“Connecting has a lot to do with letting who you are influence everything you do.”

“A mistake is simply another way of doing things.”

“Realize that the guys who criticize will minimize the guys whose enterprise rises above the guys who criticize and minimize.”

“God uses people who fail—'cause there aren't any other kind around.”

“We cannot become what we need by remaining what we are.”

“When it comes to taking risks, I believe there are two kinds of people: those who don't dare try new things, and those who don't dare miss them.”

“William A. Hewitt, Chairman of Deere and Company, says, “To be a leader you must preserve all through your life the attitude of being receptive to new ideas. The quality of leadership you will give will depend upon your ability to evaluate new ideas, to separate change for the sake of change from change for the sake of me.”

“The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at”

“When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.” 

“Successful people focus their thinking on progress”

“The hero is the one with ideas.”

“Vision isn’t enough—it must be combined with venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps; we must step up the stairs.”

“If you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn't be able to sit down for weeks.”

“When leaders fail to empower others, it is usually due to three main reasons: 1. Desire for Job Security 2. Resistance to Change 3. Lack of Self-Worth”

“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!”