Thursday Report #8 Maxwell Book

John Maxwell presents a helpful "rule" for working with people in his book Relationships 101. The principle reads as follows, "Great leaders understand that their team is only as strong as their weakest link."

This principle means that if one person in a group is not doing their share of the work, the whole group suffers. If there is a group of 100 people and 1 person in that group does not live up to the standard set by the group, the group will suffer. This principle implies that when someone is working with people he or she must keep everyone in the group accountable to the work they are doing. If there is no accountability in the group, most likely someone will fall behind and slack on their end of the stick. If you are leading a group, you must set up a system of checks and balances that help keep everyone in the group on board and focused on their task both as individuals in the group and as the large group. This principle also implies that a small negative seed of influence has a lot of power. It doesn't matter how many people in the group are doing the right thing, if one person is doing wrong then the whole group's image will be tainted.

Personally, I think this is a very helpful principle. This principle helps young leaders in ministry understand the importance of group accountability. Also, this principle motivates young church leaders to lead in a way that both inspires and motivates others.