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Welcome back to Build Your Network with Travis Chappell. In this episode, Travis interviews Dr. Rob McCleland, who is more passionate about leadership today than he’s been in his 25 years of leading organizations. He’s led a college in Washington D.C., a medical foundation in the Silicon Valley, an international non-profit with hospitals and schools around the glob. John Maxwell recruited Rob to lead Equip Leadership, the largest leadership development organization in the world and he went on to serve as the founding president of the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation. Rob has an earned Masters and PhD in Organizational Leadership, his doctoral dissertation is in the area of executive coaching, and he recently founded LeaderTribe.com to help the next generation be the leaders that he knows they can be.

Here’s what Rob and Travis cover in this episode:

• How networking and giving value got Rob his position with John Maxwell and enabled him to reach the 25 most difficult countries in the world
• Why our view of courage is misguided, what it actually means and why it matters
• Why it’s not just who you know that matters, but also if they trust you or not and whether you have built up enough goodwill for them to want to do things for you in return
• How a connection Rob made 4 years earlier led to him landing a job worth upwards of 5 figures a day and a yearly 4-day paid vacation
• The mistake in thinking people make when approaching networking that prevents them from having the success Rob has had
• The three types of people in business and which type is the most successful
• How Rob keeps very strong boundaries so he doesn’t waste his emotional energy and can give most effectively
• The best networking advice Rob knows that only requires 4 seconds of courage
• The importance of the 2^nd and 3^rd question in a networking conversation, and Rob’s suggestions to help the conversation along
• The number 1 way to network online and the value of having something unique to say
• Why Rob finds more value in small group or one-on-one connections than large rooms full of people at events
• How Rob has found his mentors, and his response to people who ask him to be their mento
• The reason you should take personal responsibility for everything in your life, your networks and the health of the relationships in those networks
• Some examples of little ways Rob serves people that prove to be very powerful in building relationships

Links and recommended resources:

• Good Leaders Ask Great Questions by John Maxwell
• The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner
• Kim Blanchard
• Give and Take by Adam Grant
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
• Michael Hyatt
• Everybody Dance Now by C&C Music Factory

Where to find Dr. Rob McCleland:

You can find Rob at http://www.leadertribe.com/

Email Travis (travis@buildyournetwork.co) to get Rob’s 10 page book summary of Give and Take by Adam Grant 

The 7 Questions from John Maxwell’s book Good Leaders Ask Great Questions

What is the greatest lesson you have ever learned?

What are you learning now?

How has failure shaped your life?

Who do you know that I should know?

What have you read that I should read?

What have you done that I should do?

How Can I add value to you?