“This helps me ‘keep the main thing, the main thing,’ since I am so easily distracted.” You may want to do something similar,

“How do I identify the top 20 percent influencers/producers in my organization?” I suggest that you make a list of everyone in your company or department. Then ask yourself this question about each individual: “If this person takes a negative action against me or withdraws his or her support from me, what will the impact likely be?”

“The ability to ask the right question is more than half the battle of finding the answer.”

“German poet Herman Hesse wrote, “If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.” I agree with his viewpoint.”

“«En el control de calidad no nos preocupa el producto, nos preocupa el proceso. Si el proceso es correcto, el producto está garantizado». Lo mismo se aplica a la integridad: garantiza la credibilidad.”

“Before you attempt to set things right, make sure you see things right.”

“Improving your abilities in high-priority areas is always a good investment in yourself that will pay off in the long run.”

“I got to the top the hard way—fighting my own laziness and ignorance every step of the way.”

“People don’t remember what we think is important; they remember what they think is important.”

“KEY CONCEPT: Connecting begins when the other person feels valued.”

“when you find yourself, you find your audience.”

“Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.”

“The Constitution guarantees free speech, but it doesn’t guarantee listeners.”

“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!”

“Excellence connects.”