Welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Podcast. This is the podcast that adds value to leaders who multiply value to others.

My name is Mark Cole and today Chris Goady and I will begin a new series where John Maxwell will teach on 10 leadership landmines and then Chris and I will begin to walk through perhaps painfully how we have stepped on those landmines and give you some application that I know will help you.

These landmines are areas of leadership that if neglected can cost you, cost you and your culture and will cost your organization success dearly.

So let's learn what they are and learn how to avoid them together. This week we'll talk about landmines one through five and the next week we'll cover number six through ten.

If you would like to watch this episode on YouTube please visit Maxwellpodcast.com forward slash YouTube and if you'd like to download the bonus resource for today's episode please visit Maxwellpodcast.com forward slash landmines.

Alright grab your pen grab your paper here is John Maxwell. Let's talk about leadership landmines. There are some things that I've been wanting to talk about for a period of time and this is one of them. In fact I've been sitting on this subject because as you know I'm continually writing and usually have four to six books at a time I'm working on just cultivating the ideas trying to crockpot them and this is one of them.

This is going to be a book. I'm not sure if it's going to be a book in two years or three years or four years but this is going to be a book because I constantly see leaders. I'm talking about the best leaders. I'm talking about leaders who are successful.

I'm talking about leaders who are already there. They're building their companies. They're building their organizations. They've got a great team. I'm talking about sometimes the best of the best who all of a sudden get blown up.

I just look at them and I say oh my goodness. What happened? Why did they do that? How could they be where they are and violate this law or this principle in such a way that they're losing money in their business or they're having to back up and start all over again. It always bothers me so I've been working very hard on landmines that leaders sometimes step on that blow them out of the picture.

Just take a moment. If you're looking at beginning part of the lesson, the first paragraph, many leaders never achieve their potential because they're blowing up the problems that they never see coming.

And our desire is to learn the most common leadership pitfalls in this lesson and how to avoid them.

I could first of all tell you that everything I'm going to talk about today at one time have stepped on one of these landmines.

So you're listening to an injured leader. If you could see me, I have both arms and slings. I've just come out of traction.

In other words, we all at time step on landmines. I can remember when I first started as you know, I started off as a pastor and Hillham in the little country church.

And I'll never forget they had a real little lobby. I mean, a real little lobby. Well, the church always see today.

So it has to be a little lobby. It's kind of like a phone booth. Okay. Now get the picture.

And there's this ugly, ugly, ugly painting on the wall in the lobby.

And the first thing I thought what I saw is I thought, oh, that's an ugly painting.

I just thought who would want an ugly painting there? I mean, who would put an ugly painting there?

Who would keep an ugly painting there? So the second week I walked in it was still there and I thought, you know, that needs to be taken down.

So here I am. I'm 22 years old in my first church with no regard to tradition, with no regard to who could have painted it and why it's there and who knows who and all the relationship structure that comes in a church that only runs about 60 people.

And there's a reason why they only run about 60 people. I took the painting down.

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