“Come to the edge,” he said.
They said, “We are afraid.”
“Come to the edge,” he said.
They came.
He pushed them.
And they flew!” (Guillaume Apollinaire)
“Everyone of us is where we are today because someone helped us, taught us, or pointed the way.” (Terri Kabachnick, I Quit, But Forgot to Tell You)
“Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people.” (Stephen R. Covey)
Does life suck sometimes? Absolutely! Nonetheless, you and only you own your attitude. Realistically, things may stink to high heaven. Still, the day is yours to embrace with vigor and good cheer – or not. Your call. 100%. Period. Remember, if you will, the annoying, persistent TPR (Tom Peters Rant): Excellence. Always. If not excellence, what? If not excellence now, when?” (Tom Peters)
“Many people are eager to have soothsayers predict their future. Fewer are willing to take responsibility for writing their own fortune. Your future is a blank sheet of paper waiting for you to create what is to come.” (Jim Clemmer)
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” (Neale Donald Walsch
“Zig Ziglar used to tell a story about a baseball team on a losing streak. On the road for a doubleheader, the team visited a town that was home to a famous faith healer. While the guys were warming up, the manager disappeared. He came back an hour later with a big handful of bats. “Guys, these bats were blessed and healed by the guru. Our problems are over.”
According to the story, the team snapped out of their streak and won a bunch of games. Some people wonder, ‘Did the faith healer really touch the bats, or was the manager making it up?’ Huh? Does it matter? (Seth Godin)
“The only one who can tell you ‘you can’t ‘ is you. And you don’t have to listen.” (Nike)
“To move the world, we must first move ourselves.” (Socrates)
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” (Dr. Seuss)
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” (Ghandi)
How many times during the day or night have you thought of how things could be better if you could only change some things? What change do you wish to see – whether it’s at home, at work or elsewhere? We complain about events that bother us but do we do anything about it? We think that we will not be able to make a difference because you think, “Who’s going to pay attention to me? I’m just a small part in the scheme of things and I’m not that important.” If that’s the case, then think about this –
“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.” (Betty Reese)
Challenges
“Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.” (Jim Rohn)
“It’s not always easy to do the right thing. But, doing the right thing makes you strong, it builds character, it forces you to make decisions based upon your beliefs and not what other people think. In life, and in business, you have to stand for what you believe in and sometimes you have to stand alone. But, what makes you a leader is having the courage of your convictions.” (Queen Latifah)
It is tough being you, isn’t it? That’s what many people say but it’s really not. Whether you are a new associate at work, a new leader in an organization, an older associate that’s been at the company for twenty years or even the high school kid with so much peer pressure, look into yourself and hold fast to your convictions, values and beliefs. You are one-of-a-kind with many blessings and talents. Be proud of that and show the world who you are!
“On the wall of my room when I was in rehab was a picture of the space shuttle blasting off, autographed by every astronaut now at NASA. On the top of the picture it says, ‘We found nothing is impossible.’ That should be our motto.” (Christopher Reeve)
“I’m not old enough to play baseball or football. I’m not eight yet. My mom told me ‘when you start baseball, you aren’t going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation.’ I told Mom I wouldn’t need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I’ll just hit them out of the park. Then I’ll be able to walk.” (Edward J. McGrath Jr., ‘An Exceptional View of Life’)
“Do or do not. There is no try.” (Yoda)
“High-performing companies recognize that leadership is about more than just steering the business. It’s about nurturing, energizing, and challenging the people who help make it run — and who keep it competitive.” (Boston Consulting Group study, ‘Realizing the Value of People Management’ by Rainer Strack and four co-authors.
“The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players.” (Blaine Lee, The Power Principle)
Have you ever been at a concert and been amazed at how a group of musicians can all be playing different instruments, different times and different keys, but yet, beautiful music comes out of the group? The conductor facilitates the different sections of the orchestra and each musician to ensure that everyone is “playing off the same sheet of music” which then creates beautiful music.
Isn’t that the same with the leaders at your workplace? Isn’t it the job of the leaders to ensure that all the musicians (the associates in the departments) are doing their jobs (playing different instruments and keys) and creating an atmosphere where teamwork is vital among the different departments or teams (sections of the orchestra)?
Beautiful music comes out of a well conducted orchestra and great work comes out of a company with great leaders (conductors).
Ready? And one, two, three, four ….. keep the ‘music’ playing.
“Every person you meet has a ‘sign’ around his or her neck that says, ‘Make me feel important.’ If you can do that, you’ll be a success, not only in business but in life as well.” -Mary Kay Ash
“If you wish others to believe in you, you must first convince them that you believe in them.” – Harvey MacKay
How engaged are your employees? Do they feel important? How does this affect your customers?
Research studies have shown that employee job satisfaction will impact customer service satisfaction. In other words, “happy employees will get you happy customers” and if the employees are not happy, you can imagine how the customers will react.
Successful companies create an environment where the employees feel important and are engaged in their work. If a company does not create a positive environment, the employees will be going through the motions of being at work but not “really being at work.” That reminds me of a book I read recently titled, “I Quit, But Forget to Tell You” by Terri Kabachnick.
“If you want to step up to the next level of leadership, there is an exercise using the idea of inspiration that will help you understand how to tap into your passion or drive more intentionally. … I’ll tell you the origin of the word (inspiration). The Latin word is ‘inspirare.’ It literally means to breathe life into. So the question, ‘What inspires you?’ really means ‘What breathes life into you?’
I want you to think of five people in your life whom you respect. These should be people who know you fairly well. Take your list of five people and ask them this simple question: ‘Do I inspire you?’ Listen to their answers. If they say no, find out why not. If they say yes, find out how.” ~ Ready to Lead? A Story for Leaders and Their Mentors by Alan Price
“Once we rid ourselves of traditional thinking, we can get on with creating the future.” (James Bertrand)
“What, exactly, should you do now? You can choose to lead, or not. You can choose to have faith, or not. Are there thousands of reasons why you, of all people, aren’t the right one to lead? Why you don’t have the resources or the authority or the genes or the momentum to lead? Probably. So what?
You still get to make the choice.
But once you choose to lead, you’ll discover that it’s not so difficult.” (Tribes – We Need YOU to Lead US by Seth Godin)
Catalyst Quotes 