Leadership Guru John Maxwell's Dream Presidential Candidate Would Owe 'No One Anything,' Stay One Term (Interview 1/2)

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, October 08, 2015

But the book is more than that. It is also special because it is Maxwell's response to a problem he first recognized in 2013 after training the more than five million leaders through his nonprofit EQUIP which he started with his brother Larry in 1996.

He realized that he had taught his students valuable leadership skills but the training he delivered did not make them transformational leaders.

"They don't automatically want to make a difference. They don't live out intentional significance," he explains in the book.

After some intense personal soul-searching which included a deep struggle between his heart and pride, Maxwell decided he needed to lead EQUIP to another level by leading the charge to train leaders on how to be transformational. He is kicking it off with the release of Intentional Living.

"The first step of the transformation is literally having the ability to see others and intentionally add value to them on a daily basis," says Maxwell.

Most of the candidates in the 2016 presidential race, he says, don't seem ready to be transformational leaders, so Maxwell is concerned.

And he is concerned not just with the kind of leaders currently on offer but the passivity of the electorate that has given rise to them. He thinks the wisdom inside Intentional Living can jolt them from passivity into a life of positive change and significance.

He doesn't skip a beat explaining why he thinks having one term presidents might be a better deal for Americans.

"I'm gonna tell you why," he says as he continues listing what he would like to hear his ideal presidential candidate say.

"'I'm gonna be a one term president because I gotta do the right thing for the country. And the right thing for the country isn't always gonna be popular. And the right thing for the country isn't always gonna be making everybody happy.

"'I'm in it for only one reason, and that is when I'm finished, to make America a better place to live. And so I'm going to give one term and then I'm gonna go back and do honest living somewhere else. I'm not gonna be a politician, I'm not gonna try to maintain a career and live off government money or your money, I'm just gonna give it a shot."

Maxwell's challenge is haunting. His words hang so palpably in the quiet of the room it almost begins to feel cramped.