John Maxwell: It’s easy to be a great leader when you’re packing heat

For years, John Maxwell has been the Dalai Lama of leadership, the Mahatma Gandhi of success and the Zig Ziglar of… well, Zig Ziglar starter kits.

That is, until last week when he showed up in Palm Beach, Fla. Probably fresh on the heels of another great conference (I’ve been to one – that’s first-hand experience talking), he is traipsing through the terminal with some luggage that’s a little heavier than usual.

Rushing to catch a flight to Dallas, he hurls his brown, monogrammed briefcase in the TSA scanner waiting to be let through, and maybe asked for the ubiquitous autograph.

Well, he was asked for one… on the affidavit that caused him to hauled off to the pokey for carrying a handgun in said attache?!

DOH!

What does he do? Well, what so many dunderheads, hunting enthusiasts, football coaches and terrorists have done before him, “Man, that’s not my gun. It’s a friend’s.” Yeah, that’ll go over well down at the station. And then, when the rolling eyes, sighs of disbelief and heavy chuckles of blacklung was enough of a clue, Maxwell offers this:

Maxwell claimed the gun was a gift that he’d forgotten about. He’d been speaking early last week at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama, when a church member gave him the gun. It was meant for his wife, Maxwell claims, to keep her safe while he travels. He tucked it in his carry baggage, and brought it on private jet flight home. Maxwell said that he’d neglected to take the gun out of the bag.

Genius! Now, to his immense credit and smarts to escapes the PR hit, Maxwell blogs about it:

In the end, I just hope my mistake isn’t going to hurt anybody but me.

And that is what a leader does, people. So, good on ya’, Mr. Leader Guy.

However, why stop there, Johnny Boy. Write another book. Give another speech. Become Patton.

I think John Maxwell’s new book should be entitled “Lead This!” Maybe the cover would include a big frowny face, a halfwit who dropped trow at a Donald Trump conference or even some dude using his middle finger… to point, people. Come on.

Seriously. Why beat around the bush with the “21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” when you have a piece in your carry-ons?! Learn to hold it gangsta’-style and teach Attitude 101 to the Bloods and Crips. Oh, and rock it in Espanol for the Latin Kings. Orale!