“The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success. Talent is only a starting point in business. You’ve got to keep working that talent.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“A young concert violinist was asked the secret of her success. She replied, “Planned neglect.” Then she explained, “When I was in school, there were many things that demanded my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, straightened the room, dusted the floor, and did whatever else came to my attention. Then I hurried to my violin practice. I found I wasn’t progressing as I thought I should, so I reversed things. Until my practice period was completed, I deliberately neglected everything else. That program of planned neglect, I believe, accounts for my success.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Uniformity is not the key to successful teamwork. The glue that holds a team together is unity of purpose.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Recently I had breakfast with Dan Cathy, the president of Chick-fil-A, a fast food chain headquartered in the Atlanta area. I told him that I was working on this book and I asked him if he made thinking time a high priority. Not only did he say yes, but he told me about what he calls his “thinking schedule.” It helps him to fight the hectic pace of life that discourages intentional thinking. Dan says he sets aside time just to think for half a day every two weeks, for one whole day every month, and for two or three full days every year. Dan explains, “This helps me ‘keep the main thing, the main thing,’ since I am so easily distracted.” You may want to do something similar, or you can develop a schedule and method of your own. No matter what you choose to do, go to your thinking place, take paper and pen, and make sure you capture your ideas in writing.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The larger the group, the simpler the communication needs to be.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“First, when we are busy, we naturally believe that we are achieving. But busyness does not equal productivity. Activity is not necessarily accomplishment. Second, prioritizing requires leaders to continually think ahead, to know what's important, to know what's next, to see how everything relates to the overall vision. That's hard work. Third, prioritizing causes us to do things that are at the least uncomfortable and sometimes downright painful.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Those who lack humility are dogmatic and egotistical. That masks a deep sense of insecurity.”
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John C. Maxwell
“No one can understand that mysterious thing we call influence . . . yet . . . everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“Always touch a person's heart before you ask him for a hand.”
―
John C. Maxwell
“The unfortunate truth is that many of us, instead of offering total forgiveness, pray something like this Irish Prayer: May those who love us, love us; And those who don’t love us May God turn their hearts; And if He doesn’t turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles, So we’ll know them by their limping.
―
John C. Maxwell
“More than anything else, what keeps a person going in the midst of adversity is having a sense of purpose. It is the fuel that powers persistence.”
―
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.”
―
John C. Maxwell
