Theresa's October Maxwell reading

11- Listening: The quote I like is "Before a leader can touch a person's heart, he has to know what's in it, he learns that by listening". How else do we really get to know someone if we don't listen to them and learn by what they are telling us. He says that the purpose for listening is to connect with people and to learn. We should start listening not only for words, but also for feelings, meanings, and under currents. I really enjoy listening to people talk but I'm going to be more purposeful so I can learn from what they are telling me.

12- Passion: Here he talks about the action steps to achieve your passion.
1. Desire determines your destiny.
2. Increase your willpower.
3. Allow it to change you.
4. Make the impossible possible.
I want people to know that I am passionate, and not just because I am emotional about something, but because I want to be apart of something bigger than myself.

13- Positive Attitude: The quote here that I really liked was "Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up".- Thomas Edison.
Your attitude is a choice, it detemines your actions, as a leader your people mirror your attitude, and maintaining a good attitude is easier than regaining one. I really liked this chapter and it helped me realize that when I have a bad attitude about one area of my life it affects all the other areas of my life. So I'm going to try to remember that and by doing so I know that I will be a much healthier person.

14- Problem Solving: I thought it was interesting that he said you should look for trouble so that you can gain experience by dealing with them. I don't think it's difficult to find trouble and I generally would not go looking for it but I do agree that once you deal with a difficult situation you gain much more knowledge. I was also encouraged when he stated that you should surround yourself with problem solvers because this is another way to learn.

15- Relationships: I always looked at relationships as something that was a give and take mentality. When it seems too one sided the relationship seems to be unbalanced, but after reading this chapter it reminds me that we can learn so much about people when we don't look at what we are getting out of it. He says here that, you can not be a truly effective leader, the kind people want to follow, unless you love people, understand people, and help people. If your focus is on what you can put into people rather than what you can get out of them, they'll love and respect you. I want to put more good in people and not worry about what I get out of it.