Leadership Thought: Closing the Drawers of My Leadership File Cabinet with Some Thoughts I Hope Will Make a Difference in Your Life.

Dear Friends,

As the week comes to an end, I thought I would close out this week’s "Leadership Thoughts" by leaving you will some of my favorite leadership quotes.  They are not only meant to be shared and enjoyed, but to be lived and applied and to ultimately make a difference in how you live your life. I trust that you will find one or two of them that are worth fixing to your bathroom mirror as an ever-present reminder of how to live your life as a leader and as a Christ follower. Enjoy:

“The best way to inspire change is to be it.”

“He who thinks he is leading when no one else is following, is only taking a walk.” Chinese Proverb

“Live in such a way that you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.” Will Rogers

“Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” James Michener

“A clear conscience never fears mid night knocking.” Chinese Proverb

“If you want to travel fast, go alone; if you want to travel far, take someone with you.”

“Reflection turns experience into insight.”

“The only one not rowing has time to rock the boat.”

“To ignore evil is to be a partner to it”. Martin Luther King.

“In unjust situations, when you remain neutral, you join the side of the oppressors. If an elephant’s foot is on the tail of a mouse, and you claim neutrality, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” Desmond Tuto

“Touch a person’s heart before you ask him for his hand.”

“Nothing improves a person’s hearing like a little praise.”

After two years following a fall that impacted Zig Ziglar’s life, he wrote this: “I have good days and other days. You know there are no bad days. After all some people didn’t wake up today, so compared to them, I’m having a better-than-good day!”

“The question to be asked at the end of an educational step is not what has the student learned but what has the student become.”

“The only thing that walks back from the grave and refuses to be buried is the character of a man.”

“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you will be the way you act.”

"It is easier to act your way into a new set or feelings than to feel your way into a new set of actions."

Long ago I memorized the poem, "The Touch of the Masters Hand", one of my favorite poems. It’s too long to include, but google it, and maybe you too will memorize it. It's the story of life.

“Growth determines who you are, and who you are determines who you will become, and who you will become determines who you will attract.”

“Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts we wasted, of all that we might have done that we did not do.” Gian Carlo Menotti

“The secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up.” Albert Schweitzer

“When you place a premium on growth, you take whatever talent you have and you increase it.”

I hope I have given you some thoughtful leadership inspiration that will impact your life each and every day.

However, the greatest leadership thought I can leave with you is this: God loves you; He died for you, and He gifted you with abundant and eternal life.” The question each one of us must daily ask of ourselves is “What will I do to show my gratitude and appreciation for this gift?”

Have a wonderful weekend.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom