John C. Maxwell has a very inspiring story for you on how to win friends and influence people.
You can be sure that influence has a lot to do with leadership. And there is no one more experienced in leadership than John Maxwell. He is a great leader, appreciated all over the world. But Maxwell is not just the person who has a lot of knowledge. He is also the best teacher you can imagine and has his own methods available to share the vast knowledge with you.
He is the one you should listen to if you really want to know how to win friends and influence people.
John Maxwell, on his Leadership Wired blog, tells you a wonderful story about Jackie Robinson. He is the first African American to play Major League Baseball. The great story of the player, who was not afraid to break the color barrier in baseball, is the main plot of the movie “42” by Harrison Ford.
You see, the life of Jackie Robinson offers valuable insight into the nature of influence. You can be very influential when you know how to get involved in something great and important. Maxwell tries to test the idea that leadership begins with being able to participate. Harry A. Overstreet put it this way:
“The very essence of all power of influence lies in getting the other person to participate”
Leadership is extremely rewarding, but it is also incredibly burdensome to feel the weight of responsibility. Can you imagine how much pressure Jackie Robinson must have felt to perform well on behalf of all in the hope that his success would advance the cause of racial equality in America? Jackie knew she would have to know how to win friends and influence people to be successful. He was aware of the taste of responsibility.
When it comes to the topic of influencing leadership, you need to remember all the time that influencing others is either positive or negative. And if you really want to know how to win friends and influence people, you have to choose the silver lining of being influential.
You know, the wonderful player Robinson had no doubt that he should have focused on adding value to others.
It is the only effective way to know how to win friends and influence the people in your life.
The feeling of being influential always starts in your heart and in your head. It grows within you and then you are ready to bring this feeling to the outside world. When you want to be sure of how to win friends and influence people, you need to decide who you are and what you stand for. So it is much easier to have a positive influence.
I’m sure Booker T. Washington learned his lesson on how to win friends and influence people by saying these words:
“There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple and useful life”