Maxwell Leadership Podcast: The 16 Undeniable Laws of Communication

Mark Cole:

Hey. Welcome back to the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. And I say welcome back because over 200,0000 downloads this week will be by many of you. Your teams, your companies are all tuning in. And today I’m super excited. Now if you’re watching us on YouTube, and by the way, to go ahead and jump in, let me tell you, you want to today Maxwellpodcast.com YouTube you’ll see sitting with me in the studio today as the founder of this podcast. And see, I say this every week, we are the podcast committed to adding value to leaders who multiply value to others. John, you’ve heard that a few times before.

John Maxwell:

Yeah, a few thousand. Just a few thousand.

Mark Cole:

And that’s because everything John has founded, from podcasts, to companies, to certification teams, it all is founded on the foundation that we exist to add value to you so that we will multiply value to others. Right now, I’m sitting beside not only John Maxwell, the founder of the Maxwell Leadership Podcast, the founder of Maxwell Leadership Team, I’m sitting beside one of the most noted authors and one of the best communicators in the world. We all have been impacted by one of John’s messages. I am sure today we’re celebrating yet again the fact that John has recently released a book called the 16 Laws of Communication. And today, John, if you don’t mind, I would love to jump in and talk about the power of this book. And the way we’re going to do that is, one, we’ve got some bonuses for you. We’ve got some things that I know that you will love if you will go to Maxwellpodcast.com action. We’re going to put the laws of communication in action in your life today. John, I’d love to start with this whole question. Does this book apply to people that are just standing in front of audiences or would this also apply to people that has to communicate any message?

John Maxwell:

It applies to everyone. I mean, is there a day in anybody’s life that they don’t have to take time to talk? Maybe a parent to their children, a schoolteacher to the class, somebody sitting around having dinner together? We’re all communication and trying to share with others thoughts, ideas, dreams that we have in our life. So every day we’re spending time communicating. So what I say is, if you talk, this book’s for you. If you don’t talk, don’t get the book.

Mark Cole:

Okay?

John Maxwell:

And Warren Buffett, as you know, said the most important skill that a person can learn to increase their self worth and their net worth is the skill of communication. And so I’m committed to really helping all of our listeners, viewers today, learn how to connect, communicate better. And I know you are too. And that’s why I’m so excited to be on the podcast with you.

Mark Cole:

Well, and I thought we’d take a little bit of a different angle. John, this podcast community is so large, 27 million downloads now it’s remarkable what you have been able to do, and our message has been able to do through the podcast. One of the greatest things that we get as far as feedback from all of you, is the authenticity, how what you see is what you get with John. What you see is what you get with myself and our co host each and every week. And so John, I thought we would dig into this book today using yours truly, myself, and the case study I am on communicating.

John Maxwell:

Here we go.

Mark Cole:

If you enjoy my portion of the podcast, which is small compared to John and his content, that’s because John Maxwell for the last five years has been mentoring me on pace. He’s been mentoring me on effectiveness, on energy, on content, on how to be a better speaker. And John, I was pretty bad at the beginning.

John Maxwell:

Yes, you were. But it doesn’t matter where you start. In fact, I think people put way too much emphasis upon where they start and way too little emphasis of how they’re growing and developing. And you were already a good communicator, Mark, but because of who you are in your position, you had to raise your level of communication to be much more effective. So for the last four or five years, I have mentored Mark, and it’s been a delight to watch you grow. I can still remember a couple of years ago at Pebble Beach at our annual golf tournament for equip there. And you stood up in front of the crowd and you talked the first evening and I looked at you and I thought, he’s got it. Now, there’s still a lot of room for growth. But I understood that the basics of good, successful communication, you were now not understanding the but you were doing it for a person that mentors people. Is there anything greater for the teacher than to see their pupil do really well? So you have made great advancement in communication and I can hardly wait for us to have kind of a student mentor kind of podcast here today and tell me what you’re learning and what in the book is helping you. And I’ll try to put a little icing on the cake when I can.

Mark Cole:

Well, you talk about we’re going to talk about three laws, law of observation, the law of connection, and the law of results.

John Maxwell:

Yes.

Mark Cole:

And over the next 25 minutes or so, I want to relate with our podcast listeners. Those are out there that would book to you as their icon of how to communicate in large crowds. Those that would look to you and say, I want to make the person standing right in front of me feel like I’m the focus of their energy. And truly, whether you’re in front of one or you’re in front of 1000, you have this incredible ability to communicate. So I’m going to relate to all of you in our podcast family today. And I spent hours this morning. I woke up early. I went through those three laws. I jotted questions down on the plane. I can promise you we will not get through all of my questions because I got about 20. But I’ll save some of those for our mentoring session. I want to ask you my first question, and by the way, if you’ve got the book, I’m going to give you a chance to get the book a little bit later. But if you already have the book on page 36 john, you’re talking about stages of communication growth. And you make a statement here that says when you say you became a great communication by watching how other people said their message, what are some practical ways those of us that are watching you and others communicate? What are some practical ways we can watch how someone delivers their message?

John Maxwell:

Yeah, Mark, that’s a great question, and that’s under the law of observation. And how I learned to communicate was watching other communicators. In fact, what happens is good communicators watch great communicators, and they learn how to do it. So when I would go hear someone speak, of course I would have my pad out to take notes, because I’m looking for thoughts or ideas or content, but I’m looking way beyond what they say. I’m looking at who this person is, and I’m asking one question. This is what’s going to help you when the next time you listen to somebody speak, ask yourself one question, how do they connect with the audience? New that is the only question that I kept in my mind for probably at least a dozen, 15 years. When I was learning how to be a communicator, every time somebody would speak, I would ask myself, how do they connect with the audience? And what I discovered was, first of all, a lot of times when people speak, they don’t connect with the audience. And then I would turn that around and say, what is keeping them from connecting with their audience? So I’m always asking the question, how do they connect? Because if I can develop that tool, find that secret, then I’m going to learn how to really connect and communicate with people. And what I discovered was that people that really connect with their audience are focused on the people that they’re talking to the audience. They’re not focused on themselves. It’s not about them. And so they’re doing as little as possible to draw attention to themselves or do as much as possible to connect and add value to those people. I noticed that they had different personalities, they had different temperaments, and I would watch them. If you’re old like I am, when Walter Cronkite did the news, they put a tight picture in on him, and he always looked at the people, and he created intimacy. And I said he connects through intimacy. John F. Kennedy if you look at him in the nixon debate. You’ll watch, john Kennedy was so self assured and so relaxed, and Nixon was tight. When Nixon spoke, you felt pressure for him. It’s kind of like you wanted to help him. And when JFK talked, it was like he was talking to you on the back porch where you’re having a glass of lemonade together. What I found is that the great communicators are very natural and they are very much focused on the people. And they’re very confident that what they’re saying is going to add value to the people. And the person that listens to them can see it. But different personalities, different temperaments. It’s not like one personality, one temperament, or even one pace, but it’s the fact that they have gotten over themselves and they just say, it’s all about the audit, it’s not about me.

Mark Cole:

Well, and you say this. You say, there’s four stages of communication growth. And for those of you, again, that don’t have the book, I’m telling you what I love about this book is not only do you give great stories, you give practical ways. That’s why we called the hashtag action to this whole podcast link, because you said, I worked number one, your first stage of communication growth. You said, I worked to learn the basics of good speaking was where I am, where I was. It’s an inside job. Do you remember I was getting ready to speak to 3000 people. It was early in your mentoring, by the way. Empathize with me a minute. I was holding John Maxwell’s microphone. I was standing in John Maxwell’s spotlight on John Maxwells stage, and I was getting ready to speak to 3000 people. No pressure, but John doesn’t understand that. That’s pressure. Gang does anybody feel me right now? And I’m getting ready to go out and I’m uptight and I still have not got this knack. And you said, Mark, do you understand there’s not another communicator in the world that can stand on stage and say, I’ve traveled the world with John Maxwell, and I’ve watched him lead and communicate when no one else was around, that.

John Maxwell:

You’Re the only one.

Mark Cole:

You gave me some kind of identity. And I remember going to that, and I’ve sit on that ever since. As a communicator, you need to get inside of you and determine what authority you stand on.

John Maxwell:

Yeah. What is my uniqueness?

Mark Cole:

Yeah.

John Maxwell:

What is the ground on which I can stand when I speak? And I gave you that that day. You’re the only person that could say, really what I’m going to teach you today, I’ve observed firsthand in John’s life. And that puts you in a very unique position. It also established some authority and credibility for you. So now the people can lean in, because when you’re talking about it’s tough to stand on my stage, it’s because the people came to hear me. And so I understand the fact that they didn’t come to hear you. I don’t mean that wrong. And so it’s like the time when I spoke at a conference and Superman literally got sick and couldn’t show up, and I had to take Superman’s place out on stage. That was a catastrophe, but I understand that. But that day, I gave you ground to stand on as a communicator. That gave you a confidence that you could say something that no one else could say. And that also lets people lean in the moment you say that, they’re ready to lean in, because, Mark, you’ve seen things no one else has seen. So it gives you a step into that connecting area.

Mark Cole:

And it gave me a confidence. And you’ve always said this, and you say this in the book, that when someone walks up and is confident, they give confidence to the audience.

John Maxwell:

Oh, yes.

Mark Cole:

When they walk up insecure, they give insecurity totally to the audience.

John Maxwell:

The people read the speaker, and what the speaker feels is what the people feel. And we’ve all had it. I mean, think about it. You that are watching or listening to the podcast right now, how many times have you heard a speaker as they talked? You begin to pull for them because they really weren’t that good, and you’re kind of, okay, you can do this. The spirit of which I enter that stage is the spirit of which the people will receive in the seats, in the audience.

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Mark Cole:

So let’s go to the next law. Well, it’s not the next law in the book. It’s law number seven, actually, page 127. For those of you that have grabbed your book, the Law of Connection communicators know it’s all about others, you make a statement. It’s in bold. For those of you watching YouTube, it’s right there. It’s in bold. It is highlighted. For me, it’s in bold for all of us. It says, The Law of Connecting is by far the most important idea in this book. Why is that?

John Maxwell:

Well, because you can say a lot, but if the people aren’t connected with you, it doesn’t register with them. They walk out unchanged. And so nothing happens until the communicator connects. Nothing happens? Well, I mean, time happens. And after 30, 40 minutes, you get to go home. But honestly, it’s like somebody said one time, what happens if the whole audience falls asleep? What are you going to do? I said, I go wake up the speaker. It’s a speaker problem. It’s not an audience problem. You hear a speaker say, well, that was a bad audience. There’s no such thing as a bad audience, good audience. They’re just bad or good communicators. And so it’s very essential that we connect with the people, because they carry the message that connects with the they don’t carry a message that doesn’t connect with them. They just never do.

Mark Cole:

Yeah, you go on on page 128, and you say, Will you make the connection? It’s a riveting question. Again, I love the practical approach. You took this book. You said, people who focus on themselves seek to gain attention.

John Maxwell:

Yeah.

Mark Cole:

People speakers who focus on content information, give information, and then finally communicators who focus on others make a connection.

John Maxwell:

That’s the way it works.

Mark Cole:

Is it natural for leaders to have all of those or have to work through those? I know. I look at those, John, and every one of those you remember the louder people applauded the boy. I’d come off stage and say, I nailed it, didn’t I, John? You’d go, no, you really didn’t. You’re screaming and getting them to clap was not applause for gratitude. It was applause for the white flag. Please stop. Right.

John Maxwell:

Well, no, it wasn’t that bad. But you were a cheerleader more than a communicator. Yeah. You know what I’m saying? And you just needed a megaphone. That’s the only thing you were lacking. And I’m trying to help you to become here’s what I learned a long time ago. If you connect with the people, they’ll cheer or they’ll cry or they’ll change, there’s something that will happen. Some action will take place when you really do connect with the people. But as a Communicator mark, what I want for our whole audience is for you to say words. If the words were important enough for you to include in your talk, then they’re important enough for the people to be connected with them. So the question is not what words do I have in my talk? The question is, how do I connect with the audience till those words become my words? It’s the difference between people, when I’m done saying, John’s, an amazing communicator, and people when I’m done saying, I can do that, and we want the to say, I can do that.

Mark Cole:

This next phase, John, was one that was really hard for me. And you’re going to remember this sorry, audience you’re getting, to hear John mentor me up front and close. But to get it done with my talk, remembering, the faster I got, the shorter my time left, the faster I would talk. And you said, Why are you talking so fast? The essay, I had a lot more points I needed to make, and you went. Your audience is done before your points are done.

John Maxwell:

Yeah, you were amazing. You would start at about 50 miles an hour, but your last three or four minutes, you’re at 120. And most people, they were just trying to remember what you were saying as far as the word. If they could just get the words, they were happy because you were going such but you’re trying to finish your content. Why? Because you were content oriented. Your focus was, I want to finish the content. Your focus wasn’t, I want to connect with the people and to connect with the people, you can say half of what you had in the contact and connect with people. In fact, what I teach people is the moment you see them leaning in and connecting, that’s the moment you want to stay right where you are and let it work and work it and let it kind of be given to the people through that process of time. You don’t want to rush to any I would rather spend 15 minutes and find the connection point and then spend the next 1015 minutes there and be done than to say, well, I know we’re really connecting right now, but I’ve got other content here for you. And it’s kind of like you leave what you were doing really well and you go back to what you’re trying to finish off, but you’ve really learned that, well, I’m watching you now and you’re much less, I’ve got to get through my content and where do I connect and how do I stay there?

Mark Cole:

It was the same event, John, the same event, speaking to 3000 people. And we had another speaker, very, very well known author, we love his books. But he was communicating that year and he had 48 slides in 32 minutes.

John Maxwell:

Oh, my goodness.

Mark Cole:

This individual will remain unnamed because he’s a friend. But you use that as an example and say, did you see how he had to get through all of his slides because he wanted to get his content? And the people, about 15 minutes into the 35 minutes their tongues were hanging out, they finally just set their pin down and said, hopefully I’ll get the follow up.

John Maxwell:

The slides were coming so fast, I got vertigo. I sit in my seat and the room is spinning around just a little bit. You couldn’t keep up. But see, his idea of a successful talk was, I finished my idea of a successful talk. And what this book is all about is the people felt that you connected with them. It’s all about that. But again, I’ve watched you make remarkable progress on that. You’re doing a lot better. Less is really more.

Mark Cole:

Normally, you say in the book, page 132 for those that are reading, you said there’s four keys to connecting with others. And key number one is realizing that you’re not the main attraction. You remember that. Here’s my specific question, though. To you when you’re the leader or the expert. So you’re the leader leading a group of five or ten people in a boardroom, or you’re the expert. You’re the subject matter expert on stage. How do you resist this temptation that you should have all the answers and know all the answers and therefore come across like you know your stuff rather than thinking that counter that with me, that I’m not the main attraction, but sometimes I’m tempted to feel like I am supposed to have all the answers.

John Maxwell:

Well, I’m amused because nobody has all the answers. So when a person thinks that they should have all the answers, they’re delusional. I don’t look at any person and feel that they are Mr. Answer man or Mrs. Answer Woman. I mean, there are so many things I don’t know. And again, we lose our effectiveness with our people when we try to give them a fake answer instead of an honest I’m still working on that myself, and I’m not there yet. And I think that goes back to authenticity of a leader in the fact that there’s something very connecting when I’m listening to somebody and they’re very vulnerable and they’re very open, and they’re just saying, you know what I’m talking about right now. I’m working through myself, and I’ve not yet arrived, but if it’s okay, let me give you my journey. Let me tell you where I am, because nobody in that audience thinks they have their act together, none of us. So why should the speaker act like he or she has their act together? The moment that you tell me you have your act together and I don’t, I’ve already lost a connection with you. But the moment you say, I’m working through some things, I’m leaning in because I’m working through some things, and I’m saying, oh, if he’s working through things, I’m working through things, he’s going to give me some things to work through. They’re going to help me. That’s the connection you’re looking for?

Mark Cole:

Yeah. It laws right into the fourth key that you have on connecting others is be personable. And I just wish that maybe you would tell myself and maybe some of the audits, what are some of the ways that you can become at ease with yourself?

John Maxwell:

This is probably the biggest frustration I have in communication, because I am at ease with myself. You are very much at ease, and sometimes I don’t know how to transfer that over to other people. So let me give you three thoughts, and hopefully I’m not saying it’s going to get you there, but I can tell you it’ll start moving you there. First of all, I think you have to value yourself. I’m not wanting you to be arrogant, but I think that you have to believe that you’re a person of value, and that when you go out to communicate to people, you have something valuable to communicate. So I think there’s self belief that makes you at ease with yourself. I think there’s also an awareness, and I think that people are not at ease with themselves mostly because they’re not aware of all of their dysfunction and all of their issues. And I’m very aware that I don’t have my act together. And there are a whole bunch of things in my life that I don’t do well at all. And it doesn’t bother me to say I don’t do that well, or I’m not good at that, or that’s something I’ve never been able to do well in. I think that to be at ease with yourself, you have to be able to be aware, which allows you to I accept that. I just accept that I don’t have all the answers, or I accept that somebody else is better than me. Of course somebody’s better than us in every area of life. So I think there’s an awareness that comes. I think there’s a value of yourself. And then I think this third thing is so important, is that I believe truly that I have the answer that can help people and that makes me very comfortable with myself, that I’m giving them something that’s going to be an asset. I think if you would tell the average person you’re going to say something or do something today that’s going to add value to a person, I think they could hardly wait to go out and do that because they felt, I’m going to go add value to people when I get up to speak. I believe I was born to do this. I believe it’s a lot of natural giftedness. Of course I’ve worked on it. But I truly believe when I look at somebody and I start teaching, I believe that what I say can improve their life. And you can’t fake that one of the reasons I believe it will improve their life is because it’s improved my life. And so the credibility when somebody says, well, why do you think that’ll work for me? I said, it worked for me. I’m just trying to pass it on as a friend to you too. Hopefully it’ll work for you. And I think those three things are really, really important. But I think lack of awareness. I think people who take themselves too seriously honestly are not aware of their blind spots and shortcomings. I just think that when I know all of my sins in life and weaknesses in life and issues in life, it just kind of helps me to be a little kinder to someone else and a little bit more connected to where they are because they’re going through the same stuff that I’m going through.

Mark Cole [00:25:27]:

It’s so interesting. I love to tell my daughter stories or my grandkids stories. They all performed on stage yesterday at a little event they were at. It was awesome. And they sent us videos. We were not there. We were out of town. So they sent us videos and my oldest two grandsons. I asked them how it was, and they said, oh, it was nervous. I don’t know that I had a good time. I don’t know that I did a good job. Now they were singing to a track. Their mic was off, so there’s very little pressure there. They felt the pressure there in front of 17 people. That’s what my oldest grandson said. He said there was 17 people out. But my youngest grandson, Emery, he’s four, he had sunglasses on, he had his collar turned up. The never stopped dancing. I’ll have to show you the video. Afterwards, I said, Emery, how was it? He said, It was the best time I’ve ever had. The boy took the show and never felt the stress of the other ones. And you could look in this video, the ones who felt stressed, the ones that didn’t, but you could also see the one that was being personable, the one that was just comfortable, the one that was just having a good time, because he felt like he had some entertainment value in him and he gave entertainment value. I think that Emery probably was you four or five years old.

John Maxwell:

That’s a fun story. Well, somebody said one time, you really can’t be funny if you don’t have fun. Yeah, and I think that’s very true. You show me a person that doesn’t have fun, they’re not funny. And I think it’s true in communication, if you don’t have fun communicating and sharing and believe it’s going to help people, then I think, I guess I would get uptight, or I guess, I don’t know, I would feel some tension. But the moment you realize we’re experiencing this together and we’re going to do a little journey together, that’s why I always tell the communicators, don’t put the audience out in front of you. I know that’s where they are. Let the audience sit beside you. There’s a whole different feel when you and I are together and we’re just kind of sharing and enjoying each other or when you’re out there and I’m teaching you something. I think Emery’s kind of got it right. I think that you need to go to his the Emory School of Communication there. He’s, he’s got he’s he’s he’s on to something.

Mark Cole:

So let’s let’s finish our time with the law of results. It’s law number 16.

John Maxwell:

Sure.

Mark Cole:

And that says the greatest success in communication is action, getting something done as a next totally. You make a statement here on page 285. You said, if your motive for speaking is anything other than adding value to people and moving them to take positive action that will help them, you’re missing the boat.

John Maxwell:

Totally.

Mark Cole:

Why do you say that? Why are you putting so much emphasis on that?

John Maxwell:

Because it’s true. Yeah, because if your motive is not to add value to people and have them take action, you are missing the boat. Because think about. It? Why are you spending all your time and where are the people coming and spending all their time to hear you if it’s not to improve their life? Mark there just is no success without action. I mean, there just isn’t. So as a communicator, what am I asking myself? What do I want them to know? What do I want them to do? If I just ask, what do I want them to know? There’s no success, perhaps in just knowledge alone. It’s always in the action. Action takes knowledge and makes it worthwhile and meaningful. And so as a communicator, yes, I think the test, if somebody’s saying, what’s your final exam as a communicator? I think it’s very simple. What I taught, I connected with the people and they applied it to their life. And when that happens, I think, hey, success, just as if they didn’t apply it to their life. I think we all wasted our time because we don’t need another message in life. We need to have positive change in life. And action, it’s a word that we know and hear so much. But you have to act to succeed. There’s no person that ever thought their way to success. Nobody ever hoped their way to success. They had to act, they had to move. So, yes, when I’m done, I want them to do something. I think, great communicators, lay it out on here’s what you do. I think they even make that action part like step one, step two.

Mark Cole:

Well, you said this. What do you want them to know? What do you want them to do? You ask these three questions. You talk about another part of the book on your question that you ask before you talk, during the talk, am I impacting them? And did I create an impact for them? You’re constantly assessing and you’re not using enthusiasm. So many of us, we use you said this, you said your enthusiasm and excitement may cause people to think about their dreams, but it won’t be sufficient to move people into action. So just to cause them to think, how do we as communicators, whether it’s in a small group or in a big auditorium, how do we ensure that we move people to action? It’s certainly not the emotional it’s a.

John Maxwell:

Great question, and I think the mistake we’ve made for so long is that we equate an emotional response to the fact that they’re going to do it. And yet, how many times do we know people who in the moment are emotional and they feel it and they say, yes, but it cools of by the time they’re at the car in the parking lot and they’re pulling out, it’s a maybe. And by the time they’re home, it’s sometime. And I think that people don’t take action based on emotion. They take action based on conviction. I take action when I am convinced that this action is going to help me. It’s going to make me a better person. And that’s not emotional at all. That’s somebody who has connected with me in such a way that I related to them and how they said they did and how I can do it seems to be palatable and compatible. And so therefore, I really do it. I would rather have my pauses in my silence and let people absorb and think. I think a thinking person, when they take action, that action is much more solid than an emotional person, even if they take action, because if you’re emotional and you take action, the moment the emotion wears off, you’re back out of the game. And I just want to help people. I want to help people come to the conclusion in their life that this is best for them. It’s not even come to the conclusion that this is what I want for them, but this is best for them. And any way I can communication that mark to them, that’s going to have the return that we’re looking for. Buddy.

Mark Cole:

Yes. There’s so much more. I have so many more questions we’re going to wrap, but I do want to say I’m going to give you a chance to just kind of wrap the impact and what you hope from this book. I do want to ask you just one quick follow up when you are assessing how well you did at connecting with the audience. And you’re one of the most intuitive communicators I’ve ever seen. You’re sitting up there and you notice when somebody wife so knows you would notice when somebody checks a text message. Totally. So you’re intuitive at reading the crowd. How do you know at the end that you’ve really added value?

John Maxwell:

Well, I think that because I can’t go home with them. I don’t think I could ever know for sure that I added value until I got to see if they took action on it. But I think the answer that I can give you because we don’t get that privilege, I don’t get the privilege of getting in the car and going home with them. So when you ask, how do I know, here’s what I do. I know when I communicate something to people when they buy into it and they buy into it not just by a sense, there’s a sense that what I’m saying is true and real and right. And I can tell when the have bought into it, which tells me that the odds have increased that they’re going to do something about it. I’m responsible to people. I’m not responsible for people. So as a communicator, I’m responsible to give the the way to succeed. That’s my responsibility. If I fail to deliver that, I’ve come short. And I want to do it in such a way that although I’m not responsible for them, I have nudged them in that direction, but they’re responsible for themselves. And I’m sure there have been times when I thought people bought into a lesson I gave them and they didn’t go out and finish off. And I’m probably sure that there’s been sometimes I thought, boy, I don’t think I did very well there, and they did. So the communicator has to live in the moment, what I see and what I experience right now, three weeks later, the communication can have a readout on whether the people really bought into it or not. Because if you don’t take action, you didn’t buy into it. That’s why I say ask for commitment. The only time you know when a person is the real deal is if you ask them for commitment. And that separates the players from the pretenders at all times. So I’m doing everything I can to get them to that point of commitment, but I’m responsible to make it as good as I can. But then they’re responsible to make the commitment.

Mark Cole:

Well, you certainly have made an impact in my life and in my communication with the principals in this book. I know many of you in our podcast family, you too would say that John Maxwell has helped you to communicate better. Those of you that this is your first podcast, you’ve joined us, or maybe those of you that have yet to pick up John’s book, I won’t tell on you, but he’s sitting right here. You need to go get the book tell on him. And you can do that at Sixteenlaws Maxwellleadership.com. We’ll put that in the show notes. Sixteenlaws Maxwellleadership.com. But there’s something else that I’ve got to tell you. In two days, if you’re listening to this podcast on time, if you’re listening to this podcast the day it releases in two days yes. On May the fifth, john is starting for the first time ever, a book club, three sessions that he’s going to teach in this. It won’t be an interview necessarily like this. It will be him teaching on the laws of communication. And you can get access to that book club by going to Bookclub Maxwellleadership.com. Now, our one request is you buy five books and bring five people that you want to up their game in communication as well. So you can buy five books, and then you’ll get five passes to this three session book club that John is starting on May 5. Now, you might say you’re a little bit behind. You listen, you caught the podcast a few days late. That’s okay. If you join between New and the last session, June the second, if you join at any time, we will give you all three of the sessions. We’ll put those in your inbox. You’ll be able to listen to all three of them and be a part of the book club. So go to Bookclub Maxwellleadership.com to be a part of this incredible once in a lifetime opportunity on this book. So we’re so excited. John, thank you for being here today.

John Maxwell:

I am very excited. Can you think of anything better than to go buy five books and get your five players on your team and say, let’s be with John for three different sessions on the book, and let’s learn together and let’s grow together? What? A gift to your team to get them on our book club. So do that, please. I want to see. We’ll pull back the curtains and I’ll give you the behind the scenes stuff on the book. And you’ll have a good time. And I’ll have a great time. I Know.

Mark Cole:

John. Congratulations on book number 88. The 16 undeniable laws of communication. Apply them and make the most of your message. Pick it up. Johns us on the book club. Hey, you know why we do this? We do this? Because we want you to be a powerful, positive, change agent in your world. Because everyone deserves to be led well.

John Maxwell:

That’s right.