John C. Maxwell & Intentional Living

ELO is pleased to announce that John C. Maxwell will be the evening keynote speaker at the Entrepreneurial Leaders Conference in Toronto on Nov 16th, 2016. Dr. Maxwell will also be the recipient of the ELO Entrepreneurial Leaders Award. The purpose of the ELO Entrepreneurial Leader Award to recognize the long-term track record of a person who has made a Christ-inspired difference in their spheres of influence and who can serve as an inspiration to others to pursue Christian entrepreneurial leadership.

 Past recipients of the ELO Entrepreneurial Leaders Award have included Roma Downey & Mark Burnett, Malibu, CA (#1 Hollywood TV Producer), Bobby Gruenewald, Oklahoma City, OK (founder of YouVersion Bible App, downloaded 200 million times), Lord Robert Edmiston, London, UK (founder of I.M. Group and Christian Vision), Datuk Edward Ong, Singapore (property developer) and Graham Power, Cape Town, South Africa (founder of The Power Group).

 Dr. Maxwell is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than 26 million books in fifty languages.  In 2014 he was identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association® and the most influential leadership expert in the world by Business Insider and Inc. magazine. As the founder of The John Maxwell Company, The John Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation, he has trained more than 6 million leaders. In 2015, he reached the milestone of having trained leaders from every country of the world. The recipient of the Mother Teresa Prize for Global Peace and Leadership from the Luminary Leadership Network, Dr. Maxwell speaks each year to Fortune 500 companies, presidents of nations, and many of the world’s top business leaders.

 ELO is honoured that Dr. Maxwell will be delivering an evening keynote on the topic of “Intentional Living: Choosing A Life That Matters.” This is also the title of his recent book. According to Maxwell, the key to choosing a life that matters is being intentional. In other words, be proactive rather than reactive, take initiative rather than wait for others to act, and be strategic and focused rather than subject to the agenda of other people.

 Maxwell stresses that if a person possesses the desire to make a difference, places a high value on people, and is willing to team up with others, then significance is within their reach. Maxwell considers Intentional Living to be the most important book he’s ever written. In it, he shares his lifelong journey of significance and helps readers walk every step of the way through their own journey. He shows people how to start small but believe big, find their why, and live every day as if it matters—because it does!

 But who actually is successful at living intentionally? Maxwell notes in the book that, “I came to a conclusion: Successful people are good in four areas: relationships, equipping, attitude and leadership.” [34] [page numbers cited are from Intentional Living] An intentional life is focused on significant. How does a person become productive? Maxwell notes that, “We need to create urgency to get things done.” [35] We must think long term; a focus on the immediate does not work well. Maxwell notes: “Keep acting according to your purpose and doing significant acts day by day, year by year, decade after decade, and your impact will keep increasing.” [84] He reminds us later in his book that, “Anything of real significance is lasting.” [131]

At the same time, leadership should not just be focused on oneself. In politics it is, but in life it shouldn’t be. Most politicians aren’t too concerned about who comes after them. By contrast, Maxwell says that is where the focus should be. He notes, “The true measure of success is succession—what happens after you’re gone.” [131]

How do people lead lives of significance? “What you must do to be significant is consistent for everyone. You must add value. How you do that is as unique as you are. It begins with knowing your why. But it continues with your unique gifts and talents, opportunities and resources.” [132]

But if you want to have an impact you can’t do it alone. “It is impossible to live a life that matters and find significance without other people.” [159] There are also trade-offs to live a life of significance: “you will have to give up some things. The pathway of possibility if filled with trade-offs.” [170] You will be limited in what you can achieve without a team. The team includes employees and partners. For partnerships to be effective they must be with people of the same values. You need to know what you are looking for when it comes to shared values. “Most people miss opportunities in life, not because opportunity wasn’t there, but because they didn’t have a clue what it looked like when it arrived.” [191]

Maxwell mentions of himself that, “My journey of significance has been progressive, but it has always been rooted in the desire to act now.” [239] Who makes the greatest difference? “The people who often make the biggest difference are the people who are first to step up and help at a time when it makes a difference.” [241] How to get started? Begin acting—every single day! The bottom line is that “significance is not a destination thing—it’s a daily thing.” [263]

One person Maxwell refers to as making a difference every day is Jeff Williams [256], which is great to see. Jeff is a friend based in Vancouver, Canada, who owns a business called Absolute Results (www.absoluteresults.com). The company provides expert sales training and delivers outstanding sales results for car dealerships around the world. Absolute Results has grown rapidly the last number of years and this has fuelled Jeff’s passion for charitable activities around the world, in Zimbabwe, Guatemala and Paraguay.

The theme of Maxwell’s book on intentional living will be the basis of his presentation. He is a master communicator and is skilled at presenting a message for each particular audience. In short, his presentation in Toronto and the Entrepreneurial Leaders Conference on Nov 16th is sure to be an important part of a memorable and impactful event.