What Employers Want But
Business Schools Don't Teach

Foreword

Most of what you will need to know about succeeding in business you will learn after you graduate from business school. This is true for a couple of reasons. First, the academic world is forced to teach theories about business, some of which you will never practice once you begin your career. These theories aren't bad, but many of them aren't practical. Due to the academic pressure, colleges and universities don't take as much time to invest in the practical principles you will need next Monday morning.

A second reason we learn more after we graduate is that our incentive to learn is higher then. Once you begin your career is when you figure out what questions to ask. You are hungry to understand how to compete with the market; how in succeed in relationships and how to negotiate partnerships. It has been said: When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When you are really hungry to grow, you will find the principles you need. I have found that teachers are everywhere.

I believe you will find this book to be a teacher I am hopeful you are a true student at this point in your life. It is loaded with practical principles on leadership and personal growth. Those two subjects are personal favorites of mine. Emerging leaders must be passionate about personal growth. You will only lead others as far as you have grown yourself. This book will be a sort of mentor for you in the areas of priorities and time management, achievement, people skills, stress, communication, negotiation and many more. You will find practical insights and ideas on how to manage and thrive as you pursue your mission in life.

Over the last several years, I have been able to speak to hundreds of thousands of business leaders and other professionals. I have found a great variety of business people in the corporate world, both male and female, young and old, single and married. All of them who attend my conferences, however, are hungry to succeed; hungry to grow. They want mentors in their life to guide them in the major decisions they must make. We all need those kind of people. We are all on a journey. I had a business person say to me recently: "I wish I had heard you twenty years ago." I thought to myself: No you don't. I wasn't teaching the things I am teaching today, twenty years ago. I am in a growth process just like everyone else. I am hungry to continue improving myself. In my book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership I teach the "Law of Process." It reminds us that leaders develop daily, not in a day. Leadership development is a process not an event.

This book is about the process. It was written for those who are hungry to grow and succeed. It is the result of years of observation and learning. The words you'll read arc the words of a wise mentor. They are words you may not have heard from your professor. Take them to heart. Apply them to your life. Take some risks and try practicing some principles you've never tried before. See if they don't pay off. Minimally, this book represents a complement to what you received in business school. May you become all that God intended for you to be!

Dr. John C. Maxwell
Founder of EQUIP and The Injoy Group