25 Ways to Win with People, Lesson #6 by John Maxwell and Les Parrott, PH.D. Good Questions by Josh Hunt

These kind of questions (except with more Bible verses!) are available every week for you to use during your Bible study time. Lessons correspond with three of Lifeway's series. See www.joshhunt.com/sunday-school.htm for details.

Review

• What have you learned so far? What have you been able to apply so far?

Give others a reputation to uphold

1. Let's start on the back side of this principle: could this idea, "give others a good reputation to uphold" be used to manipulate people?
2. Where is the line between using things like 25 Ways to Win With People for good, and when is it manipulation?
3. Can you think of a biblical example of this-where someone gave someone else a good reputation to uphold?
4. What are some biblical examples of how a new name represented a new identity and a reputation to live up to?
5. Think about Peter. We might us the name "Rocky" or "Mr. Rock Solid." Was that a quality of Peter, or something for him to grow in to?
6. I want us to brainstorm some nicknames we could us to encourage people in our groups to give them a reputation to live up to. Who in your class is Mr. Encouragement? (Barnabas). Who is Ms. Organized? Who is Ms. Extra Kind and Merciful? Who is Mr. Punctual?
7. Have you ever done this in parenting-given your kids a good reputation to live up to? Did your parents ever do this with you?
8. How does your expectation of others affect their behavior? ⁽¹⁾
9. Anyone know the story of Man of La Mancha? Who can tell that story? (Can anyone sing, "To Dream the Impossible Dream"?) How does that story illustrate this truth?
10. What does Les Parrott mean by the "ten year rule"?
11. Should we ignore people's weaknesses altogether? ⁽²⁾
12. Why do we tend to concentrate on the weakness of others (and ourselves)?
13. How do you want apply this principle to your group?
14. How can we pray for one another this week?

1. If you have not read Bruce Wilkinson's Seven Laws of the Learner, I'd encourage you to do so. He is a lengthy section documenting how this has been proven in the classroom with numerous double blind tests. Teachers who are told, "You are an exceptional teacher and we are going to give you all the really bright kids" produce bright kids even when the teachers and students were, in fact, selected at random.

2. I have read a book or two on recent strengths-based research. It proves that we do better concentrating on our strengths than fixing our weaknesses. Get your F's to C's and excel in the subjects you can easily get A's in.