Maxwell will be featured as a plenary speaker at the 2005 Catalyst Conference, October 6-7 in Atlanta, Georgia, along with Andy Stanley, Bill Hybels, Louie Giglio, Erwin McManus and Donald Miller. Catalyst is a convergence of 10,000 Next Generation Leaders. For more information or to register, visit www.catalystconference.com.

Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less. When you become a student of leaders, as I am, you recognize people's level of influence in everyday situations all around you.

FIVE MYTHS ABOUT LEADERSHIP

There are plenty of misconceptions and myths that people embrace about leaders and leadership. Here are five common ones:

1. THE MANAGEMENT MYTH

A widespread misunderstanding is that leading and managing are one and the same. Up until a few years ago, books that claimed to be on leadership were often really about management. The main difference between the two is that leadership is about influencing people to follow, while management focuses on maintaining systems ...