“Dale Carnegie was a master at identifying potential leaders. Once asked by a reporter how he had managed to hire forty-three millionaires, Carnegie responded that the men had not been millionaires when they started working for him. They had become millionaires as a result. The reporter next wanted to know how he had developed these men to become such valuable leaders. Carnegie replied, “Men are developed the same way gold is mined. Several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold. But you don’t go into the mine looking for dirt,” he added. “You go in looking for the gold.” That’s exactly the way to develop positive, successful people. Look for the gold, not the dirt; the good, not the bad. The more positive qualities you look for, the more you are going to find.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The beauty of trust is that it erases worry and frees you to get on with other matters. Trust means confidence.”
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John C. Maxwell
“The happiest people are those who have invested their time in others. The unhappiest people are those who wonder how the world is going to make them happy.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Attitude is one of the most contagious qualities a human being possesses.”
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John C. Maxwell
“if you don't have peace, it isn't because someone took it from you; you gave it away. You cannot always control what happens to you, but you can control what happens in you.”
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John C. Maxwell
“John W. Gardner observed, “If I had to name a single all-purpose instrument of leadership, it would be communication.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Real leaders have something to give, and they give it freely. Anthony DeMello saw a starving child shivering in the cold. Angrily he lifted his eyes to heaven and said, “God, how could you allow such suffering? Why don’t you do something?” There was a long silence and then DeMello was startled when he heard the voice of God answer him, “I certainly have done something—I made you.”
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John C. Maxwell
“If you keep nonproductive people, the productive ones become frustrated and leave. If you remove the people who don’t add value, then the whole team gets better. It’s just like trimming trees: If you don’t cut the deadwood, eventually the whole tree falls. But if you remove the deadwood, the tree becomes healthier, the healthy branches produce more, and there’s room for productive new branches on the tree.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Discernment can be described as the ability to find the root of the matter, and it relies on intuition as well as rational thought.”
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John C. Maxwell
“One of the reasons that problem solving is so difficult is that we are often too close to the problems to truly understand them.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. —Bernard Montgomery,”
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John C. Maxwell
“The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it.”
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John C. Maxwell
“You can’t stop people from thinking—but you can start them.”
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John C. Maxwell
“Good leaders motivate others by their listening skills. We are to: avoid prejudicial first impressions; become less self-centered; withhold initial criticism; stay calm; listen with empathy; be active listeners; clarify what we hear; and recognize the healing power of listening. Then we are to act on what we hear”
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John C. Maxwell