Becoming a Person of Influence

John C. Maxwell, a pastor, denominational executive, and motivational speaker, and Jim Dornan, a global business entrepreneur, come from different professional backgrounds but share a conviction that influence is the essential quality for anyone who wants to make a positive impact. Their book presents a structured framework for developing personal influence, organized around a four-level model and ten core qualities. Each chapter pairs practical principles with personal anecdotes and historical examples.

The authors open by arguing that every person is already an influencer. They introduce a four-level model: Model (influence through character), Motivate (emotional connection and encouragement), Mentor (direct investment in others' growth), and Multiply (helping those one has influenced become influencers themselves). Each successive level demands deeper commitment. Influence is never neutral, the authors stress; even public figures who reject the label of role model shape others whether they intend to or not. To ground this framework, they share the story of Jerry and Patty Beaumont, friends who came alongside Dornan and his wife, Nancy, when their son Eric was born with spina bifida, a condition in which the spinal cord does not form properly, and severe meningitis. Eric required emergency brain surgery and underwent 11 more surgeries in his first nine months. The Beaumonts provided comfort and companionship, helping the Dornans see beyond their crisis to a larger purpose.

Chapter 1 establishes integrity as the foundation of the Model level. Dornan recounts voluntarily declaring expensive clothing purchases at U.S. customs, stunning an agent who remarked that most travelers avoid paying duty. Nancy replied that she could spare the money more easily than she could spare a clear conscience. The authors argue that integrity operates in small moments: A white lie is still a lie, and theft is theft regardless of the amount. They cite a study by the UCLA Graduate School of Management and the executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, in which 71 percent of 1,300 senior executives identified integrity as the quality most needed for business success. Three misconceptions are addressed: that integrity is determined by circumstances, that it can be replaced by credentials, and that it is the same as reputation. The authors illustrate the practical value of integrity with the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol crisis, in which the company's president ordered $100 million worth of capsules removed from shelves within an hour because the firm had already committed to operating with honesty and integrity.

The next three chapters develop the Motivate level. Chapter 2 focuses on nurturing, defined as genuine concern for others expressed through love, respect, security, recognition, and encouragement. The authors use the story of Eric's service dog, Sable, provided by Canine Companions for Independence, to establish a metaphor: A trainer instructed Eric that he had to be the one to feed Sable so the dog would bond with him, just as people bond with those who nurture them. Among the chapter's illustrations is the story of teacher Helen Mrosla, who asked her students to write positive things about each classmate and compiled individual lists. Years later, at former student Mark Eklund's funeral after he was killed in Vietnam, his family discovered the worn, refolded list in his wallet, and multiple classmates revealed they still carried their own. The chapter closes with the story of John Wesley, the Methodist clergyman, whose 1791 letter encouraged William Wilberforce, a member of England's Parliament, to continue fighting for abolition of the British slave trade. Wesley died four days later, but Wilberforce drew on the letter for decades, and the slave trade was abolished in 1807.

Chapter 3 argues that having faith in people is essential because most people lack self-belief. The authors use the acronym BELIEVE to structure practical advice: Believe in people before they succeed, emphasize their strengths, list their past successes, instill confidence when they fail, experience wins together, visualize their future success, and expect a new level of living. Dornan shares the story of taking Eric skiing at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. Despite Dornan's fears that a head blow could be life-threatening given Eric's condition, Nancy's faith prevailed. Eric learned to ski using a bi-ski, a chair mounted on skis, and eventually made it down from the top of the mountain. He returned year after year, and the experience transformed his confidence across all areas of his life.

Chapter 4 presents listening as a skill more important than persuasion or charisma. Dornan recounts how, early in his career at McDonnell-Douglas, he tried to recruit colleagues to a side business by overwhelming them with facts. His breakthrough came when he simply listened to a coworker's frustrations and recognized how his opportunity could address the man's actual problems. The authors identify six barriers to listening and offer nine practical steps for improvement, from making eye contact to suspending judgment to asking clarifying questions.

Chapter 5 argues that understanding people is the master key to success, identifying four barriers: fear, self-centeredness, failure to appreciate differences, and failure to acknowledge similarities. Dornan closes by describing his attempt to lease a penthouse overlooking Niagara Falls for his aging parents, who preferred their small apartment. His mother's eyesight was too poor to enjoy the view, and his father was uncomfortable with the height. Understanding people, Dornan learned, means discovering what they actually want rather than imposing what one assumes they need.

The final four chapters address the Mentor and Multiply levels. Chapter 6 defines enlarging as helping people grow toward their potential. The concept is illustrated by Fernando, a life skills trainer hired as Eric's full-time attendant after a spinal fusion surgery. Fernando exposed Eric to new challenges including jet skiing, power soccer, weight training, volunteering as a tutor, and studying German. Eric won a gold medal at a power soccer tournament in Vancouver, Canada, and his confidence expanded dramatically. The authors stress that enlargers must first enlarge themselves and offer guidelines for selecting people to develop, including shared values and genuine belief in their potential.

Chapter 7 addresses the navigator's role in helping people identify their destination, plot a course, and anticipate problems. Maxwell illustrates the concept by describing how he bought 60 Coca-Colas for stranded passengers during a flight delay, turning frustration into an opportunity for connection. The authors advise discovering what people cry about, sing about, and dream about to identify their true goals, and they encourage setting incremental targets rather than distant, all-or-nothing ones. Four realities the navigator must convey are identified: everybody faces problems, successful people face more problems than unsuccessful ones, money does not solve problems, and problems provide opportunities for growth.

Chapter 8 focuses on connecting, which the authors compare to a locomotive coupling with train cars: The engine must move to where the cars are and make contact before anything can move forward. Nine steps for connecting are presented, including looking for common ground, recognizing personality differences, and sharing common experiences. Chapter 9 presents empowerment as the culmination of mentoring. The authors contrast a rigid desk clerk who charged the Dornans for a minor oversight despite years of loyalty with a Nordstrom salesclerk who offered to hem and deliver pajamas overnight. Nordstrom's employee handbook, the authors note, consists essentially of one rule: "Use your good judgment in all situations" (176). Seven steps for empowering others are outlined, culminating in releasing people to continue independently, echoing Abraham Lincoln's message to General Ulysses S. Grant: "Take the responsibility and act, and call on me for assistance" (188).

The final chapter addresses reproduction, the highest level of influence. Dornan credits Rich DeVos, co-founder of the direct-sales company Amway, as the single greatest influence in his professional life. The authors identify five stages of organizational leadership: scramble, where leaders constantly lose and replace people; survival, where they retain people but develop no one; siphon, where they develop people who then leave; synergy, where strong relationships and development create momentum; and significance, where leaders develop other leaders who themselves develop leaders. Only about 1 percent of leaders reach this final stage. The book closes with the story of Robert Angkasa, an Indonesian MBA and former Citibank vice president mentored by Mitch Sala, one of Dornan's mentees. Angkasa now impacts thousands across multiple countries in Asia and is himself mentoring others, completing a chain of reproduction from Dornan to Sala to Angkasa. The authors frame this chain as a relay race and urge readers to "reach out your hand, take the baton, and finish the race that only you can run" (205).