An evangelical Christian, Maxwell followed his father into ministry. He is an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Church.
Since the 1970s, Maxwell has led churches in Indiana, Ohio, California, and Florida.
He became senior pastor of the Skyline Church in 1981. He stayed for 14 years, leaving in 1995.
In 1992, he founded InJoy, a stewardship company which helped with the funding of churches and projects through consultancy and other plans for churches to have a "fully funded vision".
In 1998, he published the book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership which became a New York Times bestseller in April 1999. There was controversy over this when it turned out that rather than many people purchasing this book, marketing company ResultSource had made a bulk order of the book (more information in controversies section).
On November 16, 2008, he began working as a guest pastor at Crystal Cathedral in Orange County, California. His messages were shown on the Hour of Power television program.
In 2010, he was a keynote speaker for the National Agents Alliance conference.
In 2011, he founded the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team. He is one of the speakers for this organization. This organization is for the certification of coaches and speakers and trainers. The Maxwell Leadership Certified Team now states there are over 50,000 certified members. This certification gives people the resources and the rights to use the Maxwell library of leadership content.
In 2014 he was named in Inc.'s list of "Top 50 Leadership and Management Experts".
In 2025, he was at the top of the leadership gurus list on Global Gurus, a move up from position 3 the previous year. In 2026, he was off the list entirely.
Developing the Leaders Around You, Thomas Nelson, 1995 (Repackaged 2003)
Success One Day at a Time, Thomas Nelson, 2000 (Repackaged 2007)
Developing the Leader Within You, Thomas Nelson, 1993 (Repackaged 2001)
Be a People Person, Cook Communications (Originally Chariot-Victor Books, 1989)
Be All You Can Be, Cook Communications (Originally Chariot-Victor Books, 1987)
Make Today Count, Center Street, First Center Street Edition: June 2008
How Successful People Think (originally published as Thinking for a Change), Center Street, First Center Street Edition: June 2009
Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters, Center Street, 2015
Developing the Leader Within You 2.0, HarperCollins, 2018
Controversies
In March 2022, Maxwell visited the anti-abortion "Conference for Life and Family" organized by Guatemalan president Alejandro Giammattei, accused of corruption and authoritarian policies. During his visit, Maxwell praised Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who had been criticized for her 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 called Porras "a rockstar" and "a leader amongst leaders".
As of 2020, Maxwell resides in Palm Beach, South Florida, with his wife, Margaret.
On March 12, 2009, Maxwell was arrested at Palm Beach International Airport for trying to board a plane with a concealed weapon. According to the report, the TSA screener noticed a handgun displayed inside Maxwell's briefcase. Maxwell told TSA officials that the gun was recently given to him as a gift and that he had simply forgotten to take it out of the briefcase. He was charged with possession of a concealed weapon while attempting to board an airplane and was released from jail on bond, while awaiting trial. Maxwell addressed the incident on his personal website, calling it "one of the stupidest things" he has ever done.
↑"John C. Maxwell". Hachette Book Group. 2017-06-28. Retrieved 2026-07-20.
↑UH Staff (28 April 2008). "Detalles del libro que Nicanor le regaló a Fernando Lugo"[Details of the Book That Nicanor Gave to Fernando Lugo]. UltimaHora.com (UH) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-06-13. 'Los 21 minutos más poderosos en el día de un líder' es el libro que le regaló Nicanor Duarte Frutos a Fernando Lugo. La obra, escrita por un pastor, presenta un plan diario que ayuda a crecer como líder en la vida personal, profesional y espiritual. ... El autor del libro es John C. Maxwell... Resumen del libro: El liderazgo es complejo y tiene muchas facetas... John C. Maxwell es es un reconocido conferencista internacional, especialista en liderazgo, nacido en Garden City, Michigan, Estados Unidos en 1947. ... Ha vendido más de 12 millones de libros. Es el fundador de Injoy Stewardship Services y EQUIP, organizaciones que han capacitado a más de un millón de líderes en todo el mundo. Selective machine translation (Google.com) of this quote gives the following statements: "'The 21 Most Powerful Minutes of a Leader's Day' is the book that Nicanor Duarte Frutos gave to Fernando Lugo. The work, written by a pastor ... John C. Maxwell... a renowned international speaker and leadership specialist, born in Garden City, Michigan, United States in 1947. ... He has sold more than 12 million books ... is the founder of Injoy Stewardship Services and EQUIP, organizations that have trained more than one million leaders worldwide." Note, this material appears to be reproduced content from the promotional materials of the described book, and not fact-checked news reporting.
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