Warren G. Bennis
The leader has a clear idea of what he wants to do -- professionally and personally -- and the strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even failures.
Every leader needs to have experienced and grown through following -- learning to be dedicated, observant, capable of working with and learning from others, never servile, always truthful. Having located these qualities in himself, he can encourage them in others.
To become a leader, then, you must become yourself, become the maker of your own life.
The leader wonders about everything, wants to learn as much as he can, is willing to take risks, experiment, try new things. He does not worry about failure, but embraces errors, knowing he will learn from them.
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Say not, "I have found the truth" but rather, "I have found a truth".
It is no use saying "we are doing our best". You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary.
Just because we increase the speed of information doesn't mean we can increase the speed of decisions. Pondering, reflecting and ruminating are undervalued skills in our culture.
Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.
Pay the farmer or pay the hospital.
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned.
Insist on yourself, never imitate. Every great man is unique.
If I'd been a ranch, they would've named me the Bar Nothing.
Our real problem is not our strength today ; it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure strength tomorrow.
Courage faces fear and thereby masters it.
If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.
Now is the only time there is. Make your now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference.
He who praises another enriches himself far more than he does the one praised. To praise is an investment in happiness. The poorest human being has something to give that the richest could not buy.
God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed.
A dream unrealized is a dream imprisoned by that enemy of all enemies - the fear of failure. Set that you will make it happen ! -
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.
Something happened to me. It was the sweetest thing that ever could be. It was a fantasy a dream come true, it was the day I met you !
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Charity should begin at home, but should not stay there. Philip Brooks Children are the reward of life.
The gem can not be polished without friction, nor man be perfected without trials.
Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.
A man's dreams are an index to his greatness.
The greater the obstacle the more glory.
I'm melting ! Melting ! Oh, what a world ! What a world !
I was born when she kissed me. I died when she left me. I lived a few weeks while she loved me.
The first and greatest commandment is, Don't let them scare you.
Was there ever a more horrible blasphemy than the statement that all the knowledge of god is confined to this or that book ? How dare men call god infinite, and yet try to compress him within the covers of a little book !
Unless we think of others and do something for them, we miss one of the greatest sources of happiness.
Well done is better than well said.
I want to know God's thoughts ; the rest are details.
The dedicated doctor knows that he must be both scientist and humanitarian, his most agonizing decisions lie in the field of human relations.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
The main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand.
Reach for the stars.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in.
No man is happy who does not think himself so.
To become a leader, then, you must become yourself, become the maker of your own life.
Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.
There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.
How many chiropractors does it take to change a light bulb ? Just one, but it requires 21 office visits and 4 X-rays.
Never say die.
The miracle power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application and perseverance, under the promptings of a brave determined spirit.
A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
You can not escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.
The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
You can not do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems you cannot hold on a minute longer, never give up then for that is just the place and time the tide will turn.
The only genuine love worthy of a name is unconditional.
If you didn't know me, would you think I was a stranger ?
Want to learn to eat a lot ? Here it is : Eat a little. That way, you will be around long enough to eat a lot.
All paths lead nowhere, so it is important to choose a path that has heart.
You can't express every feeling that you have every moment that you have them.
The best way to escape from a problem is to solve it.
Ideas become powerful only if they appear in the flesh , an idea which does not lead to action by the individual and by groups remains at best a paragraph or a footnote in a book -- provided the idea is original and relevant. It is like a seed stored in a dry place. If the idea is to have influence, it must be put into the soil, and the soil is people and groups of people.
With vision, every person, organization and country can flourish. The Bible says, 'Without vision we perish.
One can spend a lifetime assigning blame, find the cause 'out there' for all the troubles that exist. Contrast this with the 'responsible attitude' of confronting the situation, bad or good, and instead of asking, 'What caused the trouble ? Who was to blame ?' asking 'How can I handle this present situation to make the most of it ? What can I salvage here ?'
Sooner or later the truth comes to light.
Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.
I am both pleased but astonished by the fact that mankind has not yet begun to use all the means and devices that are available for destruction. I hope that such weapons are never manufactured in quantity.
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. A little knowledge that acts is worth infinitely more than much knowledge that is idle.
A heart can be broken, but it keeps beating just the same.
Title of newspaper article yesterday - Vandals made off with all toilet seats in the local precinct. Police have nothing to go on.
It takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them and a lifetime to forget them.
Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man , but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event - it is a habit.
Courage is a moral quality , it is not a chance gift of nature like an aptitude for games. It is a cold choice between two alternatives, the fixed resolve not to quit , an act of renunciation which must be made not once but many times by the power of the will. Courage is will power.
In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of nations – it's cold, half-French, and difficult to stir.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
You are never a loser until you quit trying.
Let your imagination release your imprisoned possibilities.
Love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
In Heaven the economy is run by the Germans, the French do the cooking, and the police are English. In Hell the economy is run by the French, the English do the cooking, and the police are German.
If you would be loved, love and be lovable.
After all is said and done, there is usually more said than done.
Wicked men obey from fear, good men, from love.
No alibi will save you from accepting the responsibility.
It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.
If I had never met him, I would have dreamed him into being.
The potential of the average person is like a huge ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channeled toward some great good.
If you want to be enthusiastic, act enthusiastic.
Better late than never.
The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.
Adversity is wont to reveal genius, prosperity to hide it.
There was no hope on earth, and god seemed to have forgotten us. Some said they saw the son of god, others did not see him. If he had come, he would do some great things as he had done before. We doubted it because we had seen neither him nor his works.
Adversity introduces a man to himself.
I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever.
Commit yourself to a dream... Nobody who tries to do something great but fails is a total failure. Why ? Because he can always rest assured that he succeeded in life's most important battle -- he defeated the fear of trying.
Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds.
Never close your lips to those whom you have opened your heart.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Must you flirt ?