“Several years ago Dr. Maxwell Maltz’s book, Psycho-Cybernetics, was one of the most popular books on the market. Dr. Maltz was a plastic surgeon who often took disfigured faces and made them more attractive. He observed that in every case, the patient’s self-image rose with his and her physical improvement. In addition to being a successful surgeon, Dr. Maltz was a great psychologist who understood human nature. A wealthy woman was greatly concerned about her son, and she came to Dr. Maltz for advice. She had hoped that the son would assume the family business following her husband’s death, but when the son came of age, he refused to assume that responsibility and chose to enter an entirely different field. She thought Dr. Maltz could help convince the boy that he was making a grave error. The doctor agreed to see him, and he probed into the reasons for the young man’s decision. The son explained, “I would have loved to take over the family business, but you don’t understand the relationship I had with my father. He was a driven man who came up the hard way. His objective was to teach me self-reliance, but he made a drastic mistake. He tried to teach me that principle in a negative way. He thought the best way to teach me self-reliance was to never encourage or praise me. He wanted me to be tough and independent. Every day we played catch in the yard. The object was for me to catch the ball ten straight times. I would catch that ball eight or nine times, but always on that tenth throw he would do everything possible to make me miss it. He would throw it on the ground or over my head but always so I had no chance of catching it.” The young man paused for a moment and then said, “He never let me catch the tenth ball—never! And I guess that’s why I have to get away from his business; I want to catch that tenth ball!”

“I always try to remember that I am a work in progress. When I maintain that perspective, I realize that I don’t have to be perfect. I don’t have to have it all together. I don’t need to try to have all the answers. And I don’t need to learn everything in a day. When I make a mistake, it’s not because I’m a failure or worthless. I just didn’t do something right because I still haven’t improved enough in some part of the process. And that motivates me to keep growing and improving. If I don’t know something, it’s an opportunity to try to improve in a new area.”

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.”

“The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.”

“Give to others? Why? I have needs too” 

“Good leadership isn’t about advancing yourself. It’s about advancing your team.

“Every time you speak to people, give them something to feel, something to remember, and something to do.”

“Every person has a longing to be significant, to make a contribution, to be a part of something noble and purposeful.”

“Cuando los valores, los pensamientos, los sentimientos y las acciones están alineados, la persona se enfoca y su carácter es fortalecido.”

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” -John C. Maxwell”

“The hero is the one with ideas.”

“Believe in what you say. Then, live what you say. There is no greater credibility than conviction in action.”

“There is no life as empty as the self-centered life. There is no life as centered as the self-empty life.”

“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”

“If you can learn that, then no matter what happens to you, you can weather the storm and build on the good you find in any situation.”