Leadership Quote

You May Be A Prophet

February 16, 2012, by No comments yet

If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1905-1991, Polish-American author

Character Casts Reputation

December 27, 2011, by No comments yet

Don’t confuse character with reputation. Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.’ Some people spend too much time worrying about the shadow and too little about the tree. Reputation is fragile; character endures.

Good character is ethics in action; it’s the ability to summon the moral strength to do the right thing even when it may cost more than we want to pay.

People of character do the right thing even if no one is looking; they live up to their values even when there is no advantage to do so.

Finally, no one is born with good character. It’s something we all have to build and protect day by day, decision by decision.”
- Michael Josephson

No Man is Always Right

December 22, 2011, by No comments yet

“Loneliness is the inescapable lot of a man holding such a job. Subordinates can advise, urge, help, and pray – but only one man in his own mind and heart can decide, “Do we or do we not?” The stakes are always high, and the penalties are expressed in terms of loss of life or major or minor disasters to the nation. No man can always be right. So the struggle is to do one’s best, to keep the brain and conscience clear; never to be swayed by unworthy motives or inconsequential reasons, but…to do one’s duty. It is not always easy.”
- Dwight D. Eisenhower to his wife Mamie February 15, 1943.

Beware

December 15, 2011, by No comments yet

Beware of your thoughts, they become your words.
Beware of your words, they become your actions.
Beware of your actions, they become your habits.
Beware of your habits, they become your character.
Beware of your character, it becomes your destiny.
- Unknown

Sin Through Weakness and Goodness

November 14, 2011, by No comments yet

Bad and mediocre people are tempted to sin by their own habitual weaknesses. The earlier lies or thefts or adulteries make the next one that much easier to contemplate. Having already cut so many corners, the thinking goes, what’s one more here or there? Why even aspire to virtues that you probably won’t achieve, when it’s easier to remain the sinner that you already know yourself to be?

But good, heroic people are led into temptation by their very goodness – by the illusion, common to those who have done important deeds, that they have higher responsibilities than the ordinary run of humankind. It’s precisely in the service to these supposed higher responsibilities that they often let more basic ones slip away. – Ross Douthat, New York Times, November 13, 2011

The Grain on Which we Live

October 31, 2011, by No comments yet

It’s remarkable that men should be so arrogant and secure when there are so many, indeed countless, evidences around us to suggest that we ought to be humble.  The hour of our death is uncertain.  The grain on which we live is not in our hands.  Neither the sun nor the air, on which our life depends, lies in our power, and we have no control over our sleeping and waking.  I shall say nothing of spiritual things, such as private and public sins which press upon us.  Yet our hearts are as hard as steel and pay no attention to such evidence - Martin Luther, 1483-1546

Stand Where You Feel Led

October 12, 2011, by No comments yet

In the end, that is what we all must do. Stand where we feel led. Stand straight, stand tall, and try hard to remember that other folks might be led to stand elsewhere.” Phillip Gulley

Just Do Good Work

May 12, 2011, by No comments yet

“Just do good work. Work, and do it well. Don’t put too much thought into what it is and what it can do for you and how it will be perceived before you even make it. You don’t have control over those other things. Learn your stuff. Do it well. Show up on time. You’ll work”. Actor Steve Zahn quoted in the May 2011 American Way magazine describing advice from older actors he’s worked with including Tom Hanks.

Put People at the Heart

May 11, 2011, by No comments yet

Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. What happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning – Warren Bennis

Are You a Leader or a Tyrant?

April 17, 2011, by No comments yet

When we as leaders get in the habit of thinking that other people are there to support our success, we’re actually notleaders, we’re tyrants.  Only when we go through the emotional, psychological and spiritual transformation to realize our role is to serve others, do we deserve to be called a leader. - Dee Hock, founder and former CEO of VISA