A Management in a Minute Book Overview of Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan

Executive Summary

    Becoming a person of influence is about how to positively impact the lives of others. Everyone has influence somewhere in there life and no matter what your goals are if you learn how to become a person of influence you can achieve them faster and more efficiently. In order for a person of influence to have a positive impact on others, he or she has to obtain qualities to which a person of influence entails. A person of influence has integrity with people, nurtures other people, has faith in people, listens to people, understands people, enlarges people, navigates for other people, connects with people, empowers people, and reproduces other influencers.

A Person of Influence has Integrity with People. Genuine integrity is not for sale, is about the small things, is an inside job, is not based on credentials, and is not to be confused with reputation. The benefit of integrity is trust and the benefit of trust is influence.

A Person of Influence Nurtures Other People. The nurturing process is a genuine concern for others. To become a nurturer you must encourage them because they are influenced the most by people that make them feel the best about themselves. In order to do this you must focus on giving rather than receiving. Also, instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their shoes.

A Person of Influence has Faith in People. To understand this you must first look at the facts about faith in people. Then understand that faith is a belief in actions that we need to need to exemplify and to learn how to become a believer in people is very important.

A Person of Influence Listens to People. This is an essential quality to have. It is important to understand the value of listening, what the common barriers are to listening, and how to develop listening skills in order to become a person of influence.

A Person of Influence Understands People and has the potential to positively impact every aspect of your life. Understanding people pays great dividends, but first you need to why people fail to understand others. Then you need to know the things everybody needs to understand about people, and acknowledge that you have the choice to try understand others or not.

A Person of Influence Enlarges People. You need to know the meaning of mentoring and that enlarging others is an investment. Therefore, this requires you have to become more yourself in order to do more for others, carefully choose the people you want to enlarge, and make it a priority to take them through the enlarging process.

A Person of Influence Navigates for Other People. The navigator identifies the destination and plots the course to which you need to follow. A navigator needs to be able to think ahead, make course corrections when needed, and stays with the people that he is influencing.

A Person of Influence Connects with People. Connection enables others to travel to a higher level. This is done by following the nine steps for connecting with people.

A Person of Influence Empowers People. Know what it means to empower others and what qualifications there are of an empowerer. Then learn how to empower others to their potential and what the results are from empowerment.

A Person of Influence Reproduces Other Influencers. The power of multiplication is the idea of being a person of influence to others; you reproduce other influencers as well. You need to awaken the reproducer inside you and move from maintenance mode to multiplication mode in order learn how to raise leaders who reproducer leaders.

The Ten Things Managers Need to Know from Becoming a Person of Influence

   
1.    A Person of Influence has Integrity with People. Genuine integrity is not for sale, is about the small things, is an inside job, is not based on credentials, and is not to be confused with reputation. The benefit of integrity is trust and the benefit of trust is influence.  

2.    A Person of Influence Nurtures Other People. The nurturing process is a genuine concern for others. To become a nurturer you must encourage them because they are influenced the most by people that make them feel the best about themselves. In order to do this you must focus on giving rather than receiving. Also, instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their shoes.

3.    A Person of Influence has Faith in People. To understand this you must first look at the facts about faith in people. Then understand that faith is a belief in actions that we need to need to exemplify and to learn how to become a believer in people is very important.   

4.    A Person of Influence Listens to People. This is an essential quality to have. It is important to understand the value of listening, what the common barriers are to listening, and how to develop listening skills in order to become a person of influence.

5.    A Person of Influence Understands People and has the potential to positively impact every aspect of your life. Understanding people pays great dividends, but first you need to why people fail to understand others. Then you need to know the things everybody needs to understand about people, and acknowledge that you have the choice to try understand others or not.

6.    A Person of Influence Enlarges People. You need to know the meaning of mentoring and that enlarging others is an investment. Therefore, this requires you have to become more yourself in order to do more for others, carefully choose the people you want to enlarge, and make it a priority to take them through the enlarging process.   

7.    A Person of Influence Navigates for Other People. The navigator identifies the destination and plots the course to which you need to follow. A navigator needs to be able to think ahead, make course corrections when needed, and stays with the people that he is influencing.  

8.    A Person of Influence Connects with People. Connection enables others to travel to a higher level. This is done by following the nine steps for connecting with people.

9.    A Person of Influence Empowers People. Know what it means to empower others and what qualifications there are of an empowerer. Then learn how to empower others to their potential and what the results are from empowerment.

10.    A Person of Influence Reproduces Other Influencers. The power of multiplication is the idea of being a person of influence to others; you reproduce other influencers as well. You need to awaken the reproducer inside you and move from maintenance mode to multiplication mode in order learn how to raise leaders who reproducer leaders.

Full Summary of Becoming a Person of Influence

Introduction

• Everyone Has Influence
  • If your life in any way connects with other people, you are an influencer.
  • If your desire is to be successful or to make a positive impact on the world, you need to become a person of influence.
  • No matter what your goals are in life or what you want to accomplish, you can achieve them faster, you can be more effective, and the contribution you make can be longer lasting if you learn how to become a person of influence.
  • There is no success without influence.
• Your Influence Is Not Equal With All People
  • Our level of influence is not the same with everyone, once you start paying closer attention to people’s responses to yourself and others, you’ll observe that people respond to one another according to their level of influence to them.
• Stages Of Influence and Their Impact
  • There are four stages of influence to consider when striving to make an impact on others: 1. Modeling, 2. Motivating, 3. Mentoring, and 4. Multiplying.
• Your Influence Is Either Positive or Negative
  • The choice is yours if you want to have a positive or negative impact.
  • “Even if you’ve had a negative effect on others in the past, you can turn that around and make your impact a positive one.”
• Positive Influencers Add Value To Other People

A Person of Influence Has Integrity with People

• Genuine Integrity Is Not for Sale (p. 18-20)
  • In every aspect of life there are character issues that come up and examples of moral breakdowns everywhere one looks.
  • The need for integrity is conceivably at its highest point. It is undeniably vital for anyone who wishes to become a person of influence and is a quality most needed to succeed professionally and personally.
• Integrity Is About The Small Things (p. 20-21)
  • It is the basis that many other qualities are built on.
  • Cheryl Biehl points out, “One of the realities of life is that if you can’t trust a person at all points, you can’t trust him or her at any point.”
  • Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary describes integrity as “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.”
  • Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, to people over things, to service over power, to principle over convenience, to the long view over the immediate.
  • Character isn’t created in a crisis; it only comes to light.
  • Developing and maintaining integrity require constant attention.
• Integrity Is An Inside Job (p. 21-23)
  • Three truths about integrity that go against common thinking:
    • Integrity Is Not Determined by Circumstances (p. 22)
      • Two people can grow up in the same environment, even the same household, and one will have integrity and the other won’t. Ultimately, you are responsible for your choices.
    • Integrity is Not Based on Credentials (p. 22)
      • Character comes from who we are.
      • Credentials can never accomplish what character can. No number of titles, degrees, offices, designations, awards, licenses, or other credentials can substitute for basic, honest integrity when it comes to the power of influences others.
    • Integrity is Not to Be Confused with Reputation (p. 23)
      • William Hersey Davis says “The circumstances amid which you live determine your reputation…the truth you believe determines your character…”
      • A good reputation exists because it is a reflection of a person’s character. Worry less about what others think, and give your attention to your inner character.
• The Benefit Of Integrity: Trust (p. 27-29)
  • Trust is the single most important factor in personal and professional relationships.
  • One needs to develop the following qualities of integrity to positively influence other people: model consistency of character, employ honest communication, value transparency, exemplify humility, demonstrate your support of others, fulfill your promises, embrace an attitude of service, and encourage two-way participation with the people you influence.
• The Benefits Of Trust: Influence (p. 29-33)
  • One of the keys to influence is when you earn people’s trust you begin to earn their confidence. This is when you will be able to start impacting their lives.

A Person of Influence Nurtures Other People

• The Nature of Nurture (p. 38-40)
  • The nurturing process is a genuine concern for others.
  • To become a nurturer you must encourage them because they are influenced the most by people that make them feel the best about themselves.
• A Nurturing Influencer Is A Giver (p. 40-47)
  • In order to do this you must focus on giving rather than receiving, starting in these areas: love, respect, sense of security, recognition, and encouragement.
• What They Receive (p. 49-53)
  • Instead of putting others in their place, try putting yourself in their shoes.
  • When you nurture others they get positive self-worth, sense of belonging, better perceptive on themselves, a feeling of significance, and hope.
• How To Become A Natural Nurturer (p. 54-55)
  • To become a natural at this you must commit to them, believe in them, be accessible to them, give with no strings attached, give them opportunities, and lift them to a higher level.

A Person of Influence has Faith in People

• Facts About Faith in People (p. 62-64)
  • Faith in people is an essential quality of an influencer when working with others.
  • To understand this you must first look at the facts about faith in people: most people don’t have faith in themselves, don’t have someone who has faith in them, can tell when someone has faith in them, and will do anything to live up to your faith in them.
• Faith Is Belief In Action (p. 65)
  • W. T. Purkiser, professor emeritus of religion at Point Loma College, clearly saw: “Faith is more than thinking something is true. Faith is thinking something is true to the extent that we act on it.”
  • Become a believer in people, and even the most tentative and inexperience people can bloom right before your eyes.
• How To Become A Believer In People (p. 66-72)
  • To become a believer in people you need to believe in them before they succeed, emphasize their strengths, list their past successes, instill confidence when they fail, experience some wins together, visualize their future success, and motivate them to move to a new level of living.

A Person of Influence Listens to People

• The Value Of Listening (p. 80-84)
  • The benefits of listening shows respect, builds relationships, increases knowledge, generates ideas, builds loyalty, and is a great way to help others and yourself.
• Common Barriers To Listening (p. 85-88)
  • To improve your ability to listen is to first be aware of common barriers to listening: overvaluing talking, experience mental fatigue, stereotyping, carrying personal emotional baggage, and being preoccupied with self.
• How To Develop Listening Skills (p. 89-94)
  • To develop better listening skills look at the speaker, don’t interrupt, focus on understanding, determine the need at the moment, check your emotions, suspend your judgment, sum up at major intervals, ask questions for clarity, and always make listening your priority.

A Person of Influence Understands People

• Understanding People Pays Great Dividends (p. 100-101)
  • It has the potential to positively impact every aspect of your life.
  • David Burns, a medical doctor and professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, observed, “The biggest mistake you can make in trying to talk convincingly is to put your highest priority on expressing your ideas and feelings. What most people really want is to be listened to, respected, and understood. The moment people see that they are being understood, they become more motivated to understand your point of view.”
• Why People Fail To Understand Others (p. 101-104)
  • People fail to understand other people because of fear, self-centeredness, failure to appreciate differences, and failure to acknowledge similarities.
• Things Everybody Needs To Understand About People (p. 105-111)
  • There are five things that we need to understand about people: everybody wants to be somebody, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care, everybody needs somebody, everybody can be somebody when somebody understands and believes in them, and anybody who helps somebody influences a lot of bodies.
• Choose To Understand Others (p. 111-115)
  • To really make a difference you have choose to look at the other person’s perspective, have personal empathy, and a positive attitude about people.

A Person of Influence Enlarges People

• The Meaning Of Mentoring (p. 121-122)
  • The mentoring process offers people the opportunity to turn their potential into reality, their dreams into destiny.
  • William Gladstone, nineteenth-century British statesman, asserted, “He is a wise man who wastes no energy on pursuits for which he is not fitted; and he is wiser still who from among the things he can do well, chooses and resolutely follows the best.”
• Enlarging Others Is An Investment (p. 122-124)
  • When you enlarge others you raise their level of living, potential for success, capacity for growth, and the potential of your organization.
• Make Yourself An Enlarger (p. 125)
  • You have to become more yourself in order to do more for others.
  • Leadership experts Warren Bennis and Bert Nanus spoke to this issue: “It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that disguishes leaders from their followers.”
  • Many people lose the importance of personal growth after they finish their formal education, so don’t let this happen to you and make it one your top priorities.
• Carefully Choose Persons To Enlarge (p. 126-127)
  • Be a model of integrity to everyone and make it your goal to motivate all the people you have a relationship with, but you can’t take the time to enlarge everybody so work first with the ones most likely to be receptive to growth.
  • When you are thinking who you want to enlarge: select people whose philosophy of life is similar to yours, choose people with potential you genuinely believe in, select people whose lives you can positively impact, match the men and women to the mountains, and start when the time is right.
• Make It A Priority To Take Them Through The Enlarging Process (p. 128-134)
  • John’s friend Ed Cole says, “There is a price to pay to grow. Commitment is the Price.”
  • To maximize the enlarging process for others: see their potential, cast a vision for their future, tap into their passion, address character flaws, focus on their strengths, enlarge them one step at a time, put resources in their hands, expose them to enlarging experiences, and teach them to be self-enlargers.
  • “A successful enlarger evaluates the potential of others and places them in a position to succeed.”

A Person of Influence Navigates for Other People

• A Navigator Identifies The Destination (p. 143-144)
  • In Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Leroy Eims wrote, “A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do.”
  • To help them recognize the destination they are looking for, you need to know what really matters to them, and find out these things about them: what do they cry about, what do they sing about, and what do they dream about?
• A Navigator Plots The Course (p. 144-145)
  • A good rule of thumb is to set your goals in concrete and write your plans in the sand. To help plot their course you need to look at where they need to go, what they need to know, and how they need to grow.
  • Basically, help them identify attainable goals that will give them confidence, and they’ll make progress.
• A Navigator Thinks Ahead (p. 146-149)
  • While preparing them for what they will encounter there are four things you should help them understand: everybody faces problems, successful people face more problems than unsuccessful people, money doesn’t solve problems, and problems provide an opportunity for growth.
• A Navigator Makes Course Corrections (p. 150-152)
  • People will still get off course sometimes no matter how focus they are, but the problem lies when they have difficulty making course corrections.
  • You can help them avoid these situations by teaching them not to listen to doubting critics, coach them not to be overwhelmed by challenges, encourage them to seek simple solutions, and instill confidence in them.
• A Navigator Stays With The People (p. 153)
  • A good navigator travels alongside the people he is guiding as a friend.
  • Author and conference speaker Richard Exley explains his idea of friendship in this way: “A true friend is one who hears and understands when you share your deepest feelings. He supports you when you are struggling; he corrects you, gently and with love, when you err; and he forgives you when you fail. A true friend prods you to personal growth, stretches you to your full potential. And most amazing of all, he celebrates your successes as if they were his own.”  

A Person of Influence Connects with People

• Connection Enables Others To Travel To A Higher Level (p. 161)
  • First, you have to find out where they are, move towards them to make contact, and connect with them. If this is done successfully it can take them to new heights in your relationship and in their development.
• Nine Steps For Connecting With People (p. 162-170)
  • The following steps will help you connect with the people you influence: 1. Don’t take people for granted, 2. Possess a make-a-difference mind-set, 3. Intitate movement toward them, 4. Look for common ground, 5. Recognize and respect differences in personality, 6. Find the key to others’ lives, 7. Communicate from the heart, 8. Share common experiences, and 9. Once connected, move forward.

A Person of Influence Empowers People

• What It Means to Empower Others  (p. 177-178)
  • Empowering is giving your influence to others for the purpose of personal and organizational growth. It’s seeing people’s potential, sharing your resources with them, and showing them that you believe in them completely.
  • “When you empower people, you’re not influencing just them; you’re influencing all the people they influence.”
• Qualifications Of An Empowerer (p. 179-180)
  • The process works only when certain conditions have position, relationship, respect, and commitment.
• How To Empower Others To Their Potential (p. 182-188)
  • As you empower others use these steps to guide you: 1. Evaluate them, 2. Model for them, 3. Give them permission to succeed, 4. Transfer authority to them, 5. Publicly show your confidence in them, 6. Supply them with feedback, and 7. Release them to continue on their own.
• The Results Of Empowerment (p. 188)
  • You will find, as you empower others, personally to have more time for the more important things in your life, your organization increase in effectiveness, your influence with others increase, and incredibly positive impact on the people lives you empower.

A Person of Influence Reproduces Other Influencers

• The Power Of Multiplication (p. 196-197)
  • Creating leaders in your organization who are able to not only follow you but also influence others and raise them up has its benefits: it raises your influence to a new level, it raises the new leaders’ personal potential, it multiplies resources, and it ensures a positive future for your organization.
• Awaken The Reproducer In You (p. 198-201)
  • Make the following principles part of your life to awaken the reproducer in you: lead yourself well, look continually for potential leaders, put the team first, and commit yourself to developing leaders, not followers.
• Moving From Maintenance to Multiplication (p. 201-203)
  • There are a lot of people that live in maintenance mode, but to make an impact you have to make every effort to be a multiplier.
  • Starting at the lowest to highest, there are five stages the exist between maintenance and multiplication: 1. Scramble, 2. Survival, 3. Siphon, 4. Synergy, and 5. Significance.
• How To Raise Up Leaders Who Reproduce Leaders (p. 203-205)
  • If you want to raise leaders who reproduce other leaders, you need to mentor them. It happens when you take the prospective leader under your wing, develop them, empower them, share with them how to become a person of influence, and then release them to out and raise other leaders.

The Video Lounge

Success can be very subjective. What is success? It is knowing your my purpose of life. Successful people have really found why they are here, and knowing their purpose in life is stability for them. They are focus and this is an anchor that is confidence based upon knowledge of purpose.

Personal Insights

Why I think:

• The author is one of the most brilliant people around, because:

This concept of becoming a person of influence is well planned and researched. He mentions various leaders that were very important in the areas in which they influence and gave many examples of how they affect others around them.

• If I were the author of the book, I would have done these three things differently:

1.    I would have probably added more statistics from psychiatrist. Just for those who may be on the fence about this method in business, by giving a few more statistics may give that certain reader an extra push to try this method out.

2.    I feel the ending of the book could have been finished a little bit differently or it could’ve gone into more detail on how to reproduce leaders better. In addition, the wording of “The power of multiplication,” I feel like this could have been clarified better as well, I understand it means but in details of the writing it doesn’t really illustrate how its multiplication, anything from just an added sentence can fix this.

3.    In a few of the chapters (such as on p. 24) there are up to 10 questions set in the middle of it, where I think those could have been placed in the back of chapters with the influence checklist.It could have also perhaps been in a better format like multiple choice, where you can have an idea on scale from 1-4 so that you can have an idea maybe where measure at.

• Reading this book made me think differently about the topic in these ways:

1.    This book help me truly understand why integrity is so important and that no matter what happens if you have integrity it can get you through some tough times or situations. It also informed me that integrity is more about your character and who are, regardless of what you do or what you look like. Furthermore, it clarified the differences and help understand a little more why integrity is not to be confused with reputation.

2.    This book helped me have a better perspective as to why listening to others is important not only in my personal life, but in all aspects of life when interacting with others. It was also informative when describing why for some people listening may be difficult, and that they are barriers that we need to be aware of when communicating with others. But I think the most important part of this section was how to develop your listening skills, and knowing a few of these things now I think it would very beneficial for everyone to improve on these skills.

3.    A person of influence enlarges people help me see that in order to progress you need a positive mentor that will challenge you and encourage you to do the best that you can is extremely important. Also, when it comes time for you to choose people to enlarge it gave me a better idea of who I should invest my time into rather than waste my time with.

• I’ll apply what I’ve learned in this book in my career by:

1.    Trying to listen to others more clearly, so that I can form better relationships with those around me. Which gives me the ability to be more open minded to new ideas that may be essential or innovative toward the goals of my company striving to achieve.

2.     Trying to connect with others more. I’ve found this can be very insightful in helping me in the career I want to pursue and that forming connections can help me reach my full potential faster than I would alone. I find that the nine steps for connecting with people can help with my overall self, helping me become more sociable with everyone.

3.    Trying to nurture those around me more, by encouraging and giving recognition first to those closest to me, because I would like to help and see them get excel at what they love to do, in hopes they would do the same for me as well.

Bibliography

Maxwell, J. C., & Dornan, J. (1997). Becoming A Person Of Influence: How to Positively Impact the Lives of Others. Nashville, TN: Nelson, Thomas.

Success Magazine (2009, January 23). John Maxwell – The Secret to Success. Podcast retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8lUimI-Mk

ACQYR (2009, January 9). Becoming a Person Of Influence by John C. Maxwell, Jim Dornan. Book Review. Retrieved form http://www.acqyr.com/self-help-book-reviews/becoming-a-person-of-influence
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Contact Info

To contact the author of this article, “A Management in a Minute Book Overview of Becoming a Person of Influence by John C. Maxwell and Jim Dornan for Practicing and Aspiring Managers” please email norman.roussel@selu.edu.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Business, can be viewed at http://wyld-business.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyldaboutinternationalfoods.blogspot.com/).                                            

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