“There is definitely a link between ownership and success. You don’t get the latter without the former,”
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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
“how we view a person is reflected by how we treat a person.”
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John C. Maxwell
“You are nothing unless it comes from your heart. Passion, caring, really looking to create excellence. If you perform functions only and go to work only to do processes, then you are effectively retired. And it scares me—most people I see, by age twenty-eight are retired.”
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John C. Maxwell
“For a team to succeed, responsibility must go down deep into the organization, down to the roots. Getting that to happen requires a leader who will delegate responsibility and authority to the team. Stephen Covey remarked, “People and organizations don’t grow much without delegation and completed staff work, because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses.” Good leaders seldom restrict their teams; they release them.”
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John C. Maxwell
“We don’t get to pick our talents or IQ. But we do choose our character. In fact, we create it every time we make choices—to cop out or dig out of a hard situation, to bend the truth or stand under the weight of it, to take the easy money or pay the price.”
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John C. Maxwell
“NBA superstar David Robinson remarked, “I think any player will tell you that individual accomplishments help your ego, but if you don’t win, it makes for a very, very long season. It counts more that the team has played well.”
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John C. Maxwell
“There’s only one thing more contagious than a good attitude—and that’s a bad attitude.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Effective teams have teammates who are constantly talking to one another.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Every message that people receive is filtered through the messenger who delivers it.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Write down somewhere in the margins on this page your answer to this question: How have you changed . . . lately? In the last week, let’s say? Or in the last month? The last year? Can you be very specific? Or must your answer be incredibly vague? You say you’re growing. Okay . . . how? “Well,” you say, “In all kinds of ways.” Great! Name one. You see, effective teaching comes only through a changed person. The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others. If you want to become a change agent, you also must change.2 Change the leader—change the organization.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Thomas Jefferson said, “It’s wonderful how much can be done if we are always working.”
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John C. Maxwell
