Random Thoughts on Leadership
By not demanding accountability, you fail to protect your people from their own incompetence.
~ General
Norman Schwarttzkoph
The truly successful managers and leaders of the next century will be determined not by what they
know but by how fast they can learn!
~ Strategy & Business
We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. We found instead
that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats —
and then they figured out where to drive it. The old adage "People are your most important asset" turns out to be wrong. People
are not your most important asset. The right people are.
~ Jim Collins, author of Good to Great
Leaders see more in other people than other people see in themselves.
~ Unknown
Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.
~ Jonathan Swift
Today a reader — tomorrow a leader.
~ W. Fusselman
It isn't the people you fire who make our life miserable, it's the people you don't.
~ Harvey Mackay
The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted
by someone doing it.
~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
It’s wonderful when the people believe in their leader ... but it’s even more wonderful when the
leader believes in the people!
~ Unknown
It is only as we develop others that we permanently succeed.
~ Harvey S. Firestone
People support what they create!
~ Unknown
IBM’s Tom Watson was asked if he was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost IBM $600,000.
He replied, "No, I just spent $600,000 training him. Why would I want somebody to hire his experience?"
The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he wants done, and self-restraint
enough to keep from meddling with them while they do!
~ Theodore Roosevelt
I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
~ Unknown
A person must be big enough to admit their mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to
correct them.
~ Unknown
"Denial" is not a river in Egypt. Most relationships suffer from what we deny or avoid. But if we can't talk
about it, we can't fix it.
~ Peter Drucker, writer, teacher, consultant and author
There is more information and knowledge within a team than is usually revealed.
~ Unknown
The object is not to see through one another, but to see one another through.
~ Peter DeVries
The power of a waterfall is nothing but a lot of drips working together.
~ Anonymous
A company with internal dissension is drained of energy before it has a chance to devote itself to its proper
purpose.
~ J.C. Penney
Customer service is either good or bad. There is no in-between.
~ Anonymous
If you provide only 99% satisfaction, a million transactions mean 10,000 unhappy customers!
~ Anonymous
If your departments don't communicate effectively with each other, you can be certain they aren't communicating
with your customers either.
~ Anonymous
Response time should be measured in minutes, not hours.
~ Anonymous
There is less to fear from outside competition than from inside inefficiency, discourtesy, and bad service!
~ Tom Peters
Today’s typical customer wants only two things:
1. Good feelings
2. Solutions to problems
~
Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D., author
The quality of service is going to be a selling point in a fickle environment where customers have more choices.
~
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Harvard Business Review
It never ceases to amaze me that companies spend millions to attract new customers (people they don’t
know) and spend next to nothing to keep the ones they’ve got! Seems to me the budgets should be reversed!
~ Tom Peters
If you own the problem, you own the customer.
If you lose the problem, you lose the customer.
It’s
just that simple.
~ Unknown
A major key to success of any business in today’s competitive environment is to never lose sight of
the fact that your number one goal is to please your customers.
~ Edgar A. Falk
1001 Ideas to Create Retail Excitement
Don’t spend a $1.00's worth of time on a $ .10 decision.
~ Unknown
Time flies. It’s up to you to be the navigator.
~ Robert Orben
Time is life. To waste your time is to waste your life.
~ Merrill Douglass
You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it!
~ Charles Buxton
Many of us spend half our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing.
~ Alexander Woollcott
The more sand has escaped from the hour glass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
~
Jean Paul
Do today what must be done. Your tomorrow may never come.
~ Harry F. Banks
Avoid perfection. That last 10% of effort and skill it takes to achieve it isn't worth the time.
~ Walter
Wadsworth
You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
~ Wayne Gretsky
There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the
wisest of mankind achieve the second.
~ Logan Pearsall Smith
Nothing can add more power to your life than concentrating all of your energies on a limited set of targets.
~
Nido Qubein
A man who does not leave his hut will bring nothing in.
~ West African Proverb
Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with
the wind.
~ Bruce Lee, martial artist and Actor
It is generally much easier to kill an organization than change it substantially!
~ Kevin Kelly, Out
of Control
Leaders need to be the Rock of Gibraltar on Roller Blades!
~ Tom Peters
The new competitive realities demand that we turn our backs on the ones who brung us. Every leader needs a
formal “forgetting strategy.”
~ Tom Peters
When the speed of change outside the organization exceeds
the speed of change within ... The end is in sight!
~Jack Welch, C.E.O., General Electric
When you shift people’s perceptions, their actions follow.
~ Rayona Sharpnack, Founder, Institute
for Women’s Leadership
If nothing changes, nothing changes! Think about it!
~ Anonymous
If you always do what you always did — you'll always get what you always got!
~ Unknown
Dissatisfaction is the basis of progress. When we become satisfied, we become obsolete.
~ J. Willard Marriott
A bend in the road is not the end of the road ... unless you fail to make the turn.
~ Anonymous
One person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 with only interests.
~ John Stuart Mill, philosopher
Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs. (Don't ignore that longing to make a difference.)
~
Stephen Covey's 8th Habit
It's not what you are that holds you back, it's what you think you are not.
~ Denis Waitley, author
It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality
of tomorrow.
~ Robert Goddard
Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have — so spend
it wisely!
~ Kay Lyons
The man who believes he can do something is probably right, and so is the man who believes he can't!
~
Anonymous
Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!
~ Abe Lincoln
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they
gave up.
~ Thomas Edison
Fall seven times, stand up eight.
~ Japanese Proverb
In the heating and air conditioning trade, the point which neither heating nor cooling must operate —
around 72 degrees — is called "The Comfort Zone." It’s also known as "The Dead Zone."
~ Russell Bishop
Failure can be divided into those who thought and never did and into those who did and never thought.
~
Rev. W.A. Nance
The only difference between a big shot and a little shot is that a big shot is just a little shot that kept
on shooting.
~ Unknown
Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.
~ Michael Pritchard
Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.
~ Henry Ford
You don't sell what it is — you sell what it does.
~ Anonymous
The prospect is persuaded moreby the depth of your conviction than he is by the height of your logic.
~
Zig Ziglar
You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
~
Anonymous
There's no business like KNOW Business — KNOW your industry, company, product, service, customer, and
competition better than anyone else!
~ Harry K. Jones, AchieveMax®, Inc.
Better than a CD-ROM ... our brains are capable of retaining about 100 billion bits of information. That's
the equivalent of 500 encyclopedias!
~ Jean Stine
There are 200 billion neurons in the adult human brain. That's as many stars as there are in some galaxies!
~
Camden Benares
As we think, the brain undergoes 100,000 chemical interactions per second!
~ Jean Stine
Whether awake or asleep, at any given moment millions of our brain cells are at work. 24 hours a day,
7
days a week, information is being fed into the cerebrum and signals are sent back to the body.
~ Asimov
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The
people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t
find them, make them.
~ George Bernard Shaw
I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.
~ Henry
Ford
Men are more prone to color blindness and left-handedness.
Women are more sensitive to sounds and more agitated by loud noise.
Men are less likely to disclose personal information such as political and religious views, etc.
Women have sharper senses: smell, taste, hearing, and touch.
I dream my painting and then paint my dream.
~ Vincent Van Gogh, famous artist
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
~ Albert Einstein, Nobel prize-winning physicist, professor,
author, smart guy.
The only sustainable competitive advantage comes from out-innovating the competition!
~ Tom Peters
To stay competitive, we have to lead the world in per-person creativity.
~ Jim Clifton, CEO of the Gallup
Organization, which provides management consulting for 300-odd companies
The average business executive has spent between 1,000 and 10,000 hours formally learning economics, history,
languages, literature, mathematics, and political science! The same executive has spent less than ten hours learning about
creative thinking!
~ Tony Buzan, author of Use Both Sides of Your Brain!
PEOPLEOPOLY
The attainment of dominance in your chosen field resulting from realizing the full potential
of each and every one of your people!
~ Harry K. Jones, AchieveMax®, Inc.
No employee will ever perform to any meaningful level where expectations are not clearly established, communicated,
and verified for understanding.
~ Peter Drucker, writer, teacher, consultant and author
Hire employees with caution, launch them with clarity and eliminate poor ones with great dispatch!
~ Peter
Drucker - writer, teacher, consultant and author
Your organization will never be any stronger than the employees you recruit, select and hire and how effectively
they are initially trained, coached and ultimately retained.
~ Peter Drucker, writer, teacher, consultant and author
Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.
~ Napoleon Hill,
author
Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough,
becomes an automatic reflex.
~ Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author
Progress, far from consisting of change, depends on retentiveness ...Those who cannot remember the past are
condemned to repeat it.
~ George Santayana, philosopher, essayist, poet and novelist
Relentless, repetitive self talk is what changes our self-image.
~ Denis Waitley, author, speaker, trainer,
and Peak Performance expert
Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with REPETITION and emotion will one day become a reality.
~ Earl Nightingale, radio announcer, author, motivator, and speaker
Only one thing registers on the subconscious mind: repetitive application ― practice. What you practice
is what you manifest.
~ Grace Speare, author
To successfully experience and demonstrate ENTHUSIASM, remember the last four letters and be certain they
describe you. I.A.S.M. (I Am Sold Myself).
~ Harry K. Jones, consultant and speaker
None are so old as those who
have outlived enthusiasm.
~ Henry David Thoreau, author, naturalist, and philosopher
There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.
~ Norman
Vincent Peale, author
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist and poet
A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.
~ Mary
Kay Ash, entrepreneur and author
If you have zest and enthusiasm, you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.
~ Dr. Norman
Vincent Peale, author
Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch.
~ Ivern Ball, author
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire first.
~ Reggie Leach,
NHL Hockey Player
Over the years, I've had the privilege of observing many successful leaders execute a variety of strategies
in their quest for success. The most effective tactic I have ever witnessed is the simple and constant application of expectations,
accountability, and consequences!
~ Harry K. Jones, AchieveMax®, Inc.
Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them, and reward them.
If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.
~ Lee Iacocca, Chrysler Corp.
I don't think I'm the primary motivator. I give people license to be themselves and motivate others in that
way. We give people the opportunity to be a maverick. You don't have to fit into a constraining mold at work ― you can
have a good time.
~ Herb Kelleher, Chairman, Southwest Airlines
Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to tolerate nonperforming individuals.
~
Peter Drucker
Numerous motivational studies show that employees typically place a high value on getting information about
their job, their performance and how the company is doing.
~ Bob Nelson, author of 1001 Ways to Motivate Employees
When was the last time you asked your employees if they have the right level of challenge in their work?
~
Alex Hiam, author
Stars radiate light. Black holes absorb energy. We need to invest in our stars ― not our black holes!
~
Unknown
The character and qualifications of the leader are reflected in the men he selects, develops and gathers around
him. Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader. Therefore, to have loyal, efficient
employees, be a loyal and efficient employer.
~ Arthur W. Newcomb
Research indicates that workers have three prime needs: Interesting work, recognition for doing a good job,
and being let in on things that are going on in the company.
~ Zig Ziglar
A great employee who is poorly managed is no better than a poor employee who is managed well.
~ Peter Drucker
Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he should be, and he will become what he
could be.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Which horses win races ― those the jockey whips the hardest, or the ones who enjoy running the most?
~
Unknown
Employees tend to live up to their manager's expectations of them. If a manager's expectations are high, productivity
is likely to be excellent.
~ Unknown
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with bricks that others throw at him.
~ David Brinkley
The good news is that the bad news can be turned into good news when you change your attitude.
~ Robert
Schuller
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity.
~
Sir Winston Churchill
Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you ... as by the attitude you bring to life.
~ John Home Mills
Two men looked out through prison bars; one saw mud, the other, stars.
~ James Allen
Life is 10% what you make it, and 90% how you take it.
~ Irving Berlin
Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is the triumph of enthusiasm. Nothing great
was ever achieved without it.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal: nothing on earth can help
the man with the wrong mental attitude.
~ Thomas Jefferson
The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.
~
Martha Washington
There is no danger of developing eye strain from looking on the bright side of things.
~ Unknown
Some people look at the world and say "why?" Some people look at the world and say "why not?"
~ George
Bernard Shaw
We are the only creatures on earth who can change our biology by what we think and feel.
~ Deepak Chopra
I can't imagine a person becoming a success who doesn't give this game of life everything's he's got.
~
Walter Cronkite
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives
and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.
~ John Wayne
Frank Sinatra once told his son, Frank, Jr.: "Don't ever let me catch you singing like that again, without
enthusiasm. You're nothing, if you aren't excited by what you are doing."
Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure.
~
Norman Vincent Peale
Don't give up. Keep going. There is always a chance that you stumble onto something terrific. I have never
heard of anyone stumbling over anything while they were sitting down.
~ Ann Landers
A bend in the road is not the end of the road.
~ Joan Lunden
The most handicapped person in the world is a negative thinker.
~ Unknown
Networking is creating relationships whereby you can help others achieve their goals, which in turn will help
you achieve yours.
~ Ralph Hayes, President, Data Voice Technologies
Networking is the systematic process of meeting people, learning about them, and establishing relationships
so that all parties establish and expand a base of resources to support their endeavors.
~ John Hoppe, President, Independence
Capital Co.
Networking is people connecting with people, linking ideas, and resources.
~ Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey
Stamps, The Networking Book
Networking is establishing connections that are mutually satisfying, helpful, and uplifting.
~ H. S. Khalsa,
EcoWater Systems
Networking is a communication process—exchanging information and receiving advice and referrals.”
~
Ronald L. Krannich and Caryl Rae Krannich, Network Your Way to Job and Career Success
Networking is communication that creates the linkage between people and clusters of people.
~ John Naisbitt,
Megatrends
Networking is the way you interact and relate to people, the world, and the opportunities around you.
~
Donna Fisher, author
When two people exchange dollar bills, each has only one dollar. When two people exchange networks, they each
have two networks! Do the math!
~ Anonymous
Networking with integrity creates a greater willingness of all parties to be part of a human conduit to serve
as energy and resource to one another. Sometimes you will give more than you receive and sometimes you will get back more
than you give. It’s not about keeping score.
~ Chris London, Manhattan Society: The Art and Spirituality of Networking
If you want to see positive results from your networking efforts, you must focus on your area of needs. You
must know what you want to accomplish and how to communicate with those who can assist you in your efforts.
~ Anonymous
