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February 25 - March 3, 2025
“You don’t build trust by talking about it. You build it by achieving results, always with integrity and in a manner that shows real personal regard for the people with whom you work.”
“I still feel more Eager for the struggle than I ever yet have,
“The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. This is true. What a man is survives him. It can never be buried.”
“A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.” Good leaders do what’s right, even at the risk of failure, in the face of great danger and under the brunt of relentless criticism.
If you have the courage, ask the people in your life who are closest to you what they respect most about you. And ask them to tell you in which areas you most need to grow. Then determine to improve based on their honest feedback.
Many leaders describe this as an ability to “smell” things in their organization. They can sense people’s attitudes. They are able to detect the chemistry of a team. They can tell when things are humming and when they’re winding down or getting ready to grind to a halt.
“No one can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.”
When it comes to working with people, the heart comes before the head.
Because you first have to touch people’s hearts before you ask them for a hand.
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
I think of you. I believe that if I can connect with you as an individual, then what I have to offer might be able to help you.
People don’t heed the call of an uncertain trumpet.
You will always connect faster when your focus is not on yourself.
Napoleon Bonaparte said, “Leaders are dealers in hope.”
are always initiators. They take the first step with others and then make the effort to continue building relationships. That’s not always easy,
“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
“I may not have been the best combat commander, but I always strove to be. My men depended on me to carefully analyze every tactical situation, to maximize the resources that I had at my disposal, to think under pressure, and then to lead them by personal example.”
Leaders can afford to be uncertain, but we cannot afford to be unclear. People will not follow fuzzy leadership.
“You can issue all the memos and give all the motivational speeches you want, but if the rest of the people in your organization don’t see you putting forth your very best effort every single day, they won’t either.”
rate each person’s buy-in on a scale of 1 to 10. (A 1 means they won’t even follow you in areas where they are required to according to their job description. A 10 means they would follow you into battle even in the face of death.)
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no
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When the pressure is on, great leaders are at their best. Whatever is inside them comes to the surface.
We didn’t share a common vision. People played for their fellow classmen, not the team.
crucial component for leading your team to victory is unity of vision. Do a little informal research to find out what’s important to your team members. Ask them what they want to achieve personally. And ask them to describe the purpose or mission of the team, department, or organization. If you get a diversity of answers, you need to work on communicating a single vision clearly, creatively, and continually until everyone is on the same page.
But leadership has nothing to do with comfort and everything to do with progress.
Ideally, leaders should get out of their comfort zone but stay in their strength zone.
If you desire to become the best leader you can be, then you need to be willing to make sacrifices
“There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission—a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment, he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.”
It has been said that managers do things right while leaders do the right things.
your organization needs to create an environment that is attractive to them. That is often not the case. Most organizations desire stability. Leaders want excitement. Most organizations desire structure. Leaders want flexibility. Most organizations place a high value on following rules. Leaders want to think outside the box. If you want to gather leaders, you must create a place where they can thrive.
Eleanor Roosevelt commented, “Life is like a parachute jump; you’ve got to get it right the first time.”
statement summarizing the goal and purpose of one’s life.
Your life is like a book. The title page is your name, the preface your introduction to the world. The pages are a daily record of your efforts, trials, pleasures, discouragements, and achievements. Day by day your thoughts and acts are being inscribed in your book of life. Hour by hour, the record is being made that must stand for all time. Once the word finis must be written, let it then be said of your book that it is a record of noble purpose, generous service, and work well-done.
But only people live on after we are gone. Everything else is temporary.
“We have made at least a start in discovering the meaning in human life when we plant shade trees under which we know full well we will never sit.” The best leaders lead today with tomorrow in mind by making sure they invest in leaders who will carry their legacy forward.
I wish you great leadership success. Pursue your dreams. Strive for excellence. Become the person you were created to be. And accomplish all that you were put on this earth to do. Leadership will help you to do that. Learn to lead—not just for yourself but for the people who follow you. And as you reach the highest levels, don’t forget to take others with you to be the leaders of tomorrow.
It’s said that a wise person learns from his mistakes. A wiser one learns from others’ mistakes. But the wisest person of all learns from others’ successes.
Today I stand on the shoulders of many leaders who have added great value to my life. Tomorrow I hope you will be able to stand on my shoulders.
My goal isn’t to impress you. It’s to be a friend who helps you.
“There’s only one thing more painful than learning from experience, and that is not learning from experience.”
