John C. Maxwell

Leadership is the thread that runs through nearly everything John C. Maxwell has done, from the pulpit to the printed page. Born John Calvin Maxwell in Garden City, Michigan, in 1947, he grew up in a home shaped by ministry; his father served in that field, and Maxwell later followed the same path. He completed a bachelor’s degree at Circleville Bible College in 1969, then earned a Master of Divinity degree at Azusa Pacific University and a Doctor of Ministry degree at Fuller Theological Seminary.

An evangelical Christian and an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church, Maxwell began leading churches in the 1970s. His pastoral work took him through Indiana, Ohio, California, and Florida, giving him years of direct experience with congregations, communities, and the daily demands of guiding people. He served for 14 years as senior pastor of Skyline Church, leaving in 1995. In 2004, he returned to congregational ministry at Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where he is a teaching pastor.

Maxwell also became familiar to wider audiences through speaking and television. On November 16, 2008, he began working as a guest pastor at Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California. He returned there several times to preach, and his messages were shown on the Hour of Power television program. That blend of church leadership, public speaking, and teaching helped shape the practical tone of his work: focused less on theory than on habits, influence, communication, and growth.

As an author, Maxwell is best known for books centered on leadership, including The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. Some of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His published works include Developing the Leader Within You, Developing the Leaders Around You, Failing Forward: Turning Your Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success, The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork, Today Matters, Winning With People, The 5 Levels of Leadership, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, and Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters.

Maxwell’s public life has also included controversy and personal embarrassment. In 2009, he was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport after a handgun was found in his briefcase as he tried to board a plane; he said it had been given to him as a gift and that he had forgotten to remove it, later calling the incident “one of the stupidest things” he had ever done. In 2022, during a visit to an anti-abortion conference in Guatemala, he praised Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who had been criticized for persecution of anti-corruption officials and named by the U.S. State Department on a list of corrupt and anti-democratic actors in the region.

Maxwell resides in South Florida with his wife, Margaret. The appeal of his words comes from their directness: they speak to people trying to lead, recover, communicate, and make better choices today. One of his short sayings captures that practical spirit well: “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.” It is the kind of line that fits the larger shape of his work, where success is treated not as a single achievement, but as a pattern of growth, responsibility, and steady attention to people.