“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
“The great men and women of history were not great because of what they earned and owned, but rather for what they gave their lives to accomplish.”
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John C. Maxwell
“what gets rewarded gets done. If you praise and honor the people who epitomize the values of the team, those values get embraced and upheld by other members of the team. There is no better reinforcement.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Preparation (growth) + Attitude + Opportunity + Action (doing something about it) = Luck”
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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
“To achieve your dreams, you must embrace adversity and make failure a regular part of your life. If you're not failing, you're probably not really moving forward.”
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John C. Maxwell
“a smart person believes only half of what he hears, but a really smart person knows which half to believe.”
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John C. Maxwell
“the entire population of the world—with one minor exception—is composed of others.”
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John C. Maxwell
“George Matthew Adams asserts, "In this life, we get only those things for which we hunt, for which we strive, and for which we are willing to sacrifice. It is better to aim for something you want—even though you miss it—than to get something that you didn't aim to get, and which you don't want!
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John C. Maxwell
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they may have planned for you? Not much.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Failure isn't so bad if it doesn't attack the heart. Success is all right if it doesn't go to the head.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
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John C. Maxwell
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”
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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