SAINT COLUMBAN COLLEGE

Pagadian City

A Summary and Reflection Paper

Presented to the Faculty of Graduate School

Saint Columban College

In partial fulfilment of the requirements

for BA 217/ PA 212 (Leadership and Change Management)

Submitted by:
Kee Jay T. Pondoc, LPT

Submitted to;
Bemia Snooky A. Beboso, MBA, LPT
 SUMMARY PAPER
THE 360 DEGREE LEADER BY JOHN MAXWELL

The first part of John Maxwell’s The 360 degree Leader has a series of myths from leading in
the middle. The first myth John talks about is the position myth which is about having a title
or position to be a leader and how that is not true. In the book there is a diagram which creates
a great picture of this. The diagram has you in the middle and everyone around showing you
are someone’s leader. Title is about disposition not position. Leadership comes from how you
make it. For management purposes this is important because if you lead people without
knowing you’re being a leader and just guide people with being kind and being a good person
then people will listen to you.

With position myth comes a destination myth, which is the second myth. Destination myth is
saying “when I get to the top, then I’ll lead”. This is very misleading for most new business
owners. I see a lot of small-town companies open and close because they couldn’t lead their
employees and thought they didn’t have to work because they own something. Destination is
just a place, just like title is just a name. Work comes with all titles and destinations. Willing to
work and lead with higher titles and destinations will determine the outcome of the business.

The third myth is influence, “if I were on top, then people would follow me”. Influence must
be earned, not given. Influence is leadership because leadership is how you carry people
through actions. A position doesn’t make a leader, but a leader makes a position .The fourth
myth John talks about is inexperience myth. Inexperience being a leader of an organization is
never ideal. However, if the inexperience comes from not knowing every employee’s name
and birthday is fine, but not knowing details about the company and how they operate is bad.
Often times, again, with start-up companies the employees hired know more than the owner.
Inexperience in the leadership position makes your employees not want to work for you and
looks poorly on your business.

The fifth, sixth and seventh myths are Freedom, Potential, and All or Nothing. All three of
these correspond. Freedom talks about how when you move up in an organization it increases
responsibility, which in all increases your potential and you can’t have an all or nothing
attitude. So far in this book John has refined the myths in organizations and leadership within
them.

Within every employee there has to be a leader. If each employee only thinks there is only one
leader then positions and operations may slack effort. If every employee thinks they are a
leader within context then operations will be ran smooth and support will be found at all levels
of the organization.

Next John introduced challenges that are incorporated in management and leadership. The first
challenge many leaders find themselves in is tension or “being caught in the middle”.
Whether, the leader is a manager, CEO, or an employee everyone will be caught in the middle
of an issue. John explains to “never violate your position and trust the leader”. What I took
from this is stay in your place even though you may be caught in the middle work with options
and choose wisely. Trusting the leader can be as simple as trusting your gut. Do what’s best
and don’t put yourself in a worse situation. Tension can be difficult in business, but it
shouldn’t be about everything. It’s a challenge; challenges are made to be overcome. This goes
with another challenge John introduced and this is frustration. Frustration can be along the
lines of nothing going right or following a poor leader . It’s difficult to know if you’re
following a poor leader. John went through and explained what to do if you find yourself in
this path. He explained it’s not your job to fix the leader it’s to add value, add your strengths to
help out, and support. This is where things may become frustrating; however, it will be
beneficial in the future.
Another Important challenge John mentioned was the fulfillment challenge. John explains how
the fulfillment challenge has to do with attitude and skills. Having the right attitude and proper
skills to do your job correctly and efficiently at any position within an organization will project
you as a leader . I believe this is true, because when an employee is struggling at their job for
whatever reason and a colleague is doing proficient work, the struggling employee will look up
to the employee doing well. Management leads employees so having a great attitude towards
your colleagues and about the organization is beneficial. Nobody wants to work for an
organization whose management has a poor attitude. Knowing the difference between
leadership versus management is a strong contributor for success. John describes leading as a
value and a characteristic. There are many in-between values that create a leader at any level in
business, family, and life in general. Liz Ryan from Forbes says, “For years we were taught that
management has to do with forecasting, budgeting, planning and controlling. Managers were
taught to manage, not to lead.” This, in my opinion, is true. There are many great managers out
there that do lead, however, I personally see less leading and more managing. Sometimes I think
it’s just the wrong employee as a manager or the manager has a very big head. Often times I see
an employee with better leadership skills than the manager who is always out on break, never
there, or just being an interventionist. Having read the whole 360-degree book will benefit me
in the future and will help push me towards my goals and help others around me.

WORD COUNT : 959

 REACTION PAPER
THE 360 DEGREE LEADER BY JOHN MAXWELL

Maxwell reminds us constantly about one important principle of leadership. “If you want to
influence others, then you must learn to lead.”1 To be a 360-degree leader, it is important to
practice leading up and this has been classified as Maxwell to be the greatest challenge of a
leader. As leaders we should not just be prone to leading across with our colleagues or leading
down with our followers but, we should also keep in mind that we have the best chance of
influencing those above us by adding value to them. After reading section III of the book, The
360 degree leader, I was able to identify very strong principles and practical examples of how to
lead up. From these principles I have also been able to point out my strongest and weakest areas.

I Identify with Principle #3 as my strongest area when it has to do with leading up. “Be Willing
to Do What Others Won’t.” I have always been adventurous at heart when it has to do with
testing waters and doing what others won’t want to do normally. I am mostly known for going
ahead to achieve goals no matter the cost. Whether it be the little or big things I love to always
think outside my box and willing to tackle problems. This has taught me resilience and tenacity.
An outstanding quote from Maxwell says “If you have men who will come only if they know
there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at
all.” There are a couple of things that Maxwell recommends for people that have the “whatever it
takes attitude” to do in order to be a 360 degree leader. Take the toughest jobs, pay dues without
fanfare or complaint, work in obscurity, succeed with difficult people, put yourself on the line by
playing smart and not safe, admit faults but never make excuses, and be the first to step up and
help. One area that I have to work on is definitely learning to succeed with difficult people. I
have to improve on working to find common grounds with people that are difficult to work with.

On the other hand, my weakest area when it has to do with leading up will be Principle #4 “Do
More Than Manage”4 While it is a good thing to manage, I always have to remind myself that
leading beyond management is key to leading up because people will rather be led than
managed. I need to grow in the area of thinking Long term and even though I do most times, I
still tend to live more in the moment of things. Being a good leader means that I make sure my
team or organization thrives tomorrow as well as today. Also and finally, I have to learn the game
of intangibles and build my intuition by being more confident in dealing with emotions, attitudes,
atmosphere, and timing and I have to do this by preparing myself better for each new day.

WORD COUNT : 513