John C. Maxwell, born on February 20, 1947, is an influential American author, speaker, and leadership expert. Renowned for his teachings on leadership development, Maxwell has authored numerous bestselling books, including “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.” Ordained as a pastor, he served in various roles before founding EQUIP, an organization focused on training leaders worldwide. As a speaker, Maxwell addresses audiences globally, emphasizing the principles of effective leadership, personal growth, and success. He is also a leadership coach and consultant, impacting individuals and organizations with his insights. Maxwell’s philosophy centers on empowering others to reach their leadership potential and make a positive impact on their communities. With a career spanning decades, John C. Maxwell continues to be a leading voice in the field of leadership and personal development.
John C. Maxwell Quotes
1. “Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
— John C. Maxwell
2. “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
— John C. Maxwell
3. “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing.”
— John C. Maxwell
4. “If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.”
— John C. Maxwell
5. “Seven Steps to Success 1) Make a commitment to grow daily. 2) Value the process more than events. 3) Don’t wait for inspiration. 4) Be willing to sacrifice pleasure for opportunity. 5) Dream big. 6) Plan your priorities. 7) Give up to go up.”
— John C. Maxwell
6. “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”
— John C. Maxwell
7. “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
— John C. Maxwell
8. “If you start today to do the right thing, you are already a success even if it doesn’t show yet.”
— John C. Maxwell
9. “The truth is that teamwork is at the heart of great achievement.”
— John C. Maxwell
10. “Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.”
— John C. Maxwell
11. “Success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.”
— John C. Maxwell
12. “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”
— John C. Maxwell
13. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
— John C. Maxwell
14. “Image is what people think we are; integrity is what we really are.”
— John C. Maxwell
15. “A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. ”
— John C. Maxwell
16. “When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.”
— John C. Maxwell
17. “Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.”
— John C. Maxwell
18. “Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.”
— John C. Maxwell
19. “To grow yourself, you must know yourself.”
— John C. Maxwell
20. “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.”
— John C. Maxwell
21. “Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say ‘yes’ to the best.”
— John C. Maxwell
22. “When was the last time you did something for the first time?”
— John C. Maxwell
23. “The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying.”
— John C. Maxwell
24. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”
— John C. Maxwell
25. “Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.”
— John C. Maxwell
26. “Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.”
— John C. Maxwell
27. “Goals may give focus, but dreams give power.”
— John C. Maxwell
28. “Collaboration is multiplication.”
— John C. Maxwell
29. “Live to learn and you will really learn to live.”
— John C. Maxwell
30. “A leader who produces other leaders multiples their influences.”
— John C. Maxwell
31. “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”
— John C. Maxwell
32. “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
— John C. Maxwell
33. “We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.”
— John C. Maxwell
34. “If we are growing, we are always going to be outside our comfort zone.”
— John C. Maxwell
35. “Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.”
— John C. Maxwell
36. “The true measure of leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.”
— John C. Maxwell
37. “Your attitude determines your actions, and your actions determine your accomplishment.”
— John C. Maxwell
38. “Teamwork gives you the best opportunity to turn vision into reality.”
— John C. Maxwell
39. “The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That’s the day we truly grow up.”
— John C. Maxwell
40. “The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday.”
— John C. Maxwell
41. “The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.”
— John C. Maxwell
42. “The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.”
— John C. Maxwell
43. “Most people want to avoid pain, and discipline is usually painful.”
— John C. Maxwell
44. “Everyone is a leader because everyone influences someone.”
— John C. Maxwell
45. “Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
— John C. Maxwell
46. “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
— John C. Maxwell
47. “Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.”
— John C. Maxwell
48. “Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence.”
— John C. Maxwell
49. “Pay now, play later; play now, pay later.”
— John C. Maxwell
50. “If you don’t have peace, it isn’t because someone took it from you; you gave it away. You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can control what happens in you.”
— John C. Maxwell
51. “Leadership development is a lifetime journey, not a quick trip.”
— John C. Maxwell
52. “Disappointment is the gap that exists between expectation and reality.”
— John C. Maxwell
53. “Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.”
— John C. Maxwell
54. “Wanting to win isn’t enough. You have to go through a process to improve. That takes patience, perseverance, and intentionality.”
— John C. Maxwell
55. “The more intentional you are about your leadership growth, the greater your potential for becoming the leader you’re capable of being. Never stop learning.”
— John C. Maxwell
56. “There is no success without failure and losses.”
— John C. Maxwell
57. “Your core values are the deeply held beliefs that authentically describe your soul.”
— John C. Maxwell
58. “While a good leader sustains momentum, a great leader increases it.”
— John C. Maxwell
59. “Delegate – work smarter, not harder; do what you do best and drop the rest; get control of your calendar; do what you love because it will give you energy; work with people you like so your energy isn’t depleted.”
— John C. Maxwell
60. “One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.”
— John C. Maxwell
61. “Failing forward is the ability to get back up after you’ve been knocked down, learn from your mistake, and move forward in a better direction.”
— John C. Maxwell
62. “Be intentional to add value to every person you meet every day.”
— John C. Maxwell
63. “Leadership is influence.”
— John C. Maxwell
64. “Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.”
— John C. Maxwell
65. “The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.”
— John C. Maxwell
66. “Success is a continuing thing. It is growth and development. It is achieving one thing and using that as a stepping stone to achieve something else.”
— John C. Maxwell
67. “Momentum solves 80% of your problems.”
— John C. Maxwell
68. “Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. That’s the Law of Consistency. It doesn’t matter how talented you are. It doesn’t matter how many opportunities you receive. If you want to grow, consistency is key.”
— John C. Maxwell
69. “If you do the things you need to do when you need to do them, then someday you can do the things you want do when you want to do them.”
— John C. Maxwell
70. “If you don’t change the direction you are going, then you’re likely to end up where you’re heading.”
— John C. Maxwell
71. “Encouragement is oxygen for the soul.”
— John C. Maxwell
72. “Most People have a desire to look for the exception instead of the desire to become exceptional. ”
— John C. Maxwell
73. “Time management is an oxymoron. Time is beyond our control, and the clock keeps ticking regardless of how we lead our lives. Priority management is the answer to maximizing the time we have.”
— John C. Maxwell
74. “Mistakes are the stepping stones to success.”
— John C. Maxwell
75. “Confidence is a characteristic of a positive attitude. The greatest achievers and leaders remain confident regardless of circumstances.”
— John C. Maxwell
76. “Once a decision is made, you should stop worrying and start working. It’s not always what we know that makes it a good decision. It is what we do to implement and execute it that makes it a good decision.”
— John C. Maxwell
77. “The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.”
— John C. Maxwell
78. “I believe that everyone chooses how to approach life. If you’re proactive, you focus on preparing. If you’re reactive, you end up focusing on repairing.”
— John C. Maxwell
79. “To add value to others, one must first value others.”
— John C. Maxwell
80. “Successful people don’t have any fewer problems than unsuccessful people; they just have a different mindset in dealing with them.”
— John C. Maxwell
81. “Failure is an inside job. So is success. If you want to achieve, you have to win the war in your thinking first. You can’t let the failure outside you get inside you.”
— John C. Maxwell
82. “Profile of a winning team – They play to win. They have a winning attitude. They keep improving. They make their teammates more successful.”
— John C. Maxwell
83. “Failed plans should not be interpreted as a failed vision. Visions don’t change, they are only refined. Plans rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but flexible with your plan.”
— John C. Maxwell
84. “Losers focus on what they are going through; winners focus on what they are going to.”
— John C. Maxwell
85. “Leadership is developed daily, not in a day.”
— John C. Maxwell
86. “Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.”
— John C. Maxwell
87. “Do something you hate every day, just for the practice.”
— John C. Maxwell
88. “The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.”
— John C. Maxwell
89. “Always take the high road.”
— John C. Maxwell
90. “Your life today is a result of your thinking yesterday. Your life tomorrow will be determined by what you think today.”
— John C. Maxwell
91. “People change when they hurt enough that they have to change, learn enough that they want to change, receive enough that they are able to change.”
— John C. Maxwell
92. “The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them.”
— John C. Maxwell
93. “Where there is no hope in the future, there is no power in the present.”
— John C. Maxwell
94. “Life is now in session. Are you present?”
— John C. Maxwell
95. “We were created for meaningful work, and one of life’s greatest pleasures is the satisfaction of a job well done.”
— John C. Maxwell
96. “A leader is a reader.”
— John C. Maxwell
97. “The bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.”
— John C. Maxwell
98. “People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.”
— John C. Maxwell
99. “Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.”
— John C. Maxwell
100. “Becoming a good listener, you are able to connect with others on more levels and develop stronger, deeper relationships.”
— John C. Maxwell
101. “If your habits don’t line up with your dream, then you need to either change your habits or change your dream.”
— John C. Maxwell
102. “Don’t worry about yesterday it ended last night at midnight.”
— John C. Maxwell
103. “True success is obeying God.”
— John C. Maxwell
104. “Efficiency is the foundation for survival. Effectiveness is the foundation for success.”
— John C. Maxwell
105. “Think, Act, Talk, and Conduct Yourself Like the Person You Want to Become.”
— John C. Maxwell
106. “The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.”
— John C. Maxwell
107. “Great leaders understand that the right attitude will set the right atmosphere, which enables the right response from others.”
— John C. Maxwell
108. “The value you receive from reflective thinking will depend on the kinds of questions you ask yourself.”
— John C. Maxwell
109. “When you make a commitment, you create hope. When you keep a commitment you create trust!”
— John C. Maxwell
110. “If you don’t try to create the future you want, you must endure the future you get.”
— John C. Maxwell
111. “The road to success is long and uphill all the way.”
— John C. Maxwell
112. “Why worry about things you can’t control when you can keep yourself busy controlling the things that depend on you?”
— John C. Maxwell
113. “Want to impress others? Talk about your successes. Want to impact others? Talk about your failures.”
— John C. Maxwell
114. “The ability to understand people is one of the greatest assets anyone can ever have.”
— John C. Maxwell
115. “Nothing of significance was ever achieved by an individual acting alone. Look below the surface and you will find that all seemingly solo acts are really team efforts.”
— John C. Maxwell
116. “Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand.”
— John C. Maxwell
117. “Character makes trust possible, and trust is the foundation of leadership.”
— John C. Maxwell
118. “The greatest enemy of good thinking is busyness.”
— John C. Maxwell
119. “A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.”
— John C. Maxwell
120. “One is too small a number to achieve greatness. No accomplishment of real value has ever been achieved by a human being working alone.”
— John C. Maxwell
121. “Successful people are willing to do things unsuccessful people will not do.”
— John C. Maxwell
122. “Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.”
— John C. Maxwell
123. “Good thinkers are always in demand. A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss.”
— John C. Maxwell
124. “When you nurture people and add value to them without expecting anything in return, they feel significant.”
— John C. Maxwell
125. “Successful people reject rejection.”
— John C. Maxwell
126. “There are two paths people can take. They can either play now and pay later, or pay now and play later. Regardless of the choice, one thing is certain. Life will demand a payment.”
— John C. Maxwell
127. “Be a river – not a reservoir.”
— John C. Maxwell
128. “Make personal growth a daily priority.”
— John C. Maxwell
129. “Always turn to God in the midst of your struggle and view people who offended you as an instrument of divine sovereignty.”
— John C. Maxwell
130. “Earn the right to be heard by listening to others. Seek to understand a situation before making judgments about it.”
— John C. Maxwell
131. “If you can learn to understand people how they think, what they feel, what inspires them, how they’re likely to act and react in a given situation- then you can motivate and influence them in a positive way.”
— John C. Maxwell
132. “Leading well is not about enriching yourself – it’s about empowering others.”
— John C. Maxwell
133. “You can change your life if you really want to. You can improve it, make it better. And it all starts with changing the way you think.”
— John C. Maxwell
134. “The difference between where we are and where we want to be is created by the changes we are willing to make in our lives. When you want something you’ve never had, you must do something you’ve never done to get it.”
— John C. Maxwell
135. “I want to make a difference with people who want to make a difference, doing something that makes a difference.”
— John C. Maxwell
136. “It takes a team to do anything of lasting value.”
— John C. Maxwell
137. “Problems almost always create opportunities – to learn, grow and improve.”
— John C. Maxwell
138. “Actions are remembered long after words are forgotten.”
— John C. Maxwell
139. “Vision without passion is a picture without possibilities.”
— John C. Maxwell
140. “The more you do, the more you fail. The more you fail, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better you get.”
— John C. Maxwell
141. “If you focus on goals, you may hit goals – but that doesn’t guarantee growth. If you focus on growth, you will grow and always hit goals.”
— John C. Maxwell
142. “You cannot enjoy others until you enjoy yourself because you cannot give to others what you do not have.”
— John C. Maxwell
143. “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”
— John C. Maxwell
144. “Leadership is influence. It is the ability to obtain followers. When the leader lacks confidence, the followers have no commitment. A leader is great not because of his power, but because of his ability to empower others.”
— John C. Maxwell
145. “Coming together is a beginning, and staying together is progress, but only when teams sweat together do they find success.”
— John C. Maxwell
146. “You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.”
— John C. Maxwell
147. “Making a difference in your work is not about productivity; it’s about people. When you focus on others and connect with them, you can work together to accomplish great things.”
— John C. Maxwell
148. “If you’re a leader, do everything you can to grow yourself and create the right environment for others to grow.”
— John C. Maxwell
149. “Ordinary people with commitment can make an extraordinary impact on their world.”
— John C. Maxwell
150. “Growth today is an investment for tomorrow.”
— John C. Maxwell
