"The best gift we can give this country is to raise up a whole

new generation of Christian leaders," said renowned author and

speaker Dr. John Maxwell this week during a banquet celebrating

Landmark Christian School's 10th anniversary. "We have a

leadership vacuum."

And leadership, he said, is one of the necessary elements of

success. The other elements are relationships, equipping others

and attitude.

You have to put energy into relationships, he said; be

others-oriented and smile. "People won't go along with you unless they

can get along with you."

Then we must pour our lives into developing others and

passing our vision on to them, Maxwell said. In the church, for

instance, there are many laymen with wonderful spiritual gifts

who, when equipped, will add great value to the senior leader. In

fact, Maxwell said he believes the major change of the

church in the 20th century will be a move from solo pastors to

team leaders.

Attitude, he said, is "the only huge

difference-maker we have a choice in. ... If you don't

like it, change it." He noted many people have

"destination disease" and think, "if only I

could ..." These people are not unhappy with where they are, he said

they're unhappy with who they are.

To raise up good leaders, Maxwell said, it is vital to be good leaders first. "We teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are,"

he said. "An organization never grows beyond the level of its leadership." He also noted that the secrets to success and failure are found in

our daily agenda; neither happen overnight.

"God's gift to me is my potential," Maxwell added. "My gift to him is what I do with my potential."

Maxwell is known across the world as a motivator, encourager and equipper of leaders. He was senior pastor of one of America's

largest churches for 14 years, and recently founded Injoy, Inc., a leadership development institute. He has authored such books as "Developing

the Leader Within You" and "Be a People Person." He and his wife Margaret live in Atlanta and have two children.

Landmark Christian School, now in Fairburn, was formed in Fayetteville in 1988 as a nondenominational college preparatory

Christian school that seeks to honor God through the pursuit of excellence in nurturing the spiritual, academic, physical and social growth of its

students. From a first-year enrollment of 170 students, the school has grown to a total this year of 770 students in grades K4-12 and has seen

great expansion of its buildings and programs.

Honored during Landmark's "Celebrating a Landmark Decade" annual banquet Thursday in the Georgia International Convention

Center were Charles Perry Duncan, first chairman of the board, Dan Cathy, coach Bill Thorn, Ed Kosiba, and Martha Doran, for whom

Landmark's library will now be named.

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