“Recently I took my daughter Elizabeth out to a restaurant for lunch. The waitress, whose job it was to take care of people, made us feel that we were really inconveniencing her. She was grumpy, negative, and unhelpful. All of her customers were aware of the fact that she was having a bad day. Elizabeth looked up at me and said, “Dad, she’s a grump, isn’t she?” I could only agree with a look of disdain. Halfway through our experience I tried to change this woman’s negative attitude. Pulling out a $10 bill, I said, “Could you do me a favor? I’d like some change for this $10 bill because I want to give you a good tip today.” She looked at me, did a double take, and then ran to the cash register. After changing the money, she spent the next fifteen minutes hovering over us. I thanked her for her service, told her how important and helpful she was, and left a good tip. As we left, Elizabeth said, “Daddy, did you see how that lady changed?” Seizing this golden opportunity, I said, “Elizabeth, if you want people to act right toward you, you act right toward them. And many times you’ll change them.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Maturity is the ability to see and act on behalf of others. Immature people don’t see things from someone else’s point of view. They rarely concern themselves with what’s best for others. In many ways, they act like small children.”
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John C. Maxwell
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Pain prompts us to face who we are and where we are. What we do with that experience defines who we become.”
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John C. Maxwell
“It’s a simple thing to offer encouragement, but it can have a tremendous effect on someone’s life.”
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John C. Maxwell
“A great team with no bench eventually collapses. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork”
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John C. Maxwell
“The company owner doesn't need to win. The best idea does.”
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John C. Maxwell
“I have to live with myself, and so I want to be fit for myself to know, I want to be able, as days go by, Always to look myself straight in the eye; I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun, And hate myself for things I have done. I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf A lot of secrets about myself, And fool myself, as I come and go, Into thinking that nobody else will know The kind of man I really am; I don’t want to dress up myself in sham. I want to go out with my head erect, I want to deserve all men’s respect; But here in the struggle for fame and pelf I want to be able to like myself. I don’t want to look at myself and know That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show. I can never hide myself from me; I see what others may never see; I know what others may never know, I never can fool myself, and so, Whatever happens, I want to be Self-respecting and conscience free.”
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John C. Maxwell
“What we do on some great occasion will depend on what we are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self-discipline.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The best way to develop rational, well-balanced confidence is to go after a few victories immediately following a failure.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it.”
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John C. Maxwell
God commanded both male and female to have dominion (v. 27). Both men and women have been given the ability and authority to lead. Leadership is not gender specific.”
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John C. Maxwell
