there aren’t many people who enjoy feeling weak. And yet, the greatest leader to ever walk this earth was also the most vulnerable!

The Apostle Paul said that Jesus, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

And Jesus went even farther: “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

You don’t need power or a position to lead others; you simply need to understand the influence you have with the people around you. And then grow that influence every day.

To learn more about making expanding your capacity, you can read the book that inspired this plan, John C. Maxwell's No Limits: Blow the Cap Off Your Capacity .