The one thing I know better than John C. Maxwell

Wow, that sounds brave, right?

I mean Mr. Maxwell is regarded as the number one expert on leadership, and for good reasons.

So an Eastern European to say he knows something better than him, is provocative, isn't it?

If you know him, if you have been in contact with his teachings and materials then you have probably heard or read him talk about the great family he was raised in.

His mom was always there for him, and listened to him even when he did the wrong thing. His father was a successful church leader himself, a natural encourager.

Their parents always made their decisions together so they had a highly functional family.

No wonder, that all their children turned out to be successful adults.

Just one more thing to show you how well equipped he was even at the beginning of his career:

     -if you read the first version of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership you will find that at the Law of Connection Dr. Maxwell tells the story about how he initiated a partnership with an influential church elder. Maxwell was just 25, and the guy was 65. And he stood up to him. It is a story worth reading.

One thing I know is, that I would not have had the guts to start a relationship like he did. Maybe I could do it now, but not when I was 25.

Why?

I was raised in a quarellsome family. I was raised by parents who felt inferior to others. They worked diligently to provide for their family but they did nothing more or different than most everyone else.

So I was feeling like second class citizen myself too. I would not even have dared to be in a leadership role when I was so young, let alone initiate a confrontation and stand up to a 65 year-old.

So how can I possibly know anything better than a person who has trained millions of leaders around the world?

Well, precisely because he was raised in such a good family, he does not know what it is like to be raised by insecure parents in a not so good family. And how can a disadvantage like that be overcome.

So the one thing I think I know better, is about how to overcome insecurity, inferior complexes and trauma.

And I can tell you now, how. After I attended network marketing seminars for years, read books daily, tried out four different psychologists, checked out a number of different churches and so on, M. Scott Peck's community building workshop has turned out to be the single most effective way to find the unconditional acceptance and support I did not get from my family.

So my question to you is this:

Do you feel a need for a deeper care and understanding?

Do you have someone in your organization you think would need some extra attention and emotional support?

Consider attending a community building experience event yourself or sending your colleague.

(The name may not promise much, it can even be confusing, but this is what M. Scott Peck called it. You can read a whole book about what the word community meant for him by putting your hands on The Different Drum)