Quotes About Leadership

Strong
for
Leadership
Insights, Encouragement and 400 Quotes
about the Personal Strengths of Leaders
from the Great Minds of the Past 2,500 Years
Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D. and Meredith M. Bell, M.A.

Copyright © 2010 by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D, and Meredith M. Bell.
ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED.
PERMISSION - Readers have permission to share the PDF file of this eBook.
RESTRICTION – None of the text within this publication may be copied or reproduced in
any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, for use in other works,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published under the copyright laws of the Library of Congress of The United States of
America by:
Performance Support Systems, Inc.,
11838 Rock Landing Drive, Suite 130
Newport News, VA 23606
TEL - 757-873-3700
FAX - 757-873-3288
WEB - www.ProStarCoach.com
EMAIL - info@prostarcoach.com
Legal Notice
While all attempts have been made to verify information provided in this publication,
neither the authors nor the publisher assume any responsibility for errors, omissions or
contrary interpretation of the subject matter.
The reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and
information. The authors and Publisher assume no responsibility or liability whatsoever
on the behalf of any purchaser or reader of these materials.

Strong for Leadership
www.ProStarCoach.com Page 3
CONTENTS
What You Should Know about
Being Strong as a Leader 4
Acceptance 7
Accountability 9
Awareness 11
Commitment 13
Compassion 15
Composure 17
Cooperation 19
Courage 21
Creativity 23
Decisiveness 25
Effort 27
Empowerment 29
Excellence 31
Fairness 33
Flexibility 35
Focus 37
Gratitude 39
Honesty 41
Initiative 43
Integrity 45
Intuition 47
Loyalty 49
Open-mindedness 51
Optimism 53
Passion 55
Patience 57
Perseverance 59
Proactivity 61
Rationality 63
Responsibility 65
Self-awareness 67
Self-confidence 69
Self-development 71
Self-discipline 73
Self-esteem 75
Service 77
Thoroughness 79
Tolerance 81
Trust 83
Vision 85
The Authors 87
ProStar Coach 88

What You Should Know about
Being Strong as a Leader
Strong for Leadership is a book about the personal strengths you need when
striving to achieve a team goal.
This isn‘t a how-to book. Rather, it‘s a collection of insights, encouragements,
and inspirational quotes. Each of the 40 chapters focuses on a special area of
personal strength and includes ten of the most profound quotes on the topic.
The authors, Denny Coates and Meredith Bell, have a combined total of 80 years
of leadership experience. In addition, they‘ve been teaching, writing and creating
systems to develop leaders since 1987.
What is leadership? It‘s what you do to get a group of people to consistently
contribute their best effort while cooperating to achieve the group‘s goals.
That‘s not an easy thing to do. It‘s not easy to get people to give all they have to
give. The main reason is that to keep their jobs, they don‘t have to. All employees
have to do is what‘s required—what you tell them to do. Your challenge is that
you can‘t demand or require the things that matter most—extra effort, creativity,
courage, patience, concern for people, teamwork, etc.
So why do some people often work at such a high level of performance? The
answer is simple:
 They can. They have the know-how.
 They want to. They have the need and desire.
 They‘re empowered. They have what they need.
 They have personal strength. They do the hard things in order to prevail in
spite of adversity.
To lead effectively, you need to do these four things well:
 Develop your people into stronger employees.
 Inspire them, touch their hearts.

 Find ways to support them with what they need: funding, people, facilities,
supplies, equipment, systems, authority, boundaries, guidance,
information, etc.
 Encourage team members to take heart and do the hard things.
You also need to develop these same four factors in yourself. This self-
development will focus on two areas--leadership skills and the personal strengths
of leaders, which are two different things.
The leadership skills you use to lead are people skills, because they involve
interacting with people. These skills include problem solving, conflict resolution,
listening, giving feedback, receiving feedback, encouraging, and many more.
Skills involve best practices. They typically involve a series of steps, the most
effective way of performing a skill.
Personal strengths, on the other hand, are behavior patterns that help you do the
hard things when in tough situations. Unlike leadership skills, personal strengths
don‘t involve a specific way of doing things. The way you exercise composure,
for example, will depend on the particular high-stress situation you find yourself
in.
Examples of personal strengths are Focus, Perseverance, Composure,
Awareness, Rationality, Gratitude, and Creativity. The chapters in this book deal
with the 40 personal strengths that leaders and other high-performers need most
to deal with the obstacles, mistakes, problems and adversity that typically make
goal achievement so challenging.
You aren‘t born with personal strengths. You begin developing these behavior
patterns while growing up. And you continue to get stronger as you use them
throughout adult life to cope with the challenges of work and life.
Or not.
If you want to strengthen a behavior pattern, you have to use it. Consistent
repetition of a pattern stimulates the neurons involved in the behavior to connect
together into a neural pathway over time. Once the network is established, the
behavior pattern is a life habit—a comfortable, natural way of reacting. It‘s a part
of who you are, the way you typically deal with challenging situations.

When it comes to personal strength, everyone is different. Not everyone has had
the same life challenges. Not everyone decided to use (or not use) the same
strengths when dealing with those challenges. So everyone has a different
mixture of strengths and weaknesses.
This also means that you can grow stronger as a person throughout your entire
life. Use courage more often and courage becomes easier for you. Use optimism
more consistently and it becomes the way you approach the challenges of life.
The behavior patterns get stronger. You get stronger as a leader.
As a leader, you‘ll want to make the best use of your strengths—and to work on
improving the weaker areas.
And that‘s the ultimate usefulness of this book—to help you think more clearly
about your own personal strengths, to help you understand these strengths
better. It will inspire you to apply them in your work and life, thereby making the
behavior patterns stronger. By consciously trying to do the hard things, you can
grow stronger as a leader.
You‘ll learn the art and craft of leadership best from experience in the real world
of work. We suggest you focus on a single aspect of leadership that interests
you. Maybe it‘s an area in which you‘d like more success. Read and think about
the encouragement and what wise people have said about this aspect of
leadership. Then make a plan to use this strength in a specific situation.
Afterwards, reflect on what happened, why it happened, the consequences and
what you learned from the experience.
Later, you may want to learn more about ProStar Coach, a kind of online virtual
gym with virtual coaching for managers to exercise the people skills and personal
strengths involved in leadership. It has many innovative resources—a great place
for a leader to ―work out.‖ You‘ll find more information about ProStar Coach on
the last page of this book and on this website: http://www.prostarcoach.com/.
Enjoy!

ACCEPTANCE
Face the facts this time, and the next time will be easier.



As a leader, often you‘ll be the one to make a
decision. Ultimately, what you do will have
consequences, and they‘ll be your responsibility.
Would you want to move forward based on bad
information? On faulty analysis? On self-deception?
Of course not. You want to deal with your situation
based on the facts. But sometimes reality isn‘t what
you expected, what you wanted. Sometimes it‘s
hard to accept the truth of things.
When circumstances deal you unexpected blows, it‘s easy to get upset and say,
―Why me? What did I do to deserve this?‖ You might be tempted to deny the
reality of your challenge because it seems too hard to face. Or you could get
angry at the unfairness of it and lash out at others in frustration.
But that‘s the way life is. Bad things can happen that are beyond your control. In
those moments, you have a choice. You can accept the situation for what it is
and figure out how to deal with it.
Or you can refuse to believe it.
When this kind of thing happens to you, move to a place of acceptance as
quickly as you can. That doesn‘t mean you have to like it. It means that you
acknowledge what‘s really happening.
Taking this approach will help you calm down. Instead of fighting the problem,
you‘ll think more clearly about solutions. You‘ll come up with ways to get through
it successfully. And what initially seemed terrible can actually lead you to a better
place than you imagined.

―The successful people of this world take life as it comes. They just go out and
deal with the world as it is.‖ - Ben Stein, American author (1947- )
―I accept reality and dare not question it.‖ - Walt Whitman, American poet (1819-
1892)
―It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion,
however satisfying and reassuring.‖ - Carl Sagan, American astronomer (1934-
1996)
―Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and
hurry off as if nothing happened.‖ - Winston Churchill, British prime minister
(1874-1965)
―People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction.‖ -
James Baldwin, American novelist (1924-1987)
―Realists do not fear the results of their study.‖ - Feodor Dostoyevsky, Russian
novelist (1821-1881)
―Take things as they are.‖ - Bruce Lee, Chinese actor (1940-1973)
―Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.‖ -
Lin Yutang, Chinese author (1895-1976)
―Accepting does not necessarily mean 'liking,' 'enjoying,' or 'condoning.' I can
accept what is—and be determined to evolve from there. It is not acceptance but
denial that leaves me stuck.‖ - Nathaniel Branden, American psychologist
(1930- )
―Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we
deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end.‖ - Henry Miller,
American novelist (1891-1980)


Take reality by the hand, and she will guide you.

ACCOUNTABILITY
Do or not do. Either way, accountability will knock on your door.



A leader takes responsibility, which means accepting the role to take action and
follow through. But when bad things happen, as they eventually do, if you had
something to do with it, it‘s natural to want to shift the blame to someone else.
The problem is, deep down you know you were responsible for what happened.
Trying to deny your role only leads to diminished self-respect and self-esteem.
And people eventually will find out, if they don‘t already know, so you risk losing
their respect, too.
The smart thing is to recognize and own up to the
part you played in the way things turned out. The
faster you admit that something is your fault, the
quicker others will recognize your strength, get over
it and move on.
It‘s worth doing the right thing, even though it may
be hard at first. Because when you apologize and
make amends, three good things happen. First,
you‘ll respect yourself more. Also, people will give
you respect when they see you‘re strong enough to
own up to your mistakes. Finally, accepting
accountability helps you to move forward much
more quickly. Instead of finger-pointing, you can get
people involved in solutions.
You face the decision about whether or not to be accountable every day,
because that‘s how life is. So remember that you already have within you
everything you need to take responsibility for your actions.

―A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is
but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.‖ -
Jonathan Swift, British essayist (1667-1745)
―In a marriage, an organization, or a culture, only to the extent that people are
willing to hold themselves accountable can we have relationships, enterprises, or
a world that works.‖ - Nathaniel Branden, American psychologist (1930- )
―We are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the
consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.‖ -
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, American author (1926-2004)
―Almost all our faults are more pardonable than the methods we resort to to hide
them.‖ - François Duc de La Rochefoucauld, French author (1613-1680)
―You can do anything in this world if you are prepared to take the consequences.‖
- W. Somerset Maugham, British novelist (1874-1965)
―It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are
accountable.‖ - Jean Baptiste Molière, French playwright (1622-1673)
―The sower may mistake and sow his peas crookedly: the peas make no mistake,
but come up and show his line.‖ - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American philosopher
(1803-1882)
―I am responsible for me and must oversee with great sensitivity the impact of
what I say or do on others.‖ - Barbara Jordan, American politician (1936-1996)
―He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.‖ -
Benjamin Franklin, American scientist (1706-1790)
―A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit.‖ - John Wooden, American
college basketball coach (1910-2010)


Own up to your actions, and you’ll stand tall.

AWARENESS
Step into the world, and you’ll be where the action is.



A leader needs to know what‘s going on. Not just the myriad of events that
happen in the workplace, but also the attitudes and energy of the people from
whom you want their best effort.
It takes concentration to really be aware of things. You can be around them so
much that you take them for granted and glance past them. When you‘re busy
thinking about the past, solving problems and planning for the future—all of
which are necessary—what‘s happening right in front of you might not register in
your consciousness. Important facts could go unnoticed. Your mind might be
somewhere else, and the moment could pass without your fully perceiving things.
The solution is to be in the moment. Not all the time, but frequently throughout
the day. Slow down, stop and open your eyes to whatever presents itself at the
moment. That way, you‘ll see things you might otherwise ignore. Like the sights
and sounds of the workplace at the time. Or a comment from a customer. Or the
posture and facial expression of the
person sitting in front of you. If you‘re
not fully present, you‘ll miss
something important.
Make the effort to pay attention to the
details. When you do, you‘ll see that
each moment is a unique opportunity
to enrich your store of information.

―Normally, we do not so much look at things as overlook them.‖ - Alan Watts,
American philosopher (1915-1973)
―Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected.‖ - Sophocles,
Greek playwright (B.C. 496-406)
―Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.‖ - Jose Ortega
y Gasset, Spanish philosopher (1883-1955)
―You can observe a lot just by watching.‖ - Yogi Berra, American professional
baseball player (1925- )
―The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.‖ -
Thomas Carlyle, British essayist (1795-1881)
―What we see depends mainly on what we look for.‖ - John Lubbock, British
statesman (1834-1913)
―The obscure we eventually see. The completely obvious, it seems, takes
longer.‖ - Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (1908-1965)
―I learned more about economics from one South Dakota dust storm than I did in
all my years in college.‖ - Hubert Humphrey, American vice president (1911-
1978)
―The true art of memory is the art of attention.‖ - Samuel Johnson, British
essayist (1709-1784)
―Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of attention.‖ -
Jim Rohn, American author (1930-2009)


Pay attention, and you’ll find what you’re looking for.

COMMITMENT
Put it all on the line, and you’ll be amazed at what you accomplish.



Leaders are inevitably asked to take on tough challenges. Your willingness to
make commitments and keep them will prove your strength as a leader. And your
ability to get the same kind of commitment from a group of people will make the
difference between success and failure.
It‘s possible to jump into something without fully understanding the resolve and
dedication required to be successful, whether it‘s pursuing a degree, starting a
new job, getting married, or even joining a weight loss program. You may not
anticipate the rough spots. Or you may not have thought it through, leaving you
with an unrealistic view of what to expect.
The solution is to get involved with your eyes
open. Find out what a goal will require of you.
Recognize that you may have to give up time,
effort, freedom and other resources along the
way. Then decide if you want to make that
kind of commitment.
Anytime you undertake a worthy goal,
chances are it will be rough going—
roadblocks, conflicts and even criticism. At such times you may wonder if it‘s
worth sticking with what you said you‘d do.
Just remember, if you made a realistic assessment before making a commitment,
you can follow through. You can do the hard things. Once you resolve to achieve
your dream and dedicate yourself to making it happen, don‘t let anyone or
anything prevent you from bringing it into reality.

―Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can
be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.‖ - Albert
Einstein, American physicist (1879-1955)
―Honor your commitments with integrity.‖ - Les Brown, American author (1945- )
―There's always a way - if you're committed.‖ - Anthony Robbins, American
author (1960- )
―If you do not make a total commitment to whatever you are doing, then you start
looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking.‖ - Lou Holtz, American
college football coach (1937- )
―I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion
to the things you want to see happen.‖ - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect
(1869-1959)
―There's no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There is
only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.‖ - Wayne Dyer, American author
(1940- )
―The commitments we make to ourselves and to others, and our integrity to those
commitments, is the essence and clearest manifestation of our proactivity.‖ -
Stephen Covey, American author (1932- )
―Whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do it well;
whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to it completely.‖ -
Charles Dickens, British novelist (1812-1879)
―There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either in or out.
There's no such thing as a life in-between.‖ - Pat Riley, American professional
basketball coach (1945- )
―Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
ineffectiveness.‖ - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet (1749-1832)


Go to the point of no return, and your commitment will take you all
the way.

COMPASSION
Give the gift of kindness, and people will never stop paying you back.



Sensitivity and kindness go a long way to building strong relationships. For a
leader, that means building relationships with suppliers, customers, team
members and others in the organization. A leader who is all business and treats
people in an impersonal, calculated way won‘t inspire much cooperation or
commitment from others.
It‘s hard to consider other people‘s feelings and needs when you‘re having your
own problems. Disappointment, pain and loss have a way of focusing your mind
on your own situation. It causes you to think about what you need from others,
not what they need from you.
If you want people to be there for you,
you need to be there for them. The
question is, what does the other person
need?
For starters, you can appreciate what
someone else is going through and be
ready with consideration and
encouragement. You can make it a
habit to reflect on how your words and
actions impact on those around you. It doesn‘t take much to offer a kind word or
a thoughtful gesture. Your relationships will grow stronger as you show that you
care about the people around you.

―Kindness begets kindness.‖ - Sophocles, Greek playwright (B.C. 496-406)
―It's odd that you can get so anesthetized by your own pain or your own problem
that you don't quite fully share the hell of someone close to you.‖ - Lady Bird
Johnson, American first lady (1912-2006)
―How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the
weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.‖ -
George Washington Carver, American scientist (1864-1943)
―The compliment that helps us on our way is not the one that is shut up in the
mind, but the one that is spoken out.‖ - Mark Twain, American novelist (1835-
1910)
―Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.‖ -
Mother Teresa, Indian humanitarian (1910-1997)
―To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.‖ - Eleanor
Roosevelt, American diplomat (1884-1962)
―I will smile at friend and foe alike and make every effort to find, in him or her, a
quality to praise, now that I realize the deepest yearning of human nature is the
craving to be appreciated.‖ - Og Mandino, American author (1923-1996)
―Anyone too busy to say thank you will get fewer and fewer chances to say it.‖ -
Harvey Mackay, American author (1933- )
―If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it . . . write it in the sand near the
water's edge.‖ - Napoleon Hill, American author (1883-1970)
―You can‘t shake hands with a clenched fist.‖ - Indira Gandhi, Indian prime
minister (1917-1984)






Show genuine interest in others, and they’ll show interest in you.

COMPOSURE
Stay cool under fire, and people will want you to lead them.



One of the realities of leadership is that things won‘t always go your way. Bad
things will happen. People won‘t always do what you expect them to do. They‘ll
let you down, create problems, or even work against you.
These unwanted events will frustrate you. They‘ll make
you angry. You might feel shock, frustration, anger, or
disappointment. It would be easy to give in to these
emotions. At times like that, it‘s hard to keep your cool.
But if you go with your emotions, if you act on them, it
will only make things worse.
Lashing out can hurt people. You can do real damage to
relationships. If you fail to express your anger in
appropriate ways, you‘ll pay a price. Even if the victims
of your rage don‘t retaliate in anger, they‘ll conclude you‘re insensitive and
untrustworthy.
Just remind yourself that you wouldn‘t deliberately harm someone, so you don‘t
want to do it accidentally by losing your temper. The key is to explain how you
feel and why, after you‘ve calmed down. This will help you correct the situation
that caused your frustration in the first place.
It‘s hard to stay calm when you‘re really upset or angry. It‘s OK to have these
feelings. Just remember to be strong so you can think clearly and control your
emotions. Take a deep breath, calm down, and give the issue some thought.
Consider what makes sense – at that moment and for the long-term.

―If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate
something about your size?‖ - Sidney J. Harris, American journalist (1917- 1986)
―Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.‖ - Bill Russell,
American professional basketball player (1934- )
―In adversity remember to keep an even mind.‖ - Horace, Roman poet (B.C. 65-
8)
―Keep cool and you command everybody.‖ - Louis de Saint-Just, French
politician (1767-1794)
―People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.‖ - Will Rogers, American
actor (1879-1935)
―If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you‘ll die a lot of times.‖ -
Dean Smith, American college basketball coach (1931- )
―Good judgment, common sense, and reason all fly out the window when
emotions kick down your door.‖ - John Wooden, American college basketball
coach (1910-2010)
―The little reed, bending to the force of the wind, soon stood upright again when
the storm had passed over.‖ - Aesop, Greek fabulist (B.C. 620-560)
―When anger rises, think of the consequences.‖ - Confucius, Chinese philosopher
(B.C.551-479)
―Anyone can steer a ship when the sea is calm.‖ - Harvey Mackay, American
author (1933- )


Think before you say, think before you do—and you’ll have control
over what happens next.

COOPERATION
Add your hands to the hands of others, and you’ll move the big rock.



What do effective leaders do? They develop,
inspire, support and encourage others to
contribute their best work while working
together to achieve an important goal.
A key element is ―working together,‖ meaning a
high level of coordination and mutual support
as your group goes about its business.
Teamwork is the magic that makes things happen, but teamwork is impossible
without your leadership.
That‘s because it‘s not easy for people to work together. For one thing,
everyone‘s different. Half the time, you don‘t know what people are thinking or
why they do what they do. And because everyone is unique, miscommunication
and personality clashes can happen. On top of that, nobody‘s perfect. People
make mistakes all the time. It‘s a real challenge to build enough trust to work
cooperatively with just one other person, much less a group of people.
But when people are able to coordinate their efforts and work together
successfully, a synergy forms that‘s greater than the sum of the individual efforts
of each person. You can achieve amazing results when everyone rallies around
a common goal. Because, even though communication won‘t always be easy
and there will be conflicts along the way, an exciting vision will help you resolve
their differences.
Communicate the vision, make sure people understand their roles, contribute
your own best effort, and encourage them to help each other. Understand what
motivates them, touch their hearts, empower them and remove whatever gets in
their way.

―If you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of
themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win
championships.‖ - Michael Jordan, American professional basketball player
(1963- )
―Everyone carries with them at least one piece to someone else's puzzle.‖ -
Lawrence Kushner, American author (1943- )
―The perfect human being is all human beings put together, it is a collective, it is
all of us together that make perfection.‖ - Socrates, Greek philosopher (B.C. 469-
399)
―I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.‖ - Woodrow Wilson,
American president (1856-1924)
―It is evident that many great and useful objects can be attained in this world only
by cooperation.‖ - Thomas Babington Macauley, British historian (1800-1859)
―You can't get your job done unless you also have the confidence that the other
guys are going to get their jobs done, too. Without them, I'm nothing.‖ - Johnny
Unitas, American professional football player (1933-2002)
―I never got far until I stopped imagining I had to do everything myself.‖ - Frank
W. Woolworth, American business leader (1852-1919)
―If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive.‖ - Dale Carnegie,
American author (1888-1955)
―We win or we lose together.‖ - Mike Krzyzewski, American college basketball
coach (1947- )
―Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together
is success.‖ - Henry Ford, American business leader (1863-1947)


Use your candle to light other candles, and you’ll create a bright
light.

COURAGE
Look past fear, and you’ll see where the path leads.


If you‘re in charge of people, at some point you‘ll want them to do things better.
That could mean doing things differently, taking them down strange new paths.
To solve a problem, you may have to ask them to do something difficult,
something they‘ve never done before. To do what‘s right, you may have to risk
the criticism of others.
Venturing into unknown territory can seem scary. You‘re
not sure what you might encounter! It‘s tempting to stick
with what‘s familiar and comfortable. That way, you‘re
less likely to make mistakes. Maybe you believe it‘s
better not to take risks when the outcome is uncertain.
But the truth is, the only way to discover what‘s possible
is to try bold things. If you don‘t, you‘ll never know
whether you could have done more. Staying with the
tried and true may feel safe, but you risk achieving far
less than what you‘re really capable of.
You don‘t have to be a hero to take a risk. Ordinary people achieve extraordinary
things every day. They experience concerns and fears, just as you do. But they
take action anyway. And you can, too. You can have fear without being
paralyzed by it. All you have to do is take the first step.
Usually you have a lot more to gain than you stand to lose. You can trust your
abilities and charge ahead with confidence. Just go for it!

―Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would
carry us through them.‖ - Brendan Francis Behan, Irish author (1923-1964)
―Courage is a special kind of knowledge: the knowledge of how to fear what
ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.‖ - David Ben-
Gurion, Israeli prime minister (1886-1973)
―Fortune favors the bold.‖ - Virgil, Roman poet (B.C. 70-19)
―What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?‖ - Vincent Van
Gogh, Dutch painter (1853-90)
―It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not
dare that they are difficult.‖ - Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Roman playwright (B.C 4-
A.D. 65)
―What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?‖ - Robert Schuller,
American clergyman (1926- )
―You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you
meet it with courage and with the best you have to give.‖ - Eleanor Roosevelt,
American diplomat (1884-1962)
―Too much caution is bad for you. By avoiding things you fear, you may let
yourself in for unhappy consequences. It is usually wiser to stand up to a scary-
seeming experience and walk right into it, risking the bruises as hard knocks.
You are likely to find it is not as tough as you had thought. Or you may find it
plenty tough, but also discover you have what it takes to handle it.‖ - Norman
Vincent Peale, American author (1898-1993)
―Courage is doing what you‘re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless
you‘re scared.‖ - Eddie Rickenbacker, American aviator (1890-1973)
―Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power
and magic in it.‖ - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet (1749-1832)


Leap the great leap, and you’ll cross the chasm.

CREATIVITY
Step outside the box, and behold 99.9% of what’s possible.


To many managers, following their lead means getting people to do what they tell
them to do.
But what if the established way of doing things isn‘t working very well? You may
need to come up with something new. The ideas could come from your own
imagination, or you could ask your team members to think creatively.
Each one of us has the ability to come up with creative solutions. It‘s just that
most of us don‘t tap into this potential as often as we could. Why is that?
For one thing, it‘s easy to get stuck in a specific way of thinking and rely on
what‘s worked for you in the past. After all, it‘s familiar. You don‘t have to change
your patterns or learn something new. Besides, if you experiment with something
different, there‘s a chance you‘ll make mistakes and end up with nothing useful to
show for it. Along the way, you could attract criticism and questions from others.
So it‘s perfectly natural to feel uncomfortable when you think about moving into
uncharted territory.
If you‘re facing a challenge and need a new solution, a good first step is to relax
and take time to picture new possibilities. When you allow yourself the freedom
to imagine something better, you‘ll be surprised at the
ideas that come to you. Then, get input from people
who don‘t think like you do, and read magazines or
books outside your field. You‘ll discover different
perspectives that stimulate your thinking and help
you come up with solutions you wouldn‘t have
developed otherwise.
Creativity takes different forms. You have the ability
to bring fresh ideas to almost anything you do.

―The future is not some place we are going to but one we are creating. The paths
are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the
maker and the destination.‖ - John Schaar, American scholar (1928- )
―When someone tells me there is only one way to do things, it always lights a fire
under my butt.‖ - Picabo Street, American Olympic skier (1971- )
―You see things; and you say, ‗Why?‘ But I dream things that never were; and I
say, ‗Why not?‘‖ - George Bernard Shaw, British playwright (1856-1950)
―What is now proved was once only imagined.‖ - William Blake, British poet
(1757-1827)
―The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of them.‖ - Linus Pauling,
American chemist (1901-1994)
―Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual
way.‖ - William James, American psychologist (1842-1910)
―What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.‖ - Napoleon
Hill, American author (1883-1970)
―Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world.‖ - Albert Einstein, American physicist (1879-
1955)
―If there's a way to do it better . . . find it.‖ - Thomas Edison, American inventor
(1847-1931)
―Live out of your imagination, not your history.‖ - Stephen Covey, American
author (1932- )



Off the well-trodden path, you’ll discover the way to something
better.

DECISIVENESS
Consider the consequences, for they will surely fall like dominoes.



People may help gather information. They
may share ideas. They may even offer
opinions. But most of the time the leader
makes the decision. The question is, did the
leader decide at the right moment, while
there‘s time to have maximum impact?
Decisions are tricky, especially important
ones. You may have several options, and
each one could have unique advantages
and disadvantages. What to do isn‘t always clear. You can‘t know in advance
whether your decision will work out.
If you don‘t get it right, there may be bad consequences. People who matter to
you might criticize your decision. And the wrong choice could cost you money.
So if the stakes are high, you may be reluctant to move forward.
When you‘re not sure, do these three things. First, get the facts. Next, compare
your options carefully. Consider the costs and the consequences. Finally, do a
gut-check. Does the option you favor feel right?
Remember, there‘s magic in action. While it‘s true that you should do your
homework and evaluate your options, you need to beware the paralysis of
analysis. If you sit on the fence too long, you could miss big opportunities. So
make your call at the right time, and then focus on getting the best possible
results.
Keep in mind that a wrong choice isn‘t the end of the world. You can always learn
as you go and consider new options, no matter what happens.

―When a thing is done, it's done. Don't look back. Look forward to your next
objective.‖ - George C. Marshall, American general (1880-1959)
―Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no
one could find fault with it.‖ - John Henry Newman, British clergyman (1801-
1890)
―If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we
shall never begin.‖ - Ivan Turgenev, Russian novelist (1818-1883)
―Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.‖ - Bertrand
Russell, British philosopher (1872-1970)
―A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week.‖ -
George S. Patton, American general (1885-1945)
―Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must be first overcome.‖
- Samuel Johnson, British essayist (1709-1784)
―Always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow
it, you must not stay with it under any conditions.‖ - Carlos Castaneda, American
author (1926-1998)
―Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.‖
- Napoleon Bonaparte, French emperor (1769-1821)
―You can tell any story 20 different ways. The trick is to pick one and go with it.‖ -
Clint Eastwood, American movie director and actor (1930- )
―Indecision is the thief of opportunity.‖ - Jim Rohn, American author (1930-2009)


Know when to think and when to act, and success will arrive just in
time.

EFFORT
The harder you work, the luckier you’ll get.



It‘s amazing what you can get done when you push yourself to your limits. And
that‘s exactly what a leader often has to do. Sometimes success depends on
your willingness to move faster, devote more personal energy and work longer
hours—and to inspire the same level of effort from your team members.
Yet, when challenges slow your progress, it‘s hard to remember that something
good might come from all your hard work. You might wonder whether the results
you hope for are worth the physical aches and pains or the mental fatigue that
you‘re experiencing along the way. It‘s natural to wish you were able to do
something that didn‘t drain so much of your personal energy.
At times like this, remind yourself that while hard work might exhaust you, in the
long run it‘s how you get what you want.
Almost always, a worthwhile goal requires
tremendous effort and commitment. If your goal
means that much to you, and if you‘re willing to do
the tough stuff and not give up, you have an excellent
chance of achieving it. The key is to have a goal you
really care about so you give it your best effort even
when you're tired.
Remember, you already have within you everything
you need to give the required effort. You can
concentrate on the challenge before you, no matter
how difficult, and give it your best.

―Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven't
planted.‖ - David Bly, American politician (1952- )
―Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the
successful one is a lot of hard work.‖ - Stephen King, American novelist (1947- )
―Nothing will work unless you do.‖ - John Wooden, American college basketball
coach (1910-2010)
―You just don't luck into things. You build them step by step, whether it's
friendships or opportunities.‖ - Barbara Bush, American first lady (1925- )
―Without labor nothing prospers.‖ - Sophocles, Greek playwright (B.C. 496-406)
―Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.‖ - Arnold
Palmer, American professional golfer (1929- )
―Fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds‘ worth of distance run.‖ - Rudyard
Kipling, British novelist (1865-1936)
―The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every
day.‖ - Wayne Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player (1961- )
―Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.‖ -
Mohandas Gandhi, Indian religious leader (1869-1948)
―The world belongs to the energetic.‖ - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American
philosopher (1803-1882)




With more lightning and less thunder, you’ll blow through the hard
things.

EMPOWERMENT
Be the flame, and everything around you will heat up.



Whether you‘re busy managing others, serving in a volunteer organization, or
raising children, you almost always need to work through people in order to get
things done. As a leader, it‘s your role to share know-how, inspire people to give
their best, give them what they need and encourage them to make a meaningful
contribution.
But that‘s easier said than done. Maybe you‘re reluctant to give up control
because someone may not do the task as well as you could. And sometimes it‘s
hard to communicate what you want. Not everyone is like you. If you don‘t
understand what motivates them, you won‘t get their best effort.
Empowering people means being clear about the goal and helping others believe
they can do what‘s required. It means communicating expectations, sharing
authority and outlining boundaries. It also means arranging for needed
resources, such as information, technology, supplies, equipment, transportation,
personnel, and time. All these things
empower.
If you consider what people need to
do their best work, you‘ll see that
you have the ability to positively
influence their performance. As you
remove the barriers that hold them
back, you‘ll share in the satisfaction
of their achievements.

―Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to
change things for the better.‖ - Harry Truman, American president (1884-1972)
―Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their
personnel. If people believe in themselves, it‘s amazing what they can
accomplish.‖ - Sam Walton, American business leader (1918-1998)
―The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders—people who not only have
an enormous amount of energy but who can energize those whom they lead.‖ -
Jack Welch, American business leader (1935- )
―The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank
you. In between, the leader is a servant.‖ - Max DePree, American business
leader (1924- )
―If anything goes bad, then I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If
anything goes real good, then you did it.‖ - Paul "Bear" Bryant, American college
football coach (1913-1983)
―Almost everything in leadership comes back to relationships.‖ - Mike
Krzyzewski, American college basketball coach (1947- )
―A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He
inspires the power and energy to get it done.‖ - Ralph Lauren, American business
leader (1939- )
―Never give an order that can't be obeyed.‖ - Douglas Macarthur, American
general (1880-1964)
―I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than any other ability under the
sun.‖ - John D. Rockefeller, American business leader (1839-1937)
―There is no more powerful leadership tool than your own personal example.‖ -
John Wooden, American college basketball coach (1910-2010)





Be a servant to the team, and they will serve the mission.

EXCELLENCE
Accept only the best, and most of the time you’ll get it.



To get the best results from a group of people, a leader has to care about
excellence. You have to show the way and help people understand what‘s
possible.
To deliver the highest quality results, a person has to set high standards and live
up to them. Sometimes, ―good enough‖ can seem appealing. Why make the
extra effort when you‘re not sure if anyone cares? The rewards for high-quality
work aren‘t always obvious, and
there‘s no guarantee that you‘ll be
better off. So it‘s tempting to take the
easy way out and just do the
minimum.
But deep down, people know there are
big payoffs for excellence. You can
see the results of high quality, and
doing your best feels better than just
getting by. When you take pride in what you do, it shows and people will notice.
You stand out because mediocre performance is much more common, so you‘ll
appreciate the recognition you get because of your efforts. And you know what
else? When you‘re doing something as well as you can, your life is more
meaningful. You enjoy it more.
Remember, you already have within you everything you need to set high
standards and encourage people to work towards them. And when you do, your
team will discover the exceptional rewards of producing something exceptional.

―A professional is one who does his best work when he feels the least like
working.‖ - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (1869-1959)
―My philosophy is that not only are you responsible for your life, but doing the
best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.‖ - Oprah
Winfrey, American actress (1954- )
―Don't be afraid to give up the good for the great.‖ - Kenny Rogers, American
singer (1938- )
―You block and tackle better than the team you‘re playing, you win.‖ - Vince
Lombardi, American professional football coach (1913-1970)
―Do not waste a minute -- not a second -- in trying to demonstrate to others the
merits of your performance. If your work does not vindicate itself, you cannot
vindicate it.‖ - Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American clergyman (1823-1911)
―Hold yourself responsible to a higher standard than anyone else expects of you.
Never excuse yourself." - Henry Ward Beecher, American author (1813-1887)
―When a thing is thoroughly well done it often has the air of being a miracle.‖ -
Arnold Bennett, British author (1867-1931)
―If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn‘t
seem wonderful at all.‖ - Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian artist (1475-1564)
―If you do the best you can, you will find, nine times out of ten, that you have
done as well as or better than anyone else.‖ - William Feather, American author
(1889-1981)
―Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.‖ - George Halas, American
professional football coach (1895-1983)






Do ordinary things in an extraordinary way, and people will wonder
how you did it.

FAIRNESS
Create a level playing field, and winners will show up to play.



An effective leader doesn‘t ―play favorites,‖ because people who feel they are
being treated unfairly will almost always withhold their best efforts.
You know what it feels like when someone
doesn‘t treat you fairly. Maybe a person
interrupts you at a meeting, or doesn‘t consult
you about an important decision, or ignores you
at a social event. You don‘t like it when you
aren‘t shown the respect you deserve.
Others deserve that same respect, for exactly
the same reasons. Every person has value.
Regardless of their social status, education or
background, everyone is worthy of courtesy and
consideration.
But that can be challenging when people‘s
beliefs, ideas or even their appearance are
different from yours. When you‘re tempted to
discount what others are saying because of these differences, remind yourself to
stop judging and start listening with an open mind. Ask questions that will help
you understand their point of view. That way you can respond to their opinions in
a way that makes them feel valued. It‘s the fair thing to do, because you know
you want that kind of respect yourself.
You‘ll not only improve relationships when you take this approach, you‘ll get
beyond the superficial differences and come to appreciate the unique qualities of
other human beings.

―It is less important to redistribute wealth than it is to redistribute opportunity.‖ -
Arthur Vandenburg, American political leader (1898-1956)
―The best index to a person‘s character is (a) how he treats people who can‘t do
him any good, and (b) how he treats people who can‘t fight back.‖ - Abigail Van
Buren, American columnist (1918- )
―Think for yourself, and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so, too.‖ - Francois
Voltaire, French philosopher (1694-1778)
―Here‘s my golden rule for a tarnished age: Be fair with others, but then keep
after them until they‘re fair with you.‖ - Alan Alda, American actor (1936- )
―Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his or her neck
that says, ‗Make me feel important.‘ Not only will you succeed in sales, you will
succeed in life.‖ - Mary Kay Ash, American business leader (1918-2001)
―It is a terrible, an inexorable law that one cannot deny the humanity of another
without diminishing one‘s own: in the face of one‘s victim, one sees oneself.‖ -
James Baldwin, American novelist (1924-1987)
―Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.‖ - Jesus Christ, Jewish
founder of Christianity (0-31)
―Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.‖ - Martin Luther King, Jr.,
American civil rights leader (1929-1968)
―The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in
our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede
their efforts to obtain it.‖ - John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (1806-1873)
―Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him.‖ - Ralph
Waldo Emerson, American philosopher (1803-1882)






Play fair, and others will consider you a winner.

FLEXIBILITY
Hunker down in your comfort zone, and the world will pass you by.



It‘s not the leader‘s job to maintain the status quo. It‘s the leader‘s job to handle
issues and solve problems while making things happen and getting things done.
That means reacting to unforeseen situations and adapting to changing
conditions. This requires a lot of flexibility—the willingness to change course and
try new approaches.
But when you‘ve got a schedule and you‘re implementing it, it‘s natural to want to
stick with the plan you‘ve laid out. It can be unsettling to have to switch gears
mid-stream in response to some unexpected development.
The fact is, every day brings something unforeseen. Something gets cancelled.
Conflicts and problems arise. People change their minds. They want something
different. All this turmoil can make you feel disoriented, frustrated, and even
angry.
If you‘re really honest with yourself,
you‘ll realize that when you dig in your
heels and insist on keeping things the
way they are, it‘s because you feel
threatened. If you change now, it
might look like you were wrong, or it
could be seen as a sign of weakness.
But you waste a lot of energy fighting
to keep things the same. Instead of
resisting change, welcome it as an opportunity to be flexible and resilient. When
you deal successfully with new or unexpected situations, you strengthen your
ability and your confidence to handle whatever comes up.

―Leaders honor their core values, but they are flexible in how they execute them.‖
- Colin L. Powell, American secretary of state (1937- )
―It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.‖ - W. Edwards Deming,
―He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the
greatest innovator.‖ - Francis Bacon, British philosopher (1561-1626)
―They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.‖ -
Confucius, Chinese philosopher (B.C. 551-479)
―It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but
the one most responsive to change.‖ - Charles Darwin, British scientist (1809-
1882)
―You can never step into the same river; for new waters are always flowing on to
you.‖ - Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (Fl. c. B.C. 400)
―If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.‖ - Lao
Tzu, Chinese philosopher (Fl. B.C. 6th cent.)
―Adapt or perish, now as ever, is Nature‘s inexorable imperative.‖ - H. G. Wells,
British novelist (1866-1946)
―We must be willing to get rid of the life we‘ve planned, so as to have the life that
is waiting for us.‖ - Joseph Campbell, American anthropologist (1904-1987)
―Be clear about your goal but be flexible about the process of achieving it.‖ -
Brian Tracy, American author (1944- )









Be willing to bend, and the winds of life won't break you.

FOCUS
Keep your eye on the ball, and you’ll put yourself in scoring position.



Of all the resources a leader makes available to the group, time is the most
precious. You may have more of everything else, but you will always only have a
specific amount of time. And when it‘s gone, it‘s gone. Smart leaders focus. They
make sure people are spending blocks of time working on the highest priority
tasks.
When you have a lot on your plate, it‘s
tempting to try to do two or three tasks at the
same time. You only have so much time
each day, so it might seem like a good idea
to try and knock out several things at once.
But multi-tasking actually makes you less
productive. The human brain is designed to
focus on one thing at a time. So if you try to
handle multiple priorities simultaneously,
such as talking with someone on the phone while checking email, you don‘t give
your full attention to either activity, and you‘re not as effective.
The solution is to put a system in place that focuses your attention on one priority
at a time. Identify blocks of ―prime time‖ throughout the day, when you eliminate
all distractions. Then, before you wrap up at the end of the day, set up a
schedule for the next day, and assemble the materials you‘ll need to complete
each task.
If you structure your group‘s work this way, I promise that you‘ll get a lot more
done. And everyone will finish the day feeling good about what they‘ve
accomplished. Remember, you can get more done when you focus on one thing
at a time. Start with your highest priority task first, work on it without distraction,
and you‘ll be amazed at your results.

―Our grand business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do
what clearly lies at hand.‖ - Thomas Carlyle, British essayist (1795-1881)
―To do two things at once is to do neither.‖ - Publilius Syrus, Roman author (Fl.
B.C. 1st cent)
―To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult
achievement.‖ - Bertrand Russell, British philosopher (1872-1970)
―He that is everywhere is nowhere.‖ - Thomas Fuller, British clergyman (1608-
1661)
―Just say ‗No‘ to others and to yourself when you find you are being tempted to
deviate from your priorities.‖ - Chin-Ning Chu, American author (1947-2009)
―The secret of success is constancy of purpose.‖ - Benjamin Disraeli, British
statesman (1804-1881)
―No steam or gas ever drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever
turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is
focused, dedicated, disciplined.‖ - Henry Emerson Fosdick, American author
(1878-1969)
―Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all your energies on
a limited set of targets.‖ - Nido Qubein, American professional speaker (1948- )
―The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing.‖ - German Proverb
―The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.‖ - Bruce Lee,
Chinese actor (1940-1973)










Learn how to say “no,” and your “yes” will have greater impact.

GRATITUDE
Give thanks for the moment, and you’ll capture it forever.



When a team member gives an
outstanding effort, a strong leader
shows appreciation and says,
―Thank you.‖ Imagine how
someone would feel if you didn‘t.
The person might feel that you
don‘t value their hard work.
One of the greatest needs of
every human being is the desire
to feel valued. So why not express
your gratitude more often when it costs you nothing to say the words?
For one thing, you get busy. Because you move at a fast pace, you‘re occupied
with problems and you may not notice, much less comment on, the value
someone has added to the group effort.
But the truth is, the more positive feedback you give, the better you‘ll feel about
yourself. The simple act of expressing gratitude and appreciation adds to your
own satisfaction.
So don‘t wait. Notice the positive things your people are doing. Tell them how
much you appreciate it. It will inspire them to give their best more often.

―Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone.‖ - Gertrude Stein, American
―Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your
past misfortunes, of which all men have some.‖ - Charles Dickens, British
―It's not the years in your life that count, it‘s the life in your years.‖ - Abraham
Lincoln, American president (1809-1865)
―Each moment is precious and unrecoverable.‖ - Jon Kabat-Zinn, American
psychologist
―Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.‖ - Scottish Proverb
―Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.‖ -
Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman orator (B.C. 106-43)
―Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to
expect.‖ - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French philosopher (1712-1778)
―No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of
others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.‖ - Alfred
North Whitehead, British philosopher (1861-1947)
―The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.‖ - Dalai
Lama, Tibetan religious leader (1935- )
―There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.‖ -
Mother Teresa, Indian humanitarian (1910-1997)










Thank people for what they give, and they’ll gladly give more.

HONESTY
Shake hands with the truth, and she will make you stronger.



Honesty is essential to leadership.
People won‘t follow someone who
misrepresents the truth.
Telling the truth isn‘t always comfortable
or easy. To avoid personal
embarrassment, you may be tempted to
change the story or leave out certain
facts.
But if you misrepresent the truth or tell
only a portion of the truth, you‘re concealing information from people who may
need it. In the world of work, people need to know how things really are so they
can deal with issues and problems. If you cover something up because it‘s
embarrassing or damaging to you, you could be setting others up to fail. People
depend on you for accurate information.
The right thing to do is to be straightforward and take the heat. Besides, you can‘t
hide a lie forever. Almost always, the facts come to light. If people find out you
deceived them, they‘ll stop trusting you. A leader should never risk undermining
his leadership this way.
You have the strength to face the facts—all of them. Even if you ―look bad‖ for a
moment, it‘s better to give people what they need—the best possible information.
Tell the truth no matter how embarrassing, and people will respect you for it.

―One word of truth outweighs the whole world.‖ - Aleksander Solzhenitsyn,
Russian novelist (1918-2008 )
―Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the
important matters.‖ - Albert Einstein, American physicist (1879-1955)
―When in doubt, tell the truth.‖ - Mark Twain, American novelist (1835-1910)
―A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.‖ - Alfred Tennyson, British
poet (1809-1892)
―Truth is its own reward.‖ - Plato, Greek philosopher (B.C. 428-347)
―No man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.‖ - Abraham
Lincoln, American president (1809-1865)
―Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.‖ - Thomas Jefferson,
―Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others.‖ - Feodor
Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist (1821-1881)
―A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth.‖ - Aesop, Greek
fabulist (B.C. 620-560)
―The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold.‖ -
Aristotle, Greek philosopher (B.C. 384-322)













Make truth your foundation, and the house you build on it will last.

INITIATIVE
Take action, and you will feel its power.



A strong leader doesn‘t wait to be told what to do. She just does it. She takes
action when it matters most. She opens the door of opportunity and walks
through it.
You might think of something new or exciting and then talk yourself out of
actually following though. Fear of disapproval, criticism or rejection can cause
you to keep your ideas to yourself. Self-doubt can set in and undermine your
confidence.
That‘s because action is intimidating. You never know what roadblocks you‘ll
encounter once you get started. You could invest a lot of energy and effort, then
fail. It‘s hard to face people when you don‘t accomplish what you set out to do.
The reality is, nothing happens until you take action. Thought alone doesn‘t
produce results. Successful people will tell you that most of the things they try
don‘t work. But they don‘t let that stop them. They learn as they go and do other
things, knowing that eventually something they try will work. They get momentum
through action.
Your unique talents and abilities
will help you succeed—if you give
them a chance. Don‘t let the fear of
failure paralyze you. You‘ll be
amazed at what you can
accomplish once you get started.
Just get going. Remember, your
initial effort doesn‘t have to be
perfect. The actions you take will
teach you what you need to do
next.

―You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.‖ -
Rabindranath Tagore, Indian philosopher (1861-1941)
―If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.‖ - Milton Berle, American comedian
(1908-2002)
―The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple
as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something
about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur
is a doer, not a dreamer.‖ - Nolan Bushnell, American businessman (1943- )
―Opportunities multiply as they are seized.‖ - Sun Tzu, Chinese philosopher (Fl.
B.C. 500-320)
―The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is
breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and
then starting on the first one.‖ - Mark Twain, American novelist (1835-1910)
―Heaven never helps the men who will not act.‖ - Sophocles, Greek playwright
(B.C. 496-406)
―You will never win if you never begin.‖ - Robert Schuller, American clergyman
(1926- )
―Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.‖ - Theodore Roosevelt,
―The beginning is the most important part of the work.‖ - Plato, Greek philosopher
(B.C. 428-347)
―In life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they
know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.‖ - Anthony Robbins,
American author (1960- )






Build the door, and opportunity will knock.

INTEGRITY
Let your life do the talking, and people will believe the message.



People won‘t follow a leader they don‘t trust. They‘ll do what‘s required, but they
won‘t take risks, be creative or any of the hard things involved in a high level of
team performance. The way a leader earns trust is through integrity.
Doing the right thing requires a lot of inner strength, especially when no one is
looking. It‘s easy to act impulsively and not think through the consequences.
We‘ve all faced situations where we have to make ethical choices.
The harsh reality is that when you intentionally do something wrong, even when it
looks like you got away with it, somebody gets hurt. Relationships could be
permanently damaged if people find out. And even if no one else ever knows,
you know that what you did wasn‘t aligned with your values, and your conscience
will bother you. The incident could cause lasting damage to your self-esteem. But
when you do the right thing, you have no regrets, nothing to hide and nothing to
be ashamed of.
Knowing what‘s right isn‘t that difficult. The hard part is
doing what you‘ll say you‘ll do, whether it‘s fulfilling a
contract, paying back a debt, or even eating and
exercising according to your plan.
You have what it takes to be a person of integrity. When
you‘re faced with hard choices or conflicting alternatives,
just be honest with yourself. In almost every case, you‘ll
know in your heart the right thing to do.

―Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or who says it.‖ - Malcolm X, American
political leader (1925-1965)
―Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.‖ - Dalai Lama,
Tibetan religious leader (1935- )
―He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.‖ -
Henry David Thoreau, American philosopher (1817-1862)
―A promise made is a debt unpaid.‖ - Robert W. Service, Canadian author (1874-
1958)
―Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if
everyone is for it.‖ - William Penn, British colonizer (1644-1718)
―Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.‖ - Thomas
Jefferson, American president (1743-1826)
―You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.‖ - Oliver
Goldsmith, British poet (1730-1774)
―To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.‖ - Mohandas Gandhi,
Indian religious leader (1869-1948)
―What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say.‖ - Ralph Waldo
Emerson, American philosopher (1803-1882)
―No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor.‖ - Andrew Carnegie,
American business leader (1835-1919)











Walk the path of no regret, and you will never walk it alone.

INTUITION
Check your instincts, and reason will thank you.


Effective leaders are known by the decisions they make. They have good
judgment. The secret to good decision-making is to do your homework, analyze
your options, choose the best one, and check your gut-feelings. And do all this in
time to make a difference. If you have a bad feeling about something, even
though it looks good on paper, find out why. Your intuition may be telling you
something your conscious reasoning is not.
There are times when you just ―know‖
that something doesn‘t feel right. But
you might dismiss what your gut tells
you. After all, it‘s hard to explain a
factor that‘s not based on facts,
numbers or hard evidence. It‘s natural
to wonder if people will challenge
your conclusions.
When you have a strong hunch about
something, pay attention. Your brain may have considered factors you haven‘t in
your conscious reasoning. Your mind constantly evaluates the experiences and
life lessons you‘ve acquired over the years. Sometimes this process results in an
important insight—if you‘re ready to receive it.
For every serious decision, balance your hunches with thoughtful analysis to
avoid costly mistakes. Don‘t automatically discount what your instincts tell you.
And don‘t let the opinions of others sway you from doing what feels right. In the
end, you‘re the one who will live with the consequences. You‘ll choose wisely if
you listen to both the voice of reason and the voice of intuition.

―The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men
will begin to think like computers.‖ - Sidney J. Harris, American journalist (1917-
1986)
―To get anywhere, or even live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right,
over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer.‖ - Robert Heinlein,
American novelist (1907-1988)
―With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
we see into the life of things.‖ - William Wordsworth, British poet (1770-1850)
―A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination.‖ - Nelson
Mandela, South African president (1994-1999)
―If we listened to our intellect, we'd never have a love affair. We'd never have a
friendship. We'd never go into business, because we'd be cynical. Well, that's
nonsense. You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the
way down.‖ - Ray Bradbury, American novelist (1920- )
―It is the heart always that sees, before the head can see.‖ - Thomas Carlyle,
British essayist (1795-1881)
―You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.‖ - G.
K. Chesterton, British novelist (1874-1936)
―We know the truth, not only by the reason, but by the heart.‖ - Blaise Pascal,
French scientist (1623-1662)
―The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We
have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.‖ - Albert
Einstein, American physicist (1879-1955)
―Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.... Who looks
outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.‖ - C. G. Jung, Swiss psychiatrist
(1875-1961)




Listen to the still small voice, and it will reveal its secrets.

LOYALTY
Betray one friendship, and you will lose many.



A leader has a vital relationship with
the other members of the team.
These people will give their best
effort if they know, like and trust the
leader. They‘ll be loyal to the leader
and the team because the leader is
loyal to them.
You‘re loyal when you show how
important a person is by giving them
priority over other things. You don‘t do things at their expense.
When someone you care about is going through a difficult time, it can be a real
challenge to devote the energy and resources to truly support them. You‘ve
probably got your own problems to deal with, and you may not be sure what the
person needs from you.
In situations like this, you can make a conscious choice to be true to the
relationship. Whether it‘s family, friends or work associates, if you‘re genuinely
concerned about their welfare, you‘ll ―be there‖ for them and even go the extra
mile. You‘d want them to do the same for you.
There‘s an obvious benefit to others when you make them a high priority. The
benefit to you when you‘re loyal to a relationship is that they trust you.
You already know how to be loyal. Just remember what will happen if you aren‘t.
You want people to know they can count on you to come through for them even
in the toughest of circumstances.

―Ah friend, let us be true to one another!‖ - Matthew Arnold, British poet (1822-
1888)
―Fidelity purchased with money, money can destroy.‖ - Lucius Annaeus Seneca,
Roman playwright (B.C 4-A.D. 65)
―Words are easy, like the wind; faithful friends are hard to find.‖ - William
Shakespeare, British playwright (1564-1616)
―The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and to hold them in the
right scale of values.‖ - Norman Thomas, American socialist leader (1884-1968)
―A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.‖ - Walter
Winchell, American journalist (1897-1972)
―We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible
loyalty.‖ - G. K. Chesterton, British novelist (1874-1936)
―If you have one true friend, you have more than your share.‖ - Thomas Fuller,
British clergyman (1608-1661)
―I'll take fifty percent efficiency to get one hundred percent loyalty.‖ - Samuel
Goldwyn, American film producer (1882-1974)
―It takes more than a year to make a friend, but you can lose one in an hour.‖ -
Chinese Proverb
―I have underlying respect for the broad-shouldered family man and woman who
care more about their kids than themselves, and they are willing to make
sacrifices so that their children can succeed.‖ - Frank Borman, American
astronaut (1928- )








Be there for those you care about, and you’ll never be alone.

OPEN-MINDEDNESS
Open your mind, and new knowledge will come rushing in.



As a leader, if you think you know all the answers, you‘re in big trouble. The truth
is, each individual comes from a different background of learning, and they know
things you don‘t know. If you want to get smarter as you go and if you want your
decisions to be based on the best information and wisdom, ask the people
around you what they think. And keep an open mind.
It‘s not easy to accept another person‘s point of view, even if it‘s better than your
own. For one thing, you may not understand it at first. The person may not
express himself very well, and because it‘s a different perspective, you may find
it difficult to grasp. Besides, what you hear may contradict what you already
believe. If that belief means a lot to you, you may not want to hear something that
challenges it.
Learning is a life-long adventure, and we
learn from each other. If you want to
expand your knowledge, you need to be
willing to examine other people‘s
opinions. Even if you usually stay with
what you believe, every now and then
you‘ll discover a new point of view that‘s
more useful than the one you hold now.
You have astounding potential for growth, and you can expand your horizon as
far as you want. So instead of avoiding people who disagree with you, seek them
out. When they speak, don‘t give in to the impulse to argue. Learning isn‘t about
proving that you‘re right. It‘s about discovering something new. Listen carefully,
get clarification and ask for more information. You don‘t have to accept
everything you hear, but you can decide if it‘s worth considering.

―Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their
minds cannot change anything.‖ - George Bernard Shaw, British playwright
(1856-1950)
―In the choice between changing one‘s mind and proving there's no need to do
so, most people get busy on the proof.‖ - John Kenneth Galbraith, American
columnist (1908-2006)
―Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue - to the end that we
should hear and see more than we speak.‖ - Socrates, Greek philosopher (B.C.
469-399)
―It is never too late to give up our prejudices.‖ - Henry David Thoreau, American
―Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul.‖ -
Mark Twain, American novelist (1835-1910)
―We should not only use the brains we have, but all that we can borrow.‖ -
Woodrow Wilson, American president (1856-1924)
―When learning about life and people, make no more assumptions than are
absolutely necessary. Ask and observe.‖ - William of Occam, British philosopher
(1285-1349)
―Old paradigms die hard, even if they don‘t work.‖ - Karl Albrecht, American
author (1941- )
―From a worldly point of view, there is no mistake so great as that of always
being right.‖ - Samuel Butler, British novelist (1835-1902)
―We are complacently caught in our particular view of the world, which compels
us to feel and act as if we knew everything about the world.‖ - Carlos Castaneda,





The wiser you are, the more you’ll seek the wisdom of others.

OPTIMISM
Fly through the dark clouds, and you’ll see the blue skies of
possibility.



Bad things happen, usually when you least expect it. They happen at work. They
happen in your personal life. For a leader, the question is how resilient are you?
Does the blow cripple you, or do you get back up and make the most of what you
have? Team success depends on it.
Faced with adversity, it‘s easy to conclude that life‘s against you. The natural
tendency is to focus on your pain and the negatives, completely overlooking any
positive aspects of the situation. You can get discouraged and lose sight of your
options.
Your beliefs and attitudes dramatically affect what you do and what happens
next. When you‘re pessimistic, you anticipate and dwell on the worst-case
scenario. You create a movie in your mind of the result you don‘t want and play it
over and over. But focusing on your worst fears won‘t lead you to solutions.
Stopping this vicious cycle doesn‘t mean putting on rose-colored glasses and
pretending that everything is right with the world. It means recognizing that every
situation has both positives and negatives. With
optimism, you see both aspects, and you decide to
study the possibilities and opportunities instead of the
problems and limitations.
The attitude you bring to a situation strongly influences
its outcome. If you‘re convinced things will turn out
badly, you probably won‘t take steps to achieve the
best result. Open your mind to the positives as well as
the negatives, and your worldview will be more
complete. If you acknowledge what you have going for
you, you can use those resources to move forward.

―Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out.‖ -
John Wooden, American college basketball coach (1910-2010)
―Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.‖ -
Zig Ziglar, American author (1926- )
―Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.‖ - Dalai
Lama, Tibetan religious leader (1935- )
―Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand
well.‖ - Jack London, American novelist (1976-1916)
―Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor.‖ - H. Jackson
Brown, American author (1940- )
―Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and
disappointments.‖ - Joseph Addison, British essayist (1672-1719)
―A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.‖ - Francis Bacon, British
―He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but
rejoices for those which he has.‖ - Epictetus, Greek philosopher (50-138)
―Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with
what there is.‖ - Ernest Hemingway, American novelist (1899-1961)
―Worry is interest paid on trouble before it falls due.‖ - William Inge, American
playwright (1913-1973)


See disaster as opportunity, and you’ll remake things better than
ever.

PASSION
Plug into your passion, and the voltage will run things at high speed.



If you‘re in charge of people, if
you have a challenging project
and if you want them to do the
hard things that are needed for
success, will they follow your
lead? If you don‘t show real
passion for the project, chances
are they won‘t either.
The most worthwhile things in
life are the hardest to achieve.
That means they involve major challenges. Only a highly committed individual
would endure the hard work, delays and discouragements until the goal is finally
achieved.
Most people are interested in something—but is it a passionate interest? Many
people never experience that. If you don‘t feel boundless enthusiasm and
obsessive motivation to achieve something, your interest may not carry you far.
Even if you do have that kind of intensity, it may be hard to sustain it.
If you listen to your heart, you‘ll find out what matters to you most. You may have
to listen for a while, but eventually you‘ll encounter something in your life that you
care about very much. Then you can do the things that most people never do—
commit to getting heavily involved in what you‘re passionately interested in.

―The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it's a different kind of
life.‖ - Buckminster Fuller, American architect (1895-1983)
―Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.‖ - Ralph Waldo Emerson,
―It sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities,
but its own talents.‖ - Eric Hoffer, American philosopher (1902-1983)
―Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small
amount of heat.‖ - Napoleon Hill, American author (1883-1970)
―A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.‖ -
Charles M. Schwab, American business leader (1862-1939)
―No matter how carefully you plan your goals, they will never be more than pipe
dreams unless you pursue them with gusto.‖ - W. Clement Stone, American
businessman (1902-2002)
―Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.‖ - Denis
Diderot, French philosopher (1713-1784)
―Do every act of your life as if it were your last.‖ - Marcus Aurelius, Roman
emperor (121-180)
―You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart.‖ -
Thomas J. Watson, Sr., American business leader (1874-1956)
―Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.‖ - Confucius, Chinese philosopher
(B.C. 551-479)
―Your enthusiasm will be infectious, stimulating and attractive to others. They will
love you for it. They will go for you and with you.‖ - Norman Vincent Peale,


What's your heart’s desire? It will drive you to do the thousand
tasks.

PATIENCE
Know when now isn’t the right time, and you’ll be ready when it is.



As a leader you want things to stay on schedule. You want to move things
forward. But when there are roadblocks or slowdowns, sometimes there‘s
nothing you can do to change the situation, and you can waste a lot of time
pushing against a brick wall. Sometimes the best thing you can do is to be
patient. You need to be realistic and know when to back off.
It‘s easy to get frustrated when someone doesn‘t move at the pace you want
them to – whether it‘s a driver in front of you, a coworker who‘s learning
something that you mastered years ago, or a child you‘re teaching to behave in a
new way.
But there‘s a downside to showing irritation. Think about how you feel when you
notice someone getting impatient with you. If you‘re trying your best, their attitude
can make you feel discouraged or resentful. So imagine how others feel when
you become annoyed with them.
If you find yourself getting upset because things aren‘t going the way you want,
ask yourself this question. ―Is there anything I can do right now to move things
forward?‖
If the answer is yes, then do it. But if it‘s no, then you
need to get to a place of acceptance as quickly as
possible. You may in fact need to take action, but not
now. Waiting for the right time is a critical aspect of
patience.
You‘ll save yourself a lot of frustration and
disappointment if you learn to manage your expectations.
Recognize that you don‘t have the power to influence
every situation. When you adjust your perspective, you‘ll
be more serene in the face of circumstances that are
beyond your control.

―The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.‖ - Dean
Acheson, American statesman (1893-1971)
―Give wind and tide a chance to change.‖ - Richard Byrd, American explorer
(1888-1957)
―Some things arrive on their own mysterious hour, on their own terms and not
yours, to be seized or relinquished forever.‖ - Gail Godwin, American novelist
(1937- )
―Beware the fury of a patient man.‖ - John Dryden, British poet (1631-1700)
―Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience.‖ - Ralph Waldo Emerson,
―The future belongs to him who knows how to wait.‖ - Russian Proverb
―Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.‖ -
Epictetus, Greek philosopher (50-138)
―God give us the grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed;
courage to change the things that should be changed; and the wisdom to
distinguish the one from the other.‖ - Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian
(1892-1971)
―There‘s a time for all things.‖ - William Shakespeare, British playwright (1564-
1616)
―The twin killers of success are impatience and greed.‖ - Jim Rohn, American
author (1930-2009)


Be willing to wait, and things that can’t be hurried will happen
anyway.

PERSEVERANCE
Simply refuse to quit, and you’ll go further than you thought
possible.



Once you give up, the game is over. As a leader, perseverance begins with you.
If you refuse to quit, you can inspire everyone on the team to hang in there.
But it won‘t be easy. Major setbacks happen all the time, and they‘re painful.
They can drain your strength and your resolve. You may even feel like quitting.
You can lose the motivation to go on. After discouragement it may be hard to
believe that the outcome you hoped for is still worth the
effort.
When you‘re working on a challenging project, expect that
there will be problems and disappointments. That way,
when adversity happens, it won‘t surprise you.
As long as there‘s any chance at all that you can succeed,
simply refuse to quit—no matter what. People quit all the
time. Just decide that after most people have dropped out,
you‘ll be one of those still in the game.
Then fill your mind with a clear mental image of what you want to achieve.
Visualize the desired outcome that inspires you, even when you‘re tired. You can
avoid being overwhelmed if you focus on just the next step. Take it one step at a
time, and you‘ll eventually reach your goal.
And finally, don‘t let discouragement, fatigue, or criticism keep you from
achieving your goal. Even though you‘ll be challenged by mistakes and failures,
you can use them to help you continue moving forward.

―Constant dripping hollows out a stone.‖ - Lucretius, Roman poet (ca, 99 B.C.-ca.
55 B.C.)
―You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.‖ - Margaret Thatcher,
British prime minister (1925- )
―I'd like people to know that you can recover from life adversity. You don't have to
give up because you've been down a lot of times.‖ - Ray Charles, American
singer-composer (1930-2004)
―Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.‖ - Babe Ruth, American
professional baseball player (1895-1948)
―It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired, you quit when
the gorilla is tired.‖ - Robert Strauss, American politician (1918- )
―Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it
permanent.‖ - Marilyn vos Savant, American author (1946- )
―People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because
they don't know when to quit.‖ - George Allen, American professional football
coach (1918-1990)
―When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as
though you could not hold a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the
place and time that the tide will turn.‖ - Henry Ward Beecher, American author
(1813-1887)
―My greatest point is my persistence. I never give up in a match.‖ - Bjorn Borg,
Swedish professional tennis player (1956- )
―The one quality all successful people have is persistence. They're willing to
spend more time accomplishing a task and to persevere in the face of many
difficult odds.‖ - Joyce Brothers, American psychologist (1925- )




Keep swinging and the hits will come.

PROACTIVITY
Go in the direction of your dream, or it will always remain wishful
thinking.



People depend on a leader to point them in the right direction. If you can look
beyond the present and see what‘s coming in the future, you can prepare for it.
To a large extent, you can determine what that future will be. You can see that
small problems are about to grow into big ones, so you nip them in the bud. Your
tool for being proactive is a plan.
It‘s not easy to create a plan and then execute it. You have to envision the most
likely future, create realistic goals, and determine what you have to do to achieve
them. And the more ambitious the goal, the greater the chances that you‘ll fail.
To increase your chances for success, you have to
imagine in vivid detail what you want and figure
out what you need to get there. List the people
whose help you need. Map out the details from
start to finish. This roadmap will stack the odds in
your favor.
And then follow through. Nothing happens until
you translate a plan into action. Taking the first
step increases your chances for success because
you start to build momentum and confidence. Stay
focused on the next step, keep people on track
and moving in the right direction. Plan for the
future rather than reacting to it once it arrives, and you‘re far more likely to
achieve the goals you set.

―The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that
as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum.‖ - Anthony
Robbins, American author (1960- )
―Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something.
Don‘t just stand there, make it happen.‖ - Lee Iacocca, American business leader
(1924- )
―The best way to predict the future is to create it.‖ - Peter Drucker, American
author (1909- 2005)
―If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live
the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in
common hours.‖ - Henry David Thoreau, American philosopher (1817-1862)
―A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.‖ - Harvey
Mackay, American author (1933- )
―The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction
we are moving.‖ - Oliver Wendell Holmes, American author (1809-1894)
―If you're proactive, you don't have to wait for circumstances or other people to
create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your
own.‖ - Stephen Covey, American author (1932- )
―The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.‖ - John F. Kennedy,
―Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.‖ - Winston
Churchill, British prime minister (1874-1965)
―It is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow.‖ - Aesop, Greek fabulist
(B.C. 620-560)



Court the future you desire, or she will fall in love with someone else.

RATIONALITY
Pay attention to what reason teaches, or she’ll rap you on the
knuckles.



When problems arise, the team will look to you for answers. An effective leader
looks trouble in the eye and listens to the cool, calm voice of reason.
When facing a difficult situation, it‘s easy to become overwhelmed by anxiety,
anger or other negative feelings. If you imagine that something bad will happen,
you could become paralyzed and end up doing nothing. The lack of action will
reinforce your fears, and you might end up lashing out at others in frustration.
Emotions are real and vital. And you should
always be in touch with your instincts and
intuition. But it‘s important to consider logical
and practical considerations as a balance
when you‘re reacting to what‘s going on
around you. The combination of the two can
lead to better decisions and more effective
action.
So when you‘re in a tough position, instead of focusing on the worst possible
outcome, step back and ask yourself two questions. First, what assumptions are
causing me to worry or feel afraid? And second, how can I check whether these
assumptions are actually true?
Addressing these questions can help you calm down, because you have to
engage the logical part of your brain in order to think about the answers. And
most likely, you‘ll handle the situation very well. Just remember, you have the
ability to apply common sense and sound judgment to any challenge you face.

―The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it.‖ - Brendan Francis Behan,
Irish author (1923-1964)
―We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which
has led to the present.‖ - Adlai E. Stevenson, American politician (1900-1965)
―We must have strong minds, ready to accept facts as they are.‖ - Harry Truman,
―Common sense is not so common.‖ - Francois Voltaire, French philosopher
(1694-1778)
―In science, all facts, no matter how trivial or banal, enjoy democratic equality.‖ -
Mary McCarthy, American novelist (1912-1989)
―Men are apt to mistake the strength of their feeling for the strength of their
argument. The heated mind resents the chill touch and relentless scrutiny of
logic.‖ - William Gladstone, British prime minister (1809-1888)
―Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.‖ - Claudius,
Roman emperor (10 B.C.-A.D. 54)
―Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have
said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.‖ -
Buddha, Indian founder of Buddhism (B.C. 563-483)
―Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought.‖ - Henri Bergson, French
―It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.‖ - Rene
Descartes, French mathematician (1596-1650)


Use common sense to an uncommon degree, and people will think
you wise.

RESPONSIBILITY
Do what needs to be done, and your world will be more to your
liking.



As a leader, you‘ll be in the perfect position to
recognize when something new needs to get done.
Someone will drop the ball, causing a shortfall.
Something will come up, resulting in a new
requirement. You‘ll be the first person to notice that a
problem needs to be corrected. The question is, who
will take care of it?
How do you know when to take on a new
responsibility? It‘s tempting to say no right off the bat
because you may already feel overwhelmed with
what‘s on your plate. And what if you aren‘t able to deliver? It‘s tough to put your
reputation on the line when you aren‘t sure about the outcome. Maybe someone
else will step up and take responsibility.
The truth is, life‘s more interesting and exciting when you‘re involved in the
action. Accepting challenges is how you get what you want and grow stronger as
a person. You have a lot going for you. As a leader, you can use your strengths
to figure out what to do and to turn opportunities into successes. When you get
your chance to contribute, whether it‘s in your professional or personal life, why
not go for it?
Ultimately, you‘re in control of how much responsibility you take on. You can
decide when to say no, and when to say yes. You can take on something new
simply because you want to, knowing that it will, in some way, make your world a
better place. Sometimes even a simple act that takes just 10 seconds can make
a big difference, such as picking up litter by the side of the road.
Remember, you have the strength within you to accept new roles and make sure
important tasks get done.

Quotes About Leadership

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (20)

Ähnlich wie Quotes About Leadership

Ähnlich wie Quotes About Leadership (20)

Mehr von Graham Watson

Mehr von Graham Watson (20)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Quotes About Leadership