It was the summer of 2016 when I received an invitation to join a study group on leadership. I did not hesitate in accepting when I was informed that it will be *Brian Heckert, 2016 **MDRT President, leading this study group. All the more when, in the same email, I found out that we will be reading through and learning from ***John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership.
And the journey began. We were a very diverse group with MDRT members from India, Dubai, Hong Kong, Lebanon, the Philippines and the United Sates initially challenged to coordinate our different time zones properly to converge for our monthly group video chat. However, overcoming this challenge was easy for this group of persistent, knowledge seeking professionals.
Several discussions and a hundred and so pages of scribbled notes later, the restructuring of my business took an audacious and more clear-cut direction as it continued to evolve and grow. You would think that Heckert and Maxwell’s influence would make me focus only on my relationship with my staff. When in fact, it also made me rethink about my role as a professional to and my relationship with my clients. It gave me an affirmation of how I can improve as a single parent to three young adults and a teenager as well. It is life changing.
My excitement about this propitious turn of events reached an all-time high when the program for the ****2018 MDRT Annual Meeting was released. John Maxwell was to be our first Main Platform speaker. Long story short, I not only had the privilege to sit amongst the 15,000 MDRT members in the audience to hear him speak, I also had the honor of meeting him in person.
Here are my takeaways from his topic on “Intentional Living”.
- Everything in life that is worthwhile is uphill. The only way that we can live it is intentional. So if you want your life to have significance, live an intentional life. There is no such thing as accidental accomplishments. However, if we have high hopes, we also have bad habits. And unfortunately, most people don’t live their lives. They just accept their lives as is. We have to be deliberate and willful, and there should be discipline in doing so. With this in mind, we should have a growth plan; be growth conscious instead of being goal conscious.
- Maxwell also shared the 5 exercises to do everyday to live a significant life.
- Value people.
- Think of ways to add value to people.
- Look for ways to add value to people.
- Do things to add value to people.
- Encourage others to add value to people.
linkiNG you to opportunities,
* Brian D. Heckert, CLU, ChFC, owner of Financial Solutions Midwest LLC, an independent financial services practice in Nashville, Ill., was named the 90th President of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®. Heckert led the association of more than 43,000 international members for a one-year term, effective Sept. 1, 2015.
https://www.mdrt.org/brian-d-heckert-clu-chfc-named-president-of-mdrt/
**Founded in 1927, the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®, is a global, independent association of more than 62,000 of the world's leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 500 companies in 69 countries
https://www.mdrt.org/about-mdrt/
***John Maxwell’s 5 Levels of Leadership offers a unique perspective on the progressive nature of leadership, and offers advice on growing your influence as you climb up the leadership ladder.
**** The MDRT Annual Meeting gathers thousands of members from around the world to create an exclusive event like no other that stimulates growth through learning, networking and sharing innovative ideas. Attendees hear inspiring speakers, learn insights from some of the best minds in the world, and share their best practices and innovations with peers to help attain new levels of success.
https://www.mdrt.org/meetings/