“The english word thanks comes from the same root word as think. Maybe if leaders were more ‘think-ful’ about the contribution of others, they would be more ‘thankful’ to them.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Good leaders understand that they are stewards. They must find the best people they can, giving them the opportunity to join in the journey developing them, and encouraging them to reach their potential. But they must hold on to people lightly. Those who start with you seldom finish with you.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“One of the greatest values of mentors is the ability to see ahead what others cannot see and to help them navigate a course to their destination.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Every new level of growth we hope to experience as leaders calls for a new level of change. You cannot have one without the other. If you want to be a better leader, get ready to make some trades.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Something in human nature tempts us to stay where we’re comfortable. We try to find a plateau, a resting place, where we have comfortable stress and adequate finances. Where we have comfortable associations with people, without he intimidation of meeting new people and entering strange situations. Of course, all of us need to plateau for a time. We climb and then plateau for assimilation. But once we’ve assimilated what we’ve learned, we climb again. It’s unfortunate when we’ve done our last climb. When we have made our last climb, we are old, whether forty or eighty.” ~ Fred Smith
“The only thing we can control is what we do in the present. The more we replay yesterday, the further we get from today’s opportunities. And the further away we move from opportunities, the tougher the road is to get back. Opportunities never look as good coming as they do going, and they wait for no one. We need to be highly attentive to spot them. And we must be focused on our present capabilities, not past regrets.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you – the part that chooses – into something a little different than what it was before. Taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.” ~ C. S. Lewis
“Perhaps our greatest power in life is the power to choose. Without question, choices are the most determining factor in how our lives turn out.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. How do you gain influence from people? You invest in them. How do you invest in them? It starts with giving them time.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
If –
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling
“Don’t just learn something from every experience. Learn something positive.” ~ Allen Neuharth, USA Today Founder
“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“Experience teaches nothing, but evaluated experience teaches everything.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“People naturally follow leaders stronger than themselves.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold
“We cannot consistently behave in a way that is inconsistent with our beliefs.” ~ John C. Maxwell, Leadership Gold