Leadership – “Is Anybody Better Because of You?”
“The ripple effect of a leader’s enthusiasm and optimism is awesome. So is the impact of cynicism and pessimism. Leaders who whine and blame engender those same behaviors among their colleagues. I am not talking about stoically accepting organizational stupidity and performance incompetence with a ‘what, me worry?’ smile. I am talking about a gung-ho attitude that says ‘we can change things here, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best!’” (Colin Powell)
“You cannot build a team or organization that believes in different things from you. You can’t make them into something you’re not. Leadership isn’t just a job; it is a commitment to other people’s excellence. As an illustration, think of the movie, ‘Remember the Titans.’ One of the highlights of that film was the heated exchange between the white captain and one of the black players, who had experienced firsthand the captain’s lack of acceptance and support. When the captain confronted the player for deliberately missing a play, the player retorted, ‘attitude reflects leadership, captain.’ We must remember that, unfortunately, too many managers and supervisors who are responsible for developing others haven’t learned the basics of good leadership and development, even for themselves. They are trying to build organizations or provide services based on a different value system. It doesn’t work. Employees quickly observe the disconnect between words and deeds.” (Don Ritz)
“If you want to know whether or not you’re a leader, your title may or may not give some clues. The real clue is in the answer to this question: Is anybody better because of you? Do the people you work with say, because of him or her, I’m a better person or I’ve been able to find skills and talents I didn’t know I had, or develop skills that were latent.” (Mark Sanborn)
Catalyst Quotes 