Every leader looks for that one book that hits a home run when referring to leadership qualities. John Maxwell’s book, The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind Of Person Every Team Wants (2002), offers the reader a tight and colorful summation of his seventeen essential leadership qualities. Most leaders assume that they should be hard working, skilled, and well-versed in the subject matter; Maxwell takes these assumptions a step further and lists seventeen must-have characteristics that all leaders should encompass in order to do well in any sort of team.Maxwell’s text is chocked full of great stories and personally gathered illustrations to help the reader better grasp each quality mentioned. Beginning with a quote, Maxwell then moves on to a story to help tie in the theme of the quality. In addition to the story, Maxwell also uses evaluations and reflections to help the reader assess the quality mentioned. Basically, Maxwell uses day-to-day stories and quotes to help the reader implement these qualities to help integrate them into daily life. I find this text simple, basic, and easy to understand and apply. The principles and qualities mentioned are essential and explained in a straightforward manner.
John Maxwell’s text involves a layout of seventeen essential qualities which all leaders should encompass. The first quality, adaptability, focuses on alerting the leader to change for the sake of the team. The second quality, becoming collaborative, allows the leader to realize that working together precedes winning together. The third quality, being committed, is one of the most important; in order to be successful, the leader must give a full-effort. The fourth quality, communication, expresses that the team is many voices with a single heart. The fifth quality, competency, I find to be one of the most intriguing. In order to be a ‘doing’ team, the leader must be competent at the tasks first. The sixth quality, being dependable, explains that the leader must be available to help the team when in need. Additionally, the seventh quality is being disciplined which helps the team to win. The eighth quality is enlarging the team’s values. Being enthusiastic is the ninth quality which comes from the heart of the leader and flows through to the team. Being intentional is the tenth quality which helps make every action count. Additionally, the team should be mission conscious, which is the eleventh quality; this quality helps the team have a clear purpose of future goals. The twelfth quality is being prepared; this quality can ultimately determine the outcome of success. Being relational helps connect the warmth of the team; this is the thirteenth quality. The fourteenth quality is self-improving which ultimately starts at the heart of the leader and flows through to the team. The fifteenth quality is being selfless; in order to lead a team, the leader must be conscious of other’s needs. Additionally, the sixteenth quality is being solution oriented; since conflicts are inevitable in teams, finding solutions should be a priority. Finally, the seventeenth quality listed by Maxwell is being tenacious; never give up in tough situations.
John Maxwell’s text involves a layout of seventeen essential qualities which all leaders should encompass. The first quality, adaptability, focuses on alerting the leader to change for the sake of the team. The second quality, becoming collaborative, allows the leader to realize that working together precedes winning together. The third quality, being committed, is one of the most important; in order to be successful, the leader must give a full-effort. The fourth quality, communication, expresses that the team is many voices with a single heart. The fifth quality, competency, I find to be one of the most intriguing. In order to be a ‘doing’ team, the leader must be competent at the tasks first. The sixth quality, being dependable, explains that the leader must be available to help the team when in need. Additionally, the seventh quality is being disciplined which helps the team to win. The eighth quality is enlarging the team’s values. Being enthusiastic is the ninth quality which comes from the heart of the leader and flows through to the team. Being intentional is the tenth quality which helps make every action count. Additionally, the team should be mission conscious, which is the eleventh quality; this quality helps the team have a clear purpose of future goals. The twelfth quality is being prepared; this quality can ultimately determine the outcome of success. Being relational helps connect the warmth of the team; this is the thirteenth quality. The fourteenth quality is self-improving which ultimately starts at the heart of the leader and flows through to the team. The fifteenth quality is being selfless; in order to lead a team, the leader must be conscious of other’s needs. Additionally, the sixteenth quality is being solution oriented; since conflicts are inevitable in teams, finding solutions should be a priority. Finally, the seventeenth quality listed by Maxwell is being tenacious; never give up in tough situations.
Concrete Response
After reviewing Maxwell’s text, I have recalled a past instance that applies to the concepts. When I was fifteen years old, I was on a local mission team for children and teenagers that would week bi-monthly for an entire weekend. Before bed, the staff would provide group devotionals with a theme for the weekend. Most of the time, the themes would focus on some sort of leadership quality. This particular instance focused on being relational and getting along with others. The staff spoke for a while, sang a few songs, and the session ended. We would split off from the group to individually do our devotionals and then retire to bed. Two girls in particular, always put on their best behavior, “Christian hat,” and every teenage girl envied them for the discipline in the Bible studies. Everyone was doing great, until the fight started.
Teenage girls may not always do fist fights, but they can fight with words pretty well. After all that time spent in the devotional in the group and individually focused on being caring, relational, being warm with each other and as a leader; these girls still had it in for each other. These girls were throwing toothbrushes, pillows, and whatever they could get their hands on. Not only were they throwing objects, they were throwing insults like tomorrow’s paper. After the staff separated the girls and the affected individuals, a debriefing occurred as well as proper discipline. In summary, the entire group learned that teammates can be deceiving and being relational sometimes takes a few years of wisdom and maturity to grow a decent teammate.
After reviewing Maxwell’s text, I have recalled a past instance that applies to the concepts. When I was fifteen years old, I was on a local mission team for children and teenagers that would week bi-monthly for an entire weekend. Before bed, the staff would provide group devotionals with a theme for the weekend. Most of the time, the themes would focus on some sort of leadership quality. This particular instance focused on being relational and getting along with others. The staff spoke for a while, sang a few songs, and the session ended. We would split off from the group to individually do our devotionals and then retire to bed. Two girls in particular, always put on their best behavior, “Christian hat,” and every teenage girl envied them for the discipline in the Bible studies. Everyone was doing great, until the fight started.
Teenage girls may not always do fist fights, but they can fight with words pretty well. After all that time spent in the devotional in the group and individually focused on being caring, relational, being warm with each other and as a leader; these girls still had it in for each other. These girls were throwing toothbrushes, pillows, and whatever they could get their hands on. Not only were they throwing objects, they were throwing insults like tomorrow’s paper. After the staff separated the girls and the affected individuals, a debriefing occurred as well as proper discipline. In summary, the entire group learned that teammates can be deceiving and being relational sometimes takes a few years of wisdom and maturity to grow a decent teammate.
Reflection
Upon reflection of John Maxwell’s text, I have come up with several questions regarding his work. However, I have not come up with many. I was actually quite impressed with his organized text, layout of design, and line of fire of content. However, in order to outsmart the author and think one step ahead, I must think hard to find a few flaws. First, in Maxwell’s text he stated he offers free tests and personal team assessments online at (http://www.qualitiesofateamplayer.com). However, this link is unavailable due to how long ago this text was published (about eight years ago). I was however redirected to http://www.maximumimpact.com/OnlineTools/assessment.aspx for more information regarding self assessments; however they were not regarding this specific text. I think it is sort of strange that the website mentioned in his book is no longer up and running; Maxwell must have no been thinking ahead or have been committed to an online resource. So much for abstract thinkers!
Secondly, thinking reflectively, I was really glad that Maxwell did not go into an in-depth description of each quality. This would have made the text a monotonous dictionary of terms. Instead he made the text more of a self-application and assessment that helped the reader easily apply it to daily life. I do wish, however, that Maxwell expounded on more questions: better team assessment tools, how to use this quality at home, is this quality something you struggle with etc. I think the text did offer a great Reflecting on It section that helped the reader ask specific questions; however, Maxwell did not expound on specific answers.
Upon reflection of John Maxwell’s text, I have come up with several questions regarding his work. However, I have not come up with many. I was actually quite impressed with his organized text, layout of design, and line of fire of content. However, in order to outsmart the author and think one step ahead, I must think hard to find a few flaws. First, in Maxwell’s text he stated he offers free tests and personal team assessments online at (http://www.qualitiesofateamplayer.com). However, this link is unavailable due to how long ago this text was published (about eight years ago). I was however redirected to http://www.maximumimpact.com/OnlineTools/assessment.aspx for more information regarding self assessments; however they were not regarding this specific text. I think it is sort of strange that the website mentioned in his book is no longer up and running; Maxwell must have no been thinking ahead or have been committed to an online resource. So much for abstract thinkers!
Secondly, thinking reflectively, I was really glad that Maxwell did not go into an in-depth description of each quality. This would have made the text a monotonous dictionary of terms. Instead he made the text more of a self-application and assessment that helped the reader easily apply it to daily life. I do wish, however, that Maxwell expounded on more questions: better team assessment tools, how to use this quality at home, is this quality something you struggle with etc. I think the text did offer a great Reflecting on It section that helped the reader ask specific questions; however, Maxwell did not expound on specific answers.
Action
Upon reading Maxwell’s text, I feel I have been enlightened with many relevant characteristics that all leaders should encompass. Each quality mentioned is a quality that should be grown and matured over time. I feel that I have a responsibility as a Christian to follow through with paying attention to these qualities mentioned and making sure I use these qualities for the betterment of my relationship with God and others. My mother is a leader in the local Christian counseling field and asked me specifically about being disciplined. We both have a hard time being too disciplined and not spending enough time resting. After reviewing Maxwell’s seventh quality on discipline, we both discussed how taking several days of rest per every few weeks can do wonders on our work performance. “Discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do so that you can do what you really want to do” (Maxwell, 2002, p. 57). She and I worked out a plan of action so that we can specially have some time to recharge so that our ‘type A’ personalities will not take over and drain our mental batteries.
Personally, the information gained from reading this text has really helped me see a better well-rounded picture of what is needed in any sort of leadership position. Not only am I going to use this information with my future career and job hunt, but I really find this information pertinent in my relationship with Christ. I really found some areas that I need to work on (becoming more relational and committed). Overall, great book!
Upon reading Maxwell’s text, I feel I have been enlightened with many relevant characteristics that all leaders should encompass. Each quality mentioned is a quality that should be grown and matured over time. I feel that I have a responsibility as a Christian to follow through with paying attention to these qualities mentioned and making sure I use these qualities for the betterment of my relationship with God and others. My mother is a leader in the local Christian counseling field and asked me specifically about being disciplined. We both have a hard time being too disciplined and not spending enough time resting. After reviewing Maxwell’s seventh quality on discipline, we both discussed how taking several days of rest per every few weeks can do wonders on our work performance. “Discipline is doing what you really don’t want to do so that you can do what you really want to do” (Maxwell, 2002, p. 57). She and I worked out a plan of action so that we can specially have some time to recharge so that our ‘type A’ personalities will not take over and drain our mental batteries.
Personally, the information gained from reading this text has really helped me see a better well-rounded picture of what is needed in any sort of leadership position. Not only am I going to use this information with my future career and job hunt, but I really find this information pertinent in my relationship with Christ. I really found some areas that I need to work on (becoming more relational and committed). Overall, great book!
References
Maxwell, J. (2002). The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Maxwell, J. (2002). The 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
**This review is NOT permitted to be copied, printed, or reproduced.
