Book Review: The 360 Degree Leader by John Maxwell

The 360 Degree Leader is a book that gives insight into becoming a leader from

anywhere in an organization. It clearly addresses leadership myths and debunks the

mindset that you can only be a leader if you have the title.

I co-teach this book at the Claim Litigation Management (CLM) School of Leadership

with my friend Lauran Watstein. We dive deep into the book and focus on what it means

to lead up, down, and across the organization.

Maxwell shows us that the myths—or lies we choose to believe—are simply not true.

Here’s a quick look at the myths and why they don’t hold up:

 Position Myth: You don’t need a title to be a leader; leadership is about

influence, not position.

 Destination Myth: Leadership isn’t something you start once you reach the top;

it begins where you are.

 Influence Myth: People won’t follow you just because you’re in charge; they

follow those they respect.

 Inexperience Myth: Being at the top doesn’t mean you’ll have full control;

leadership often comes with more constraints.

 Freedom Myth: Higher positions don’t bring unlimited freedom; they often come

with greater responsibility and limitations.

 Potential Myth: You can reach your full potential without being the top leader by

maximizing your influence where you are.

 All-or-Nothing Myth: You don’t have to be at the top to lead; choosing to lead

from the middle still makes a powerful impact.

Key Takeaways

The biggest takeaway for me is leading up, down, and across—and it all starts with

leading yourself exceptionally well. Maxwell makes it clear that if you want to catch your

boss’s and others’ attention, there are key elements you have to master.

Leading Up (Yes, Leading Your Boss)

The most impactful way to lead up is to do your job well. You can’t help others until

you’ve shown you can meet metrics and key performance indicators independently. Use

your resources before you go to your boss for help. Your boss should mentor you in

thought processes—not technical skills that are already in your procedure manuals. Be

prepared when you take up your boss’s time. Know what you need and have your questions or conversation points ready. And this one’s big: be brief in your emails. TLDR (too long didn’t read) is real. I say this with caution, because you do have to know your boss to apply this, but for most bosses, we don’t want to read dissertations—we want short, sweet, and to the point.

Leading Across - This is probably the trickiest. It means leading your peers. What does that look like? It’s

not gossiping about others, no matter how tempting. It’s removing yourself from talk that

could be harmful in any way. If you need to vent—let’s be real—we often call gossip

venting, and we do it with someone who’s in no way connected to work. Work to

excellence in all you do, but not at the expense of others. Never take credit for work

someone else did, don’t rebrand a colleague’s idea to seem new and innovative, and

always give credit where credit is due. Most of us are in competitive industries, and it’s

hard to be willing to share the secret sauce to our success with peers. But trust

me—building others up and working toward shared objectives will take you far in your

career.

Leading Down - This is the most natural form of leadership. When we lead down, we must walk slowly through the virtual office halls. Take time to connect with team members and their joys and struggles. Catch people doing something right. Often, we audit or critique work in ways that feel punitive. Neuroscience shows people don’t work well under pressure, but they flourish when they’re rewarded and recognized. This looks different for different

people, so find what motivates those you lead and reward them accordingly.

There are so many more concepts in this book. I recommend reading it or listening to it

a few times. I’ve taught this class five times now and have come away with a different

takeaway each time.

I must say, though, the key point you need to master is leading yourself well. I

guarantee this will take a lifetime to accomplish. We’ll mess up, we’ll take steps

backward, but we’ll also experience success. And when that happens, we’ll be able to

lead others and become the 360 Degree Leader.

Order your book Here: The 360 Degree Leader