21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Q&A Season 1, w/John Maxwell

📥 ⁠CLICK HERE⁠ to Download the free Leadership Workbook and submit your question for our Q&A with John and me. You asked. John answered. This is the Season 1 Q&A with John Maxwell. After seven laws and seven weeks of building the foundation of great leadership, John Maxwell and I sat down to answer the questions YOU submitted. What came out of this conversation surprised even me. Some of the best moments between John and me have happened off camera over the years, and this one felt like we were able to bring some of that onto the show. We received over 15,000 questions from all of you, and my team and I combed through every single one of them to find the ones that kept coming up over and over again. What we landed on covers the full range: family leadership, business leadership, leading through uncertainty, and questions that start setting the stage for what's coming in Season 2. There is something that happens when John and I get in a room together that I genuinely can't manufacture. This man has poured into me for years in ways most of you have never seen, and in this episode some of that spills out in real time. John got emotional. I shared something personal that brought the whole series full circle. And there were moments in this conversation where I looked at him and thought: this is exactly why we do this. Whether you have been with us since Law 1 or you are jumping in for the first time today, this is the one you do not want to miss. 🗓️ New law dropping every Thursday so make sure you're subscribed so you never miss one. Click ⁠HERE⁠ to Subscribe to my email list to MAXOUT your life (all value, no fluff) Thank you for listening —Please Share it and get the word out! ⁠👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ➡️⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FACEBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LINKEDIN⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ➡️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 AM to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 PM. And my third day, 6:00 PM to midnight. I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years. And my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time too. And you definitely can't afford to waste it. Waiting weeks on a big bank for capital? Your best bet's to work with my friends at Cardiff. They know how to compress time for entrepreneurs. They get your business approved in minutes and funded the very same day. They're America's favorite small business lender, and for good reason.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  Over 20 years in business, over 12 billion deployed to small business across America. Stop letting bank delays slow down your momentum. Head to cardiff.co/ed. That's cardiff.co/ed. Cardiff.co. Real growth, fast funding. Cardiff, borrow better.

• 1:05Speaker 01

  This is the Ed Mylett Show.

• 1:08Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to the show, everybody. Very excited to be here with John Maxwell. And we are going to take some time today. And we're going to learn from you even some more. And so, as you know, we're through season one of the 21 Laws. And today, we're going to have a chance to get questions answered by John. I might even kick in a couple of ideas as well. But this is a chance for those of you that have downloaded the workbook and submitted your questions. You can do this for season two and three as well. Your question may show up here on the show through the voice of Max Mylett, who's going to be asking us the questions today. So, John, thank you for being here.

• 1:38John Maxwell?

  Oh, my gosh. If I'm with you, I'm a happy man.

• 1:42Ed Mylett?

  So am I. We've had more fun off camera than you can possibly imagine. So hopefully.

• 1:45John Maxwell?

  And now we're going to have some fun on camera.

• 1:46Ed Mylett?

  On camera, exactly. Go ahead, Max. Why don't you start us off?

• 1:49Speaker 03

  Yeah, it sounds good, guys. So, the first question we have comes from one of the fans that downloaded the workbook. And it's for you, John. So, question one will be, I feel like I'm losing influence with my kids as they get older. They don't listen the same way. And I just don't want to trust, control them. I want them to trust me. How do I lead my family through influence instead of authority?

• 2:10John Maxwell?

  Well, first of all, the most humbling thing in life is being a parent. Okay, let's start right there. Everybody needs to be a parent. And everybody knows exactly what this question's all about. Because as your children grow, the relationship changes with them. And there does come a time, I remember when Margaret and I went, our two children became teenagers. I'll tell you something, just a quick funny story. I told the publisher I would write a book called Breakthrough Parenting.

• 2:41John Maxwell?

  Get the picture. I'm going to write this book when my kids become teenagers. Let's talk about who doesn't understand timing. And so, I'm doing breakthrough parenting. My kids are teenagers. Hey, they're not listening. My influence is waning. In fact, I'm calling the publisher and I'm saying, this isn't working. I said, can I change the title of the book? I'd like to call it a breakdown parenting. I think that, oh, hey, here's a better one. Break up parenting. We may break up over this thing.

• 3:11John Maxwell?

  Please understand where you are, every parent has been and will be. And I love your question because you're a good parent. And I know you're a good parent because you're saying, I know it's not what it was. And how do I get it back? And let me see if I can help you just for a moment. You get it back when you talk to your children and ask them how you get it back. This is so key. I learned with our children that when it wasn't going well, instead of me telling them why it wasn't going well, I sat down and said, help me out as a parent. It's not going well.

• 3:48John Maxwell?

  What could I, what can I do better to kind of up level us? Is there something I could say differently? Or is there, but let's just talk about it. The moment I included my children in the conversation, we up leveled it every time. And I think that's a big miss. I think so many times we, as parents, say, I've got to have direction here. And I've got to make sure that I'm the one that's in control. And I think there's something beautiful about a parent. In fact, there's something beautiful about a parent looking at their child and say, I'm sorry. I could have done that better. I wish I had another shot at it. But I will have another shot at it. So, help me next time. Let's do it so I can do it better for you. So, I would just say to you, you never fix a problem by ignoring the problem.

• 4:34John Maxwell?

  You only fix a problem not by giving answers, but by asking questions, including them in the process. Trust me, if you do that, you'll up level that connection.

• 4:45Ed Mylett?

  What a tremendous answer.

• 4:47Speaker 03

  Yeah, that was a great answer.

• 4:48Ed Mylett?

  I can't add to that one. That was too good.

• 4:50Speaker 03

  Yeah, that was a great one there. So, for the next question, we have it for you, Ed.

• 4:53Ed Mylett?

  Gosh, John, that was so good.

• 4:55Speaker 03

  That was a great answer. Our next question is, I'm in a leadership role, but I can feel my team complying, but not fully buying in. They do what I ask, but there's just no energy there. How do I shift from authority-based leadership to real influence?

• 5:10Ed Mylett?

  Well, I would defer to John on all of these things. But one of the things that I've learned to do a better job of that I was not very good at, and it goes along the lines of what John was just answering on the other question. When I was a younger leader, I was a tell leader, where I would walk in a room and sort of tell them where we were going, dictate sort of the sense of direction. Because I thought that's what a leader does. You know, a leader's got vision. It tells you where we're going and how great it's going to be when we get there. And there's an element of that. But I learned to be a better ask leader. When I walk in a room and say, hey, here's the challenge we've got, or this is the direction we need to go. How do we get there, everybody? And it's interesting that you say what you just said regarding children, because I hope I did that as a dad. But I know definitively I did a better job of that as a, as a business leader as I got older.

• 5:54Ed Mylett?

  The other thing that I think when you're not getting total buy-in or there's a lack of energy, I think oftentimes people forget why. And I think a reminder of why we do what we do, why we exist as a company, why we exist as a church, why we exist as a family, reminding people of why we're doing this. And then I always really believe that when a leader starts to feel distance from people, even as a parent or a business leader, I think people forget how much you believe in them. Or maybe they, they were never told in the first place. And so, I'm pretty big on reminding people of why exactly I believe. And not just the, the hokey, the general, you're a champion.

• 6:28John Maxwell?

  Not just hypey stuff.

• 6:29Ed Mylett?

  You're amazing. But looking at somebody and saying, this is exactly what I see in you. This is your giftedness. This is your talent. This is what I admire. This is what I respect. And pour into people and then link that belief to the mission. But I think you'll never make a mistake as a leader in any way by pouring belief into people. And I think what happens to a lot of leaders, John, is I think they just get tired of it. I think there's leadership fatigue. They think they've got to come up with new things to say all the time. You know, and I, at least for me, oftentimes, to me, it's not about saying new things all the time to the older people. Sometimes it's about saying the same old things to new people.

• 7:04John Maxwell?

  That's right.

• 7:04Ed Mylett?

  And, and just pouring in belief to people, reminding them why and where we're going and how amazing it's going to be when we get there. I think that can infuse energy into the team or the organization.

• 7:13John Maxwell?

  That's so good. You know, I was having a conversation with Mark Cole, who owns all the Maxwell Enterprises.

• 7:18Ed Mylett?

  I love Mark.

• 7:19John Maxwell?

  And Mark was talking about one of, one of the people on our team. And he said, I'm having conversation right now. And basically, my conversation is, I need you. And when he was telling me that, I thought to myself, that's powerful. For me to look at you on the team and say, Ed, I, I need you. I really do. I, truthfully, what we're trying to accomplish, I'm not sure we can accomplish. We don't have you. I think when a person has that sense that the leader truly needs them, and it's authentic, I just think it also brings great buy-in.

• 7:56Ed Mylett?

  The more I listen to you, and I listen to you all the time, even, you know, privately as a friend,

• 8:02Ed Mylett?

  one of the through lines, I'm just saying this now, but I've always felt it. You really infuse a great deal of humility in your leadership formula. Have you, have you noticed that that's a, one of the real nuances? Like, I used to think when I was younger, like, I've got almost flex as a leader to prove I'm in charge.

• 8:23John Maxwell?

  We've all been, we've all, I think all of us are, I think introductory, all of us think we've got this, have this right appearance and.

• 8:30Ed Mylett?

  Posture.

• 8:31John Maxwell?

  Posture, yeah, that's a better word.

• 8:33Ed Mylett?

  But you, so much of the through line of the things that you teach involves humility as a leader. And I, you know, whether we keep this in or not, I'd like to know this. Is that, that's a biblical principle. I mean, I think of Jesus knowing my time here is going to, and him washing the disciples' feet, the apostles. Like, do you, is that part of the, is that something you always come back to as humility as a leader? Service?

• 8:57John Maxwell?

  Here's what I think.

• 9:00John Maxwell?

  I think where I am today, if somebody said, what's the one thing that you point to to success in your life? It wouldn't be the books I've written. It wouldn't be the leadership speeches I've given. These are the stuff that people would probably say.

• 9:16John Maxwell?

  The reason I'm where I am today, Ed, is because I have a lot of people who help me. I, I am not a self-made man.

• 9:25Ed Mylett?

  Neither am I.

• 9:26John Maxwell?

  I'm a team-made man. And I look at the people who have given up a lot in their life, who could have probably gone and done their own thing and probably done very well with it. But they decided to help me. And I am, it's, that's, what's humbling. I don't know if I have thought of it the way you said of having humility in leadership, like you just said it. But that's who you are, Ed Mylett. Ed Mylett brings out the insights that we, none of us think of until you give it to us. And then we say, yeah, that makes sense. So, the way you said it to me, I probably have never integrated it that way. But in my heart, here's what I know. The reason I am where I'm today, and the reason I am still where I am at 79 and still going forward, is because the people in my life

• 10:10John Maxwell?

  that have given up everything to make sure that I can be a success, that to me is not only humbling, it just fills me with gratitude. I mean, what would I do without all those people? Well, what I would have done would have been less than what I'm doing.

• 10:28Ed Mylett?

  That's a trap act. That's true for you in my life, just so you know. I would have done a whole lot less in my life without you in it.

• 10:37John Maxwell?

  Well, see, but I feel the same thing about you, Ed. See, that's what, you know what makes a great relationship, a great relationship? You look at each other with integrity and you could say, honestly, you make me better.

• 10:49Ed Mylett?

  I can honestly say that for you.

• 10:51John Maxwell?

  And when that's, and that's, don't you think that's what a great relationship is all about?

• 10:54Ed Mylett?

  I do.

• 10:55John Maxwell?

  I think so too.

• 10:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 10:56John Maxwell?

  I look at you and I'm full of love. I look at Mark, I look at Aaron, I look at my team, I look at people that are with me. These people, Ed.

• 11:06John Maxwell?

  Would take a bullet.

• 11:09John Maxwell?

  They would.

• 11:10Ed Mylett?

  They would.

• 11:11John Maxwell?

  What do you say? The only thing I could say to them is, I would hope I would be as good as them. I'm not sure I am, but I would hope I'd take a bullet for them too.

• 11:21Ed Mylett?

  You would. Look at you getting emotional.

• 11:25John Maxwell?

  What's your fault?

• 11:28John Maxwell?

  It's your fault.

• 11:29Ed Mylett?

  I love it.

• 11:30John Maxwell?

  If you wouldn't be tapped, I mean, but I've never had anybody express my leadership in that way that you just did. As soon as you said, I thought, that's insight, and I've really not thought about it. But I think I know where it comes from. It comes from the fact that I really do know. There's no fake to this. I really do know that I'm on the shoulders of a lot of people who have said, we'll carry you.

• 11:54Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, sure. Yeah, none of the things that you teach, and I know we're going a little longer than maybe they thought on this, but sometimes you're right, you know, was it 100 books now?

• 12:06John Maxwell?

  Well, it's 90 something.

• 12:08Ed Mylett?

  90 something.

• 12:08John Maxwell?

  Who's counting?

• 12:09Ed Mylett?

  We're around.

• 12:09John Maxwell?

  I'm just old.

• 12:10Ed Mylett?

  It'll be.

• 12:10John Maxwell?

  You gotta, when you're old, you do that many books.

• 12:12Ed Mylett?

  That's not true. He writes every day, everybody. That's why he's got, he's dedicated. He writes every single day of his life. We were talking this off camera. But, you know, these aren't, these aren't strategies in your book. You live these things. You're not like, oh, I need to value people. You, you value people. You embody these traits and characteristics and, and laws yourself. That's the thing about you that, I know it's an old adage of leadership, but walking the walk.

• 12:42John Maxwell?

  Yeah.

• 12:42Ed Mylett?

  Being the example. I know you probably won't accept that compliment, but it's actually so true.

• 12:47John Maxwell?

  Yeah, you. It's one thing to know and teach a principle. It's another thing to integrate it and live that principle. If I, if I know a good principle and I teach it, people really get help from it because it's a good principle. When I integrate it and I live it, they're impacted by it. You see, it's one thing to say it, it's one thing to live it. All of the moral gravitas of life is embracing and living what you teach. That's where the power, that's where the impact is, I, I think. And when I was very young, I was in my twenties, I could still remember making a very conscious decision that I would never teach what I did not believe and what I did not live.

• 13:32John Maxwell?

  And I want to tell you as a young leader, because I didn't have experience, that left out a lot of teaching in my life because I just didn't, I hadn't lived it yet. I hadn't embraced it yet, even though I thought it was true. And I thought, teaching from the head will inform people. Teaching from the heart will impact people.

• 13:51Ed Mylett?

  Outstanding.

• 13:52John Maxwell?

  And there's a difference between those two.

• 13:54Ed Mylett?

  Huge difference. I know it when I see it, and I see it with John.

• 13:57John Maxwell?

  But we all know it when we see it anywhere. You don't have to tell people, when it's happening, you don't need to say, it's happening. Everybody knows it's happening. Because they're impacted by it. I believe it. Amen. Gosh, I love talking with you.

• 14:11Ed Mylett?

  I do too. I'm sitting here thinking, what a blessing this is, you know? Every time we just sit down together, just this stuff happens. There's one thing in common every single time, John.

• 14:25John Maxwell?

  Ed, Ed and John like to do this together. And you know why we like to do this together? Because we learn from each other and we know what we're learning from each other transfers right to the listener, to the people that are asking these questions today. You benefit from this because we're both learning and growing from each other. And so it's kind of like the overflow, hopefully, you're getting today.

• 14:49Ed Mylett?

  That's right.

• 14:50Speaker 03

  Guys, this is just so good here. I almost just didn't even want to interrupt. It's amazing.

• 14:54Ed Mylett?

  Thank you.

• 14:55Speaker 03

  So the next question we got from a fan, and I would say this is for the both of you guys. As a leader in both of my family and my business, I feel this big pressure on me to just have everything figured out, whether it's finances, the future, decision. But the big truth is, most of the time I have no clue what I'm doing. How do I lead my family and my business with confidence while I'm still feeling a little uncertain myself?

• 15:18Ed Mylett?

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• 16:02Ed Mylett?

  Go to ro.co/milet to see if you qualify. That's R-O dot C-O slash Mylett to get started on Ro. For side effects of GLP-1 medications, including boxed warning, go to ro.co forward slash safety. R-O dot C-O slash safety. So when I, when I ended up buying the island, we had to do all of our outdoor decorating, and I spent a fortune in the first half of the place. And I'm like, I don't want to do this anymore, but I want the best stuff. And that's where Wayfair came in. My wife wanted to get this new garden bed, and Wayfair was the place that offered the perfect solution. Wayfair also helps you create a home that stands up to real life with quality products, great value, and trusted reviews. Wayfair verified products are hand vetted by product specialists. They use a 10-point quality inspection system. Here's what I could tell you. The stuff has lasted over time. It looks great and I get compliments on it.

• 16:47Ed Mylett?

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• 17:22Ed Mylett?

  I'll, I'll go first on this one, just because it's something I learned from John. And I'll, I'll phrase it wrong, but the, but the lesson is learned. John says it better than I do. But I've wondered about that too, particularly when I was younger as a leader. And one of the things that John's impressed upon me, that I'm more comfortable, in fact, I give him credit for this. If anybody ever tells me, you know, Ed, you seem a little bit more comfortable in your own skin as you've gotten older. I think some of that comes with age, right? But you told me one time, you said, Ed, if you really want to impress people, and I know you've said this prior, but then, you know, tell them how perfect you are. But what I heard from you is, if you want to connect with people, reveal your imperfections to them.

• 18:04Ed Mylett?

  And I've just become much more comfortable saying, I don't know.

• 18:09John Maxwell?

  Yeah.

• 18:10Ed Mylett?

  Or I made a mistake, I'm sorry. Or can you help me? You know, all these are things I've learned from you. And so I think my answer to you would be that I think you'd be surprised by revealing the fact that you don't have every answer.

• 18:20John Maxwell?

  Of course.

• 18:21Ed Mylett?

  And that maybe you've made mistakes and you're not perfect. Will deepen the connection you have and, and for that matter, the influence you have, ironically, by revealing that. And it's one of the things you and I talk privately all the time about, wish, wish we saw more in our leaders

• 18:38John Maxwell?

  Totally.

• 18:38Ed Mylett?

  in the political world, that they would just say, I don't know. I'm sorry, I've made a mistake. My intention was X or Y, I got it wrong. And to me, they'd have much more deep connections with us and therefore more trust if they behave that way. And so that would be my part of the answer. What would it be from you?

• 18:55John Maxwell?

  And, and again, I think what you're saying, Ed, is I don't think people look for it perfectly, or they just would like to have an authentic leader, somebody that's real. You know, in the question, I was very interested in that question because there were two phrases that just kind of pulled my mind out. In the, in the question that you asked, it's such a good question, I haven't got it all figured out. The all figured out I want to talk about in a moment. The second thing I want you to, that I got is that I don't have a clue. Those are extreme statements. So let me relieve you. You'll never get it all figured out. I, my name's John, I'm your friend.

• 19:40John Maxwell?

  We can never connect the dots looking forward. If you want it figured out, you gotta get it 79 and go back and it makes sense. You can connect the dots looking backwards, you can't connect forward. So all figured out is too heavy of a burden to carry. Be just understanding that you won't get all figured out. The flip side of that is I don't have a clue. You don't want to be there either. You want to have a clue. It is your job and my job to do our very best as parents, as leaders, to figure as much out as we possibly can. To not go to our group and just say, I don't have a clue. It's kind of like, here's what I'm thinking and now you add to it.

• 20:23John Maxwell?

  I would like you to live in that middle road. And that middle road is a good road and that is, I don't have it all figured out, but I'm giving it a lot of thought and I'm getting some of it figured out. I'm very content with some of it figured out. Because some of it figured out, if I have the right attitude and I go to people like Ed and my team and say, help me. Here's where I am, but you're going to help me get further and now they're going to help me figure that out and we're going to do that together. I think having the best understanding of any situation comes from shared thinking and collaboration.

• 21:04John Maxwell?

  And so therefore, I'm very comfortable not having all the answers, but I would not be comfortable having no answers.

• 21:11Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 21:12John Maxwell?

  I mean, we're not glorifying stupid, but we're also not trying to make a person feel like they have to know everything. So I have a teaching sometimes and it's just a simple teaching, it just says, just walk down the middle of the road. Okay, sometimes I'm really good and I have some success, but that's not who I really am. And sometimes I'm really bad and I'm in the ditch, but that's not really who I am. Basically, I just want to walk in the middle of the road. Because there's more margin there.

• 21:42Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 21:43John Maxwell?

  And there's more reality and there's more humility there. Walking down, just walk down the middle of the road and every once in a while you get over there on that right side and get some of that success and it's a good thing, but you know that's not really who you are. Once in a while you kind of go over on the ditch, but that's not who you really are. Just stay right down the middle. It's in the middle of the road that you get your questions answered. It's in the middle of the road that you're seen and understood. So just stay in that middle and understand that you'll never get it all figured out and understand you have to have some of it figured out.

• 22:20Ed Mylett?

  I'm so glad we're doing this. This is just stuff that we've not talked about before, even privately. This is so good.

• 22:25John Maxwell?

  Yeah.

• 22:26Ed Mylett?

  Good questions too, by the way, from the audience.

• 22:27John Maxwell?

  Great questions.

• 22:28Speaker 03

  They're doing a great job and this next one we have here, I mean, I wish we could just ask like a ton of them. Part of this, I actually have a question for you, Ed. So you've said quite a bit, and this came from a fan, that leadership is built in the unseen hours. Obviously, growing up, I've seen this with you personally, but for someone who feels like they're in a season and has been following these reps that you've been giving after every single one of these laws, but they haven't seen the immediate results yet, how would you stay disciplined in the process when the outcome is starting to feel really far away?

• 23:00Ed Mylett?

  Such a great question. Again, I keep deferring to things I've actually learned from John and a lot of this has been reinforced the last few years, but I don't think we give ourselves enough credit for progress and growth. And a lot of this stuff is, it's not seen. I'll give you an example. When you were little, Max, we went to a birthday party of like a fellow six or seven year old. And they had a pinata, you know, where you hit the pinata. And it was such an incredible metaphor for life because you think about this tradition, it's a beautiful tradition, but what do we really do? It's kind of like business a little bit. You take a young kid, you put a blindfold on him, you spin him around, you give him a weapon, they've got no sense of direction, they just start aimlessly swinging.

• 23:45Ed Mylett?

  So I'm watching these kids, right? So first off, they're just missing it all together. Then you gotta line them up. It's kind of like being a leader in business. People are all spun around and they feel blindfolded. Then you line them up and the kids are whacking away at this pinata and the first kid's just hitting the heck out of it. No candy comes out and he kind of gets tired. So it looked like there was no progress being made.

• 24:06John Maxwell?

  This is good.

• 24:07Ed Mylett?

  Right, but there's something called like compound pounding. You don't see it. And so then the next little guy gets up there, Max, and they spun him around and he's got this blindfold on and he's whacking away at the pinata and no candy comes out and he gets tired and quits. Looks like there's no progress. Then you got spun around, Max, and you hit the heck out of that pinata, no candy. Finally, we go through about seven, eight kids and this thing's not breaking. It looks like there's no progress. And they take the littlest guy there, the little brother of the boy who's four years old and they spin him around, he takes the little baton and he hits it one time and all candy comes out.

• 24:42John Maxwell?

  Oh my gosh.

• 24:43Ed Mylett?

  And the question is, was it just that one blow from that last kid? Or was it the cumulative blows that everybody hit that pinata with that was breaking it down even though there was no evidence? And life in business is a lot like that pinata. You're swinging away and you're making invisible progress, but it doesn't feel like it. Here's the hook. Most people quit before the candy comes out in their life. They quit because they didn't think they made the progress, they didn't see it coming. And you've seen this enough times, John, oftentimes they quit one or two blows away from pay dirt. And so watching it that day, I thought, that's a metaphor for life in business, almost better than anything I've ever seen. Compound pounding and making invisible progress. Don't quit before the candy comes out.

• 25:27John Maxwell?

  I love the phrase, compound pound. I mean, I said, I got my content curator, Aaron, here. I thought, oh my gosh, you're going to hear that from Maxwell. Because a compound pounding is a great visual and the pinata is a great pounding, compound pounding. And so let me take this question because it's a great question. I think there are two things that are unseen that make a person great. But they're unseen. One would be the unseen hours of work that are done before you go out and be with the public.

• 26:12John Maxwell?

  My 4:30 getting in the morning and writing every day is never seen, but it will show up. It'll show up because I did something with it. So there's that unseen part. And then the other unseen part is the honest, good work that you do of pounding on the pinata, but there's no candy coming out. And what I don't want you to miss is, those are two unseen things that as a leader you want to have in your life. The unseen hours before you go out that help you when you go out to have a gravitas. And then the pounding that is seen.

• 26:55John Maxwell?

  And people began to appreciate the fact that when the little kid hits it one time, it comes out. Everybody that was there understood that it wasn't that four-year-old boy that was amazing. It was all the pounding of the compounding of the pounding that made it happen. But those have to be there. And what I find is, there are people that don't put in the silent hours before or don't value the fact that we've been working on this for a long time and it's been stored up, it's about to show up. You gotta do both of those things to get that return.

• 27:27Ed Mylett?

  That's exactly right.

• 27:28John Maxwell?

  Totally. I love the pinata. Compound pounding, wow, that's going to be in a book somewhere.

• 27:35Speaker 03

  This is great. I know we could go on for hours and hours, but we got one more question we want to get in really quick and it's for you, John. So as we're wrapping up season one here, as we're going into this next session, into session number two, what do you think is something somebody can do from going from the law of respect to the next law, the law of intuition?

• 27:53John Maxwell?

  Well, the reason I like the 21 laws is, I mean, we've just done seven of them, okay? Let me answer the question by a story. I had been, when the 21 laws of leadership came out, I spent about three years just traveling the world because it became an immediate bestseller by one day here, 21 laws, 21 laws. So I'm teaching the 21 laws of leadership one day. I'm two-thirds away, we're in a break, a guy comes up to me, I'm signing books and he asks me a question. He says, this 21 law stuff, he says, this is just fantastic. He said, this is just great. He said, but I have a question to ask you. I said, what's the question? He said, what's the one thing I need to know? To be a great leader?

• 28:35John Maxwell?

  So I can't even say, well, the one thing you need to know to be a great leader is that there are 21 things. To be a great leader. When the person asks this question, I just lovingly say, you're a third of the way. There are 14 more of these little suckers out there. And so congratulations on the first seven. They're not 21. Keep going, keep growing. There's more out of you. I think when we know that we're not there, there's something beautiful about the fact that we have to grow to get there. I never want to arrive.

• 29:18John Maxwell?

  In fact, my biggest question to answer for you is when we're done with the 21 laws, then you know, what's next? Because, but the 21 laws really work, so dive into the next seven.

• 29:29Ed Mylett?

  That's right. Thank you, everybody, just for being here with us today. John, I love you and it just feels like, you know, to be, sitting with someone who's accomplished what you've done in your life and then have you in person, be able to share these principles with the audience. It's the greatest honor since we've had this podcast to be able to share these weeks with you and go through these laws with the men who wrote them and created them and get your insights on this. And so I feel like everybody in the audience sort of gets a gift for these weeks that I get all the time with you, which is to just be in your heart and your mind in an intimate way like this. So thank you.

• 30:06John Maxwell?

  Feel the same way about you, brother.

• 30:08Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, same way.

• 30:09John Maxwell?

  That's why it works.

• 30:10Ed Mylett?

  That's why it works. Everybody, I have a request, which is if there's somebody that you care about, that you love, could you please share these episodes and these laws with them? This is such a special thing we've been able to do on the show. And if you haven't yet, download the workbook and so that you can submit your questions as well. This is one of the great things happening. You can get anywhere in the digital space and I'm so grateful that John's been willing to do this with us and grateful you spent this time with us. All right, everybody, let's get into the rest of the laws. God bless you. Max out.

• 30:45Speaker 01

  This is the Ed and Myron Show.

• 30:54Speaker 04

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