“When leaders learn and live good values, they make themselves more valuable and lift the value of other people. That is the foundation of positive leadership.”
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John C. Maxwell
“I got to the top the hard way—fighting my own laziness and ignorance every step of the way.”
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John C. Maxwell
“One of my favorite stories is about a newly hired traveling salesman who sent his first sales report to the home office. It stunned the brass in the sales department because it was obvious that the new salesman was ignorant! This is what he wrote: “I seen this outfit which they ain’t never bot a dim’s worth of nothin from us and I sole them some goods. I’m now goin to Chicawgo.” Before the man could be given the heave-ho by the sales manager, along came this letter from Chicago: “I cum hear and sole them haff a millyon.” Fearful if he did, and afraid if he didn’t fire the ignorant salesman, the sales manager dumped the problem in the lap of the president. The following morning, the ivory-towered sales department members were amazed to see posted on the bulletin board above the two letters written by the ignorant salesman this memo from the president: “We ben spendin two much time trying to spel instead of trying to sel. Let’s watch those sails. I want everybody should read these letters from Gooch who is on the rode doin a grate job for us and you should go out and do like he done.”
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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
“It’s easier to move from failure to success than from excuses to success.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Years ago, I used to tell new leaders I hired that every person in our organization walked around with two buckets. One bucket contained water, and the other gasoline. As leaders, they would continually come across small fires, and they could pour water or gasoline on a fire. It was their choice.”
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John C. Maxwell
“people who do not forgive are hurting themselves much more than they’re hurting others.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Good ideas must be shared, improved upon with the help of other good thinkers, and then they must be implemented and acted upon.”
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John C. Maxwell
“I strongly encourage you to find a place to think and to discipline yourself to pause and use it, because it has the potential to change your life. It can help you to figure out what’s really important and what isn’t. As writer and Catholic priest Henri J. M. Nouwen observed, “When you are able to create a lonely place in the middle of your actions and concerns, your successes and failures slowly can lose some of their power over you.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Being heard is so close to being loved, that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.”
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John C. Maxwell
“In ancient China the people wanted security against the barbaric hordes to the north, so they built the great wall. It was so high they believed no one could climb over it and so thick nothing could break it down. They settled back to enjoy their security. During the first hundred years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times. Not once did the barbaric hordes break down the wall or climb over it. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right through the gates. The Chinese were so busy relying on the walls of stone that they forgot to teach integrity to their children.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The truth is that leadership opportunities are plentiful and within reach of most people.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Every time you speak to people, give them something to feel, something to remember, and something to do.”
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John C. Maxwell
