Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently »

The world's most respected leadership expert gives five principles and five practices for breaking the invisible barrier to leadership and personal success.

You have a good idea but can't convince your peers of its merit. You crafted a groundbreaking strategy, but the team trudges on in the same old way. Certain people move forward in their career while you seem to be stuck. If this describes you or someone you know, the problem is not the quality of what you have to offer. The problem is how you connect with people to create the results you desire.

In Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, John Maxwell takes readers through the Five Connecting Principles and the Five Connecting Practices of top-notch achievers. He believes that a person's ability to create change and results in any organization-be it a company, church, nonprofit, or even a family-is directly tied to the ability to use the teachings of this book.

Publishers Weekly

Full of anecdotes from readers of his books (including Encouragement Changes Everything) and his website (www.JohnMaxwellonLeadership.com), the latest self-help from prolific bestseller Maxwell is so readable, audiences may not realize until the end that it contains little in the way of practical advice. Instead, Maxwell offers vague platitudes like, "being a giver is usually a win-win. It can energize you while it helps others," without providing the meaning or context to make proper advice (what would "a giver" look like in conversation? How can readers become givers?). A great deal of the book is devoted to first-person anecdotes by those who have worked with Maxwell and his books, who make much of Maxwell's skills, but little of the steps they took to improve their own communication abilities. Those looking for concrete help won't find it here; Maxwell doesn't get much more specific than when he writes, "Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them."
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Acknowledgments ix

Prologue xi

Part I Connecting Principles

1 Connecting Increases Your Influence in Every Situation 1

2 Connecting Is All About Others 22

3 Connecting Goes Beyond Words 47

4 Connecting Always Requires Energy 72

5 Connecting Is More Skill Than Natural Talent 96

Part II Connecting Practices

6 Connectors Connect on Common Ground 123

7 Connectors Do the Difficult Work of Keeping It Simple 149

8 Connectors Create an Experience Everyone Enjoys 171

9 Connectors Inspire People 199

10 Connectors Live What They Communicate 229

Conclusion 248

Contributors to JohnMaxwellonLeadership.com 251

Notes 255

About the Author 262