“Experience isn’t the best teacher—evaluated experience is.”
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John C. Maxwell
“anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course. Leaders who are good navigators are capable of taking their people just about anywhere.”
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John C. Maxwell
“This poster in a Nordstrom’s department store once caught my attention: “The only difference between stores is the way they treat their customers.” That’s a bold statement. Most stores would advertise the quality of their merchandise or their wide selection as what sets them apart from the rest. The difference between Nordstrom’s and other stores, according to an employee of the competition, is that other stores are organization-oriented; Nordstrom’s is people-oriented. Their employees are trained to respond quickly and kindly to customer complaints. As a result, according to writer Nancy Austin, “Nordstrom’s doesn’t have customers; it has fans.” A study by TARP, Technical Assistance”
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John C. Maxwell
“A visionary company is like a great work of art. Think of Michelangelo’s scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of David. Think of a great and enduring novel like Huckleberry Finn or Crime and Punishment. Think of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony or Shakespeare’s Henry V. Think of a beautifully designed building, like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You can’t point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work; it’s the entire work—all the pieces working together to create an overall effect—that leads to enduring greatness.”
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John C. Maxwell
“A problem is something you can do something about. If you can't do something about it, then it's not a problem. It's a predicament. That means it's something that must be coped with, endured.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Vision isn’t enough—it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.”
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John C. Maxwell
“An infant is born with a clenched fist; a man dies with an open hand. Life has a way of prying free the things we think are so important.”
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John C. Maxwell
“What’s true for a teammate is also true for the leader: If you don’t grow, you gotta go.”
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John C. Maxwell
“In most cases, those who want power probably shouldn't have it, those who enjoy it probably do so for the wrong reasons, and those who want most to hold on to it don't understand that it's only temporary.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Novelist Victor Hugo believed, "He who every morning plans the transactions of the day and follows out that plan carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life . . . But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incident, chaos will soon reign.”
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John C. Maxwell
“There’s a difference between hearing people and listening to them.”
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John C. Maxwell
“When you do well, you think it’s worth it. When you sacrifice so much and you finally do well, it feels really good.”
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John C. Maxwell
“As Michel de Montaigne observed, “No wind favors him who has no destined port.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Most people who don’t feel content with their lives don’t know the reason why. Often they suspect that circumstances or other people are to blame. Even honest and self-aware individuals who know the problem lies inside of them still may have trouble getting to the root of the issue. They ask themselves, “Why am I this way?” They desire to change, but they don’t do anything differently so that they can change. They merely hope things will turn out all right—and they become frustrated when they don’t. Recognize that only when you make the right changes to your thinking do other things begin to turn out right in your life.”
―
John C. Maxwell
