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Your inner circle is either your greatest asset or your biggest liability. There's no neutral option.

Welcome back to our series on John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Law #11 is the Law of the Inner Circle, and John says it as plainly as I've ever heard it: a leader's potential is determined by those closest to him. This one is personal for me. Every real breakthrough in my life traces back to the people I let in close.

In this episode, John breaks down why the "self-made man" is a myth: if you made everything yourself, you haven't made much. He walks through what he calls the water bucket and the gasoline bucket, how the people around you either put out small fires or turn them into disasters, and why he's convinced there are only two kinds of people in this world: lifters and leaners. Then he hands you the exact grid he uses to evaluate everyone in his inner circle.

I share a story of my assistant Linda, and the night she took an assignment I gave her and made it better than I ever could have on my own. That's what this law is really about. It's not about doing more. It's about who you let close enough to make you more.

Here's what you'll gain from this episode:

• The Self-Made Myth: Why claiming you built it all alone isn't something to be proud of, and what it actually reveals about your team.
• The Locomotive Principle: John's unforgettable story about trains, and why hitting people with your vision is not the same as connecting with them.
• Lifters and Leaners: The two types of people in every inner circle, and how to tell which one you're becoming for the people around you.
• The Five-Value Grid: John's exact evaluation system for deciding who earns a seat closer to you: potential, positive, personal, production, and proven value.
• "You Just Make Me Better Than I Am": My story about Linda, and what it looks like when someone in your inner circle takes what you give them to a level you couldn't reach alone.

I used to think being the hardest worker in the room was enough. It never is. The moment I stopped trying to carry everything myself and started building the right circle around me is the moment my life actually changed.

Take a real look at the five or six people closest to you this week. Are they lifting you or leaning on you?

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