110+ John C. Maxwell Quotes On Success, Growth And Relationships

John C. Maxwell was an American clergyman who was a leader in the Church of the Nazarene. He was a prolific author, having written more than 50 books on Christian living, leadership and personal growth. He was also a popular speaker and mentor, inspiring his audiences to live a life of purpose and integrity. Following is our collection on famous quotes by John C. Maxwell on leadership, success, growth.

Top 10 John C. Maxwell Quotes

1. A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.
2. You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.
3. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.
4. We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.
5. Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy.
6. Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are.
7. It's said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others' mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others's successes.
8. Enjoyment is an incredible energizer to the human spirit.
9. A big man is one who makes us feel bigger when we are with him.
10. We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it's a continuing choice.

John C. Maxwell Image Quotes

Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy. — John C. Maxwell

Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are. — John C. Maxwell

Enjoyment is an incredible energizer to the human spirit. — John C. Maxwell

A big man is one who makes us feel bigger when we are with him. — John C. Maxwell

We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it's a continuing choice. — John C. Maxwell

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. — John C. Maxwell

Reflective thinking turns experience into insight. — John C. Maxwell

Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best. — John C. Maxwell

Happiness simply cannot be relied upon as a measure of success. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Short Quotes

• Reflective thinking turns experience into insight.
• Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best.
• It's good to be out of your comfort zone. Just don't step out of your gift zone.
• Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.
• Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up.
• Negative thinking limits God and our potential.
• The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.
• Never allow others to put obstacles in the pathway of your dreams
• Working together precedes winning together...collaboration is multiplication.
• When you find your spiritual gift, God will give you an opportunity to use it.

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Leadership

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

The first step to leadership is servanthood. — John C. Maxwell

A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. — John C. Maxwell

Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, 'I'll get a bigger job, then I'll learn how to be a leader.' But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn't a position, it's a process. — John C. Maxwell

Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another. — John C. Maxwell

A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. By John Maxwell — John C. Maxwell

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

Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses. — John C. Maxwell

Credibility is a leader's currency. With it, he or she is solvent; without it, he or she is bankrupt. — John C. Maxwell

It's true that charisma can make a person stand out for a moment, but character sets a person apart for a lifetime. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Success

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

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. — John C. Maxwell

Success is... knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others. — John C. Maxwell

Happiness simply cannot be relied upon as a measure of success. — John C. Maxwell

Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. — John C. Maxwell

To collaborative team members, completing one another is more important than competing with one another. — John C. Maxwell

You don't overcome challenges by making them smaller but by making yourself bigger. — John C. Maxwell

Every worthwhile accomplishment has a price tag attached to it. The question is always whether you are willing to pay the price to attain it - in hard work, sacrifice, patience, faith, and endurance. — John C. Maxwell

All leaders make mistakes. They are a part of life. Successful leaders recognize their errors, learn from them, and work to correct their faults. — John C. Maxwell

Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Growth

Every time you make a mistake, don’t bring up everything that’s wrong with yourself; tell yourself that you’re paying the price for growth and that you will learn to do better next time. Every positive thing you can say to yourself will help. — John C. Maxwell

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone. — John C. Maxwell

Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. — John C. Maxwell

If you aren't making any mistakes, it's a sure sign you're playing it too safe. — John C. Maxwell

The more seriously you take your growth, the more seriously your people will take you. — John C. Maxwell

The depth of your mythology is the extent of your effectiveness. — John C. Maxwell

An attitude's growth never stops. — John C. Maxwell

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

Others are Ahead of me. I am continually Challenged. My focus is Forward. The atmosphere is Affirming. I am often out of my Comfort Zone. I wake up Excited. Failure is not my Enemy. Others are Growing. People desire Change. Growth is Modeled and Expected. — John C. Maxwell

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

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Life

Life is like riding in a taxi. Whether you are going anywhere or not, the meter keeps ticking. — John C. Maxwell

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

By choosing to embrace and practice good values every day, you choose the higher course in life. And your life goes in a direction that you will always feel good about. You may not always get what you desire, but you will always be the person you desire to be. — John C. Maxwell

To change your LIFE you need to change your PRIORITIES. — John C. Maxwell

The highway of life is filled with flat squirrels that couldn't make a decision. — John C. Maxwell

It is our decisions not our conditions that determine our quality of life. — John C. Maxwell

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. Success doesn't just suddenly occur one day in someone's life. Neither does failure. Each is a process. Every day of your life is merely preparation for the next. What you become is the result of what you do today. — John C. Maxwell

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

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker — John C. Maxwell

The better you are at surrounding yourself with people of high potential, the greater your chance for success. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Relationships

All visions begin with relationships. My relationship with God is where I receive the vision; my relationship with my people is where I give the vision. If those relationships aren't what they could be or should be, on either side, the receiving or the giving out, the vision is going to be aborted. — John C. Maxwell

Transmit your vision emotionally by gaining credibility, demonstrating passion, establishing relationships and communicating a felt need. Transmit it logically by confronting reality, formulating strategy, accepting responsibility, celebrating victory and learning from defeat. — John C. Maxwell

A trustworthy leader goes the extra mile to remedy strained relationships, even when it doesn't appear to be required. — John C. Maxwell

The key word in the church community is relationships, you know brother and sister in Christ. — John C. Maxwell

Integrity is important in building relationships. And is the foundation upon which many other qualities for success are built, such as respect, dignity, and trust. — John C. Maxwell

Dividers seek to make themselves look or feel better by making others feel worse. They damage relationships, fracture teams and organizations, and create havoc in people's lives. — John C. Maxwell

If you are in a leadership position, do not rely on your title to convince people to follow you. Build relationships. Win people over. Do that and you will never be a lonely leader. — John C. Maxwell

The true test of relationships is not only how loyal someone is when we fail, but how thrilled they are when we succeed. — John C. Maxwell

Connecting is vital for any person who wants to achieve success. It is essential for anyone who wants to build great relationships. You will only be able to reach your potential-regar dless of your profession or chosen path-when you learn to connect with other people. — John C. Maxwell

In the corporate community the key word is respect. In the corporate community you don't get a relationship until they respect you first. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Change

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

If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it - young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous - is changed by it. — John C. Maxwell

If you desire to become a more generous person, don't wait for your income to change. Change your heart. — John C. Maxwell

We are either the masters or victims of our attitudes. It is a matter of personal choice. Who we are today is the result of choices we made yesterday. Tomorrow, we will become what we choose today. To change means to choose change. — John C. Maxwell

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

Policies are many, Principles are few, Policies will change, Principles never do. — John C. Maxwell

Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don't want to believe that. But if you're over age twenty-one, your life is what you're making of it. To change your life, you need to change your priorities — John C. Maxwell

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

Leaders never outgrow the need to change. — John C. Maxwell

Change means traveling in uncharted waters and this causes our securities to rise. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Teamwork

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

Teams make you better than you are, multiply your value, enable you to do what you do best, allow you to help others do their best, give you more time, provide you with companionship, help you fulfill the desires of your heart and compound your vision and effort. — John C. Maxwell

Collaboration is multiplication. — John C. Maxwell

Good attitudes among players do not guarantee a team's success, but bad attitudes guarantee it's failure. — John C. Maxwell

The Wrong Person in the Wrong Place = Regression. The Wrong Person in the Right Place = Frustration. The Right Person in the Wrong Place = Confusion. The Right Person in the Right Place = Progression. The Right People in the Right Places = Multiplication. — John C. Maxwell

Teamwork gives you the best opportunity to turn vision into reality. — John C. Maxwell

Rotten Attitudes ruin a team. — John C. Maxwell

Coming together is a beginning, and staying together is progress, but only when teams sweat together do they find success. — John C. Maxwell

If you want to be great, you can't be great by yourself. You gotta to bring people around you. As the the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. The greater the challenge, the better the team. — John C. Maxwell

The best way to serve the individuals on the team is to see that the whole team wins. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Discipline

Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time. — John C. Maxwell

Sometimes I hear people talk about discipline of self and I think, if you don't have passion, I might discipline myself for a week or two but only passion will hold me steady. — John C. Maxwell

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

While everyone exercises influence, the size and strength of our influence depends upon our effort. No one leads well without paying the price of discipline. As we push ourselves to grow and to learn, we enlarge our sphere of influence. — John C. Maxwell

If you keep your mind active, regularly take on mental challenges, and continually think about the right things, you will develop the disciplined thinking that will help you with whatever you endeavor to do. — John C. Maxwell

Great leaders always have self-discipline -without exception. — John C. Maxwell

Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you growing. — John C. Maxwell

Decision-making takes care of goal-setting, but discipline also takes care of goal-getting. Decisions and discipline can't be separated; one is worthless without the other. — John C. Maxwell

I think passion and discipline are wonderful, complementary things. — John C. Maxwell

Integrity is not a given factor in everyone's life. It is a result of self-discipline, inner trust, and a decision to be relentlessly honest in all situations in our lives. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Integrity

You build trust with others each time you choose integrity over image, truth over convenience, or honor over personal gain. — John C. Maxwell

Integrity is the human quality most necessary to business success. — John C. Maxwell

I tried to write the book [Today Matters] with integrity and say, health is one of my daily dozen, and I work on it, but I don't have this right. — John C. Maxwell

Integrity is not so much what we do as much as who we are. — John C. Maxwell

We cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with our beliefs. — John C. Maxwell

Integrity is the most needed to succeed in business. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Inspiring

Successful people don't have any fewer problems than unsuccessful people; they just have a different mindset in dealing with them. — John C. Maxwell

True success is obeying God. — John C. Maxwell

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying — John C. Maxwell

A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose - a cause to pursue, a person to love, a goal to achieve. — John C. Maxwell

Although it's admirable to be ambitious and hard-working, it's more desirable to be smart-working. — John C. Maxwell

The timing of your decision is just as important as the decision you make. — John C. Maxwell

Leaders don't rise to the pinnacle of success without developing the right set of attitudes and habits; they make every day a masterpiece. — John C. Maxwell

We must focus on prayer as the main thrust to accomplish God's will and purpose on earth. The forces against us have never been greater, and this is the only way we can release God's power to become victorious — John C. Maxwell

Question for God every morning: What is the main event today? What do you want me to focus on today? — John C. Maxwell

The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Motivational

Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. — John C. Maxwell

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

Always take the high road. — John C. Maxwell

The greatest of all miracles is that we need not be tomorrow what we are today. The greatest of all insights is that we cannot be tomorrow what we do not do today. That is why today matters. — John C. Maxwell

People will work eight hours a day for pay, 10 hours a day for a good boss, and 24 hours a day for a good cause! — John C. Maxwell

Our attitude is the primary force that will determine whether we succeed or fail. — John C. Maxwell

Dreams don't work unless you do — John C. Maxwell

People will summarize your life in one sentence - Pick it now. — John C. Maxwell

Believing in people before they have proved themselves is the key to motivating people to reach their potential. — John C. Maxwell

The english word thanks comes from the same root word as think. Maybe if leaders were more 'think-ful' about the contribution of others, they would be more 'thankful' to them. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Encouraging

Everyone has the potential to become an encourager. You don't have to be rich. You don't have to be a genius. You don't have to have it all together. All you have to do is care about people and initiate. — John C. Maxwell

When you face discouragement, you can do one of two things, and the one you choose will color your perspective. You can look at others to place the blame, or you can look at yourself to discover your opportunities. The choice is yours. — John C. Maxwell

Maya Angelou observed you cant use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Sadly,too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be climate in which new ways of thinking,perceiving, questioning are encouraged. — John C. Maxwell

Reflective thinking is like the crock pot of the mind. It encourages your thoughts to simmer until they're done. — John C. Maxwell

Never underestimate the power of an encouraging word. — John C. Maxwell

A good leader encourages followers to tell him what he needs to know, not what he wants to hear. — John C. Maxwell

Encouragement is oxygen for the soul — John C. Maxwell

Encourage the many; mentor the few. — John C. Maxwell

If people around you don't believe in you, if they don't encourage you, then you need to find some people who do. — John C. Maxwell

A word of Encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About People

Dreams require down payments. Dreams are free, but the journey isn't. There is a price to pay. When you find your why you'll find your way. When you develop your will you will embark on your way. Many people start; few people finish. Many people have a dream; few people achieve their dreams. — John C. Maxwell

All good leaders are connectors. They relate well and make people feel confident about themselves and their leader. — John C. Maxwell

People rise and fall to meet your level of expectations for them. If you express skepticism and doubt in others, they will return your lack of confidence with mediocrity. But if you believe in them and expect them to do well, they will go the extra mile trying to do their best. — John C. Maxwell

People of poor character tend to blame their choices on circumstances. Ethical people make good choices regardless of circumstances. If they make enough good choices, they begin to create better conditions for themselves. — John C. Maxwell

People who blame others for their failures never overcome them. They simply move from problem to problem. To reach your potential, you must continually improve yourself, and you can't do that if you don't take responsibility for your actions and learn from your mistakes. — John C. Maxwell

Without a vision people and the church become self-centered. People start finding fault with one another and the church self-destructs. — John C. Maxwell

People never care how much you know until they know how much you care. — John C. Maxwell

The secret of successful people lies in their ability to discover their strengths and to organize their life so that these strengths can be applied. — John C. Maxwell

You're only as good as the people you have around you. — John C. Maxwell

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Leaders

Of all the things a leader should fear, complacency heads the list. — John C. Maxwell

Leaders who fail to prune their pride will meet demise. That's not a guess, it's a guarantee. With pride, it's not a matter of 'if' we will fall, but 'when.' There are no exceptions. — John C. Maxwell

True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from Influence. — John C. Maxwell

The more credible you are, the more confidence people place in you, thereby allowing you the privilege of influencing their lives. — John C. Maxwell

When people respect someone as a person, they admire her. When they respect her as a friend, they love her. When they respect her as a leader, they follow her. — John C. Maxwell

If you really want to be a successful leader, you must develop other leaders around you. You must establish a team. — John C. Maxwell

There are three qualities a leader must exemplify to build trust: competence, connection, and character. — John C. Maxwell

Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good navigators are capable of taking their people just about anywhere. — John C. Maxwell

Successful leaders have the courage to take action while others hesitate. — John C. Maxwell

A highly credible leader under-promises and over-delivers. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Leader

Great communication depends on two simple skills-context, which attunes a leader to the same frequency as his or her audience, and delivery, which allows a leader to phrase messages in a language the audience can understand. — John C. Maxwell

Most People have a desire to look for the exception instead of the desire to become exceptional. — John C. Maxwell

If you don't have the ability to see when to stand up and the conviction to do it, you'll never be an effective leader. — John C. Maxwell

The leader’s Attitude is like a thermostat for the place she works. If her attitude is good, the atmosphere is pleasant, and the environment is easy to work in. But if her attitude is bad, the temperature is insufferable. — John C. Maxwell

One is too small a number to achieve greatness. — John C. Maxwell

A leader who produces other leaders multiples their influences. — John C. Maxwell

Leaders will not experience long-term success unless a lot of people want them to. — John C. Maxwell

As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you. — John C. Maxwell

When a leader is upbeat in the face of discouraging circumstances, others admire that quality and want to be like her. — John C. Maxwell

The Visalus Founders are the finest and sharpest young leaders that I have ever met. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Quotes About Person

You can easily determine the caliber of a person by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him or her. — John C. Maxwell

The person who does only what he must when he is in the mood or when it's convenient isn't going to be successful. — John C. Maxwell

While personal maturity may mean being able to see beyond yourself, leadership maturity means considering others before yourself. — John C. Maxwell

Passion gives you an advantage over others, because one person with passion is greater than ninety-nine who have only an interest! — John C. Maxwell

Confront your inadequacies and push your personal boundaries: It's the surest way to grow, improve and expand the scope of your influence. — John C. Maxwell

Every person has seeds of greatness within, even though they may currently be dormant. — John C. Maxwell

Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be a part of something noble and purposeful. — John C. Maxwell

When values, thoughts, feelings, and actions are in alignment, a person becomes focused and character is strengthened. — John C. Maxwell

A person with an outstanding attitude makes the best of it while he gets the worst of it. — John C. Maxwell

You are the only person who can label what you do a failure. Failure is subjective. — John C. Maxwell

John C. Maxwell Famous Quotes And Sayings

Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy. — John C. Maxwell

Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are. — John C. Maxwell

Dont ever be impressed with goal setting; be impressed with goal getting. Reaching new goals and moving to a higher level of performance always requires change, and change feels awkward. But take comfort in the knowledge that if a change doesn't feel uncomfortable, then it's propably not really a change. — John C. Maxwell

Enjoyment is an incredible energizer to the human spirit. — John C. Maxwell

A big man is one who makes us feel bigger when we are with him. — John C. Maxwell

We choose what attitudes we have right now. And it's a continuing choice. — John C. Maxwell

Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. — John C. Maxwell

Find your vision, and let it guide you in all that you do. If you lack vision, look inside yourself. Draw on your natural gifts and desires. — John C. Maxwell

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

Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best. — John C. Maxwell

A dream becomes a reality as a result of your actions, and your actions are controlled, to a large extent, by your habits. — John C. Maxwell

Happiness simply cannot be relied upon as a measure of success. — John C. Maxwell

Don't hide bad news. With multiple information channels available, bad news always becomes known. Be candid right from the start. — John C. Maxwell

No matter your title, people will not follow you if they don’t trust you. Whether you are just taking over a team or working to implement large-scale change within one, you are guaranteed to run into resistance if you haven’t taken time to establish a foundation with the people you oversee before turning their worlds upside down. — John C. Maxwell

To gain credibility, you must consistently demonstrate three things: Initiative: You have to get up to go up. Sacrifice: You have to give up to go up. Maturity: You have to grow up to go up. If you show the way, people will want to follow you. The higher you go, the greater the number of people who will be willing to travel with you. — John C. Maxwell

Your attitude is like the minds paintbrush. It can paint everything in bright, vibrant colors-creating a masterspiece. — John C. Maxwell

If you want to be positive, upbeat, and passionate, you need to take responsibility for being that way. — John C. Maxwell

To achieve your dreams, you must embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of your life. If you're not failing, you're probably not really moving forward. — John C. Maxwell

To move forward today, you must learn to say good-bye to yesterday's hurts, tragedies and baggage. You can't build a monument to past problems and fail forward. — John C. Maxwell

No one achieves greatness by becoming a generalist. You don't hone a skill by diluting your attention to its development. The only way to get to the next level is focus. — John C. Maxwell

You cannot enjoy others until you enjoy yourself because you cannot give to others what you do not have. — John C. Maxwell

Attitudes are nothing more than habits of thought. — John C. Maxwell

The dreams and passions stored within hearts are powerful keys which can unlock a wealth of potential. — John C. Maxwell

Leading well is not about enriching yourself - it's about empowering others — John C. Maxwell

True success comes only when every generation continues to develop the next generation. — John C. Maxwell

Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence. — John C. Maxwell

Life Lessons by John C. Maxwell

1. John C. Maxwell teaches that success is found in the journey, not the destination, and that we should focus on learning and growing along the way.
2. He emphasizes the importance of developing relationships with others and understanding the power of influence.
3. He encourages us to take risks and to be resilient in the face of failure, believing that we can learn and grow from our mistakes.