Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the senior most levels of organizations who are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them. And I know many people who are at the bottom of organizations who have no authority and they are absolutely leaders.
The same people that have stripped us of our identity, and labeled us as a color, have told us what it means to be black, and the vernacular that we are supposed to have.
Bold leadership is clarity around and an unreasonable commitment to what should be.
Bold leaders refuse to be cowed by the 'how'.
We all know that a good example is more effective than advice. So set a good example, and it won't take long for others to follow.
The first requirement for being a successful manager is to make sure that you have the authority to carry out your responsibilities, and second that your people know what is expected of them.
Some members wonder why their priesthood leaders will not accept them just as they are and simply comfort them in what they call pure Christian love. Pure Christian love, the love of Christ, does not presuppose approval of all conduct. Surely the ordinary experiences of parenthood teach that one can be consumed with love for another and yet be unable to approve unworthy conduct. ...If we, out of sympathy, should approve unworthy conduct, it might give present comfort to someone but would not ultimately contribute to that person’s happiness.
As a leader, it’s important to explain to your employees what their role is. Often, you want the employees’ input or recommendation, but you will decide. They need to know that asking for their ideas doesn’t give them veto power.
It sounds as if you may be encountering some ambiguity over these decision rights, or the person might be feeling unheard. My own approach is to begin by getting as many facts on the table as possible—by exploring the benefits and the costs—and to explain how the decision rights will work. After the decision has been made, I reiterate the pluses and minuses I’ve heard from them—in part to prove I was listening. I explain the decision, and give it my support. Then I ask them to help me make the decision a success. Once the decision has been made, I want their commitment rather than more questioning.
Formal leaders include anyone with supervisory responsibilities; informal leaders include opinion leaders, employees who may not have any formal authority, but have the trust and respect of their peers.
“It is a little dangerous for us to go out of our own sphere and try unauthoritatively to direct the efforts of a brother. You remember the case of Uzzah who stretched forth his hand to steady the ark. He seemed justified when the oxen stumbled in putting forth his hand to steady that symbol of the covenant. We today think his punishment was very severe. Be that as it may, the incident conveys a lesson of life. Let us look around us and see how quickly men who attempt unauthoritatively to steady the ark die spiritually. Their souls become embittered, their minds distorted, their judgment faulty, and their spirit depressed. Such is the pitiable condition of men who, neglecting their own responsibilities, spend their time in finding fault with others.”
Freedom, by definition, is people realizing that they are their own leaders.
Great bosses play chess not checkers. Think about the difference. In checkers, all the pieces are basically the same. That’s a poor model for leadership because nobody wants to feel like a faceless cog in the proverbial wheel. In chess, on the other hand, each piece has a unique role, unique abilities, and unique limitations.
The CEO of an aircraft company should know how to design aircraft, not spreadsheets.
The leaders of this Church are the most practical men in it...Our theory is that a man who cannot sustain himself and also teach others how to sustain themselves is unfit for a leading position...
But being a leader doesn’t mean you can’t ask questions; good leaders are, by definition, voracious learners, relentlessly probing the people around them for ideas and insight. They are voracious relationship builders, too, really getting to know everyone in the business who can open their eyes to the “who, what, and when” of the job. Obviously, you don’t want to seem clueless. But you do want to appear deeply inquisitive about every aspect of your business and passionate about what your people think it will take to win. Those traits won’t undermine your authority. They’ll enlarge it.
Being in charge of something new starts the game all over again, no matter what you’ve done before.
But business these days changes too fast and has too many variables for any manager to ever have the sustained sense of security most of us yearn for. Indeed, part of being a leader today is being able to live with an uh-oh feeling in your stomach all the time.
Instead, consider the proposition that feeling a bit overwhelmed and under-informed is a positive thing, for both you and your business. Everyone knows that too much confidence can lead to arrogance and a kind of “that’s how we do it around here” inertia.
If leadership is mostly about influence--and it is--then the ability to communicate a vision and motivate people to move toward that vision is the single most important characteristic a leader can have.
I think that there's a natural attraction to enigmatic characters, people that have decided to make a decision in their lives to live differently than everyone else. That's a very attractive quality that also happens to be good for filmmaking, people that have their own point of view and aren't looking at things the same way as everyone else.
If you don’t have data, you lead by anecdotes.
The biggest impediment to success is rarely a lack of ideas or strategies—it’s an inability to influence people to carry out those ideas or strategies. In others words, it’s a failure of leadership.
The most oft-squandered leadership moment is the first conversation. The purpose of this conversation is not small talk. It isn’t about making friends. It’s not about impressing them. It’s about influencing them.
Real leaders don’t “give assignments”—they ask for commitments.
Leadership is intentional influence. It isn’t the vacuous or mystical thing that so many writers claim. It is a systematic process of influencing human beings to achieve important results. It’s about mobilizing behavior in the service of valued goals. At the end of the day, if behavior isn’t changing, you aren’t leading.
For all the attention being given to top management teams these days, my reading of the management literature is that successful organizations almost always are led by a single, talented and courageous human being.
The most engaging and powerful statements of corporate vision, by contrast, invariably are the product of a single intelligence, set forth by a leader willing to take the risk of establishing collective purposes that lie just beyond what others believe to be the limits of the organization’s capability.
When leaders share their opinions before hearing others’, they inadvertently “anchor” the discussion, causing others to sway to the opinion of the boss. So, if you’re the boss seeking input, hold your tongue until after your team members have spoken.
Individuals who shout, threaten, demean, insult, and curse others aren’t admired. They may be feared, or even loathed, but they’re never admired. “Country club” bosses who don’t step up to problems for fear of being accused of being hardnosed or controlling aren’t respected either. They’re criticized for showing no moxie and allowing problems to fester. Who’s left? Individuals who step up to problems and manage to keep their emotions in check (even when they strongly disagree) and who do so in a respectful fashion—these are the people who are regularly singled out as the best person to work for, and with.
Being a leader, it's the art of trying to find the balance, the right times with each individual and what they need at that moment. It requires looking outward as opposed to looking inside.
The topic of leadership is a touchy one. A lot of leaders fail because they don't have the bravery to touch that nerve or strike that chord. Throughout my years, I haven't had that fear.
All leaders are teachers.
Leaders need to be firm and unyielding in their warnings against sinful behavior but merciful and kind to those who sin.
When making any changes or exceptions for one person, leaders should consider the effect those changes may have on others.
Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.
As an IT Manager I think one of, if not the biggest, challenge facing employee productivity in corporate America is the almost complete lack of basic people management skills among managers, let alone Leadership Skills. More often than not, new managers are run through a 1 week class on how not to run afoul of HR and how to keep their direct-reports from tarring-and-feathering them on company time, and that's if there's any training at all.
Not all the Brethren have been businessmen, but most have had extraordinarily successful careers by the time they are called to be an Apostle. As President Spencer W. Kimball once pointed out, the ability to lead people and an organization is a more-than-helpful attribute in a Church of millions of people, especially when combined with spiritual depth and a rich understanding of the gospel.
Occupying a leadership position is not the same thing as leading. To lead, you must be able to connect, motivate, and inspire a sense of ownership of shared objectives.
We ought to listen as carefully to those we supervise as to those who supervise us. You and I are usually pretty good at paying attention upward, but we are not nearly as good at heeding that which comes from other directions. Likewise, while parents are to teach their children, my, how we can learn from them at times!
We should, therefore, without being artificial, regularly give deserved, specific praise. One of the reasons for doing this is that we are all so very conscious of our shortcomings that it takes a persistent pattern of appreciation to finally penetrate. We are so certain, sometimes, we do not really have a particular skill or attribute that we severely discount praise. One of the reasons we need regular praise from "outside auditors" is to offset the low level of self-acknowledgment most of us have.
Commending communications ought to flow from us without too much concern with "the balance of trade." There is a straight and narrow path of communication, and off to each side are the perils and pitfalls of poor communication that is too caustic, too flattering, too little, too much, too general, too narrow, too soon, and too late. In the case of commendation in particular, sometimes it comes too late to be maximally helpful. Further, if we are not careful (and there is this tendency sometimes in the Church), we may be a little artificial and flowery. We are quick to discern undeserved praise, which we then discount—along with the credibility of the giver. Sometimes we even communicate too soon. We have all had the experience as parents of being so anxious to praise our children that we sometimes overpraise them before their job is done.
We ought to build a climate around us in which we are, in all situations, open to the comments of others. We should not make it too expensive emotionally for others to try to communicate with us. If it is too hard to do so, people will just pull back. If we are too well protected and too well defended, they are not going to extend themselves overmuch in an effort to communicate with us. It is difficult to say which is most dangerous—the mote in one's eye or the moat around his "castle" that keeps out the needed communications, involving correction, counsel, or commendation.
Perhaps our difficulties with receiving justified reproof stem from our thinking of love as being all sweetness. Love surely includes sweetness. But love must sometimes be tough love, sinew as well as sweetness. So it is with loving communication also.
If our efforts to communicate with someone are tied to their role rather than our regard for them, these efforts will not survive when that individual's role changes. If our friendship is a matter of function, what do we do when the function is changed or dissolved—cease caring? This is a bigger block to communication than we may care to acknowledge. While the blocks that seem to get in the way of brotherly communication include the obvious, much restraint no doubt reflects the fact that communication is not risk-free. Communication opens the windows of our soul—and what is inside will be seen. Communication, of course, needs to take careful account of the realities of our mortal relationships in order to avoid errors.
Thus one of the biggest blocks to Christian communication is that we are so afraid of being misunderstood. So, when in doubt, we withhold. Yet Paul said to speak the truth in love; we can then take the chance. We worry (and understandably so) that some communications will only produce more distance. But silence is very risky, too.
Usually, when we do not know somebody, it is difficult for us to trust them, and this becomes a restraint upon communication and growth. Opening the windows of the soul helps us to build healthy relationships. But if those windows are always closed or the blinds are drawn, it is difficult to help; one simply does not know what is needed.
Our self-esteem is stretched, however, only as we are stretched, and true humility includes believing in and exploring our own possibilities.
Besides, a neighbor is apt to hold to a view all the more until he has a chance to explain it. Counsel is more apt to be received after listening has occurred.
If we received a genuine and regular flow of deserved recognition and appreciation, we would be freed from the concerns over whether or not we are valued and whether or not we are going to get credit for something. We would know that we are valued—whether or not a particular idea of ours makes its way through the network successfully! When life is seen as good, a bad day can easily be absorbed.
Our pride should not hold us hostage when we have erred, nor should we mourn our mistakes for the wrong reasons. Yet correction, when it comes, is seldom welcome, and often the issue becomes "Can we take it?" Yet those who have proved that they can "take it" usually have so much to give!
Effective communication provides much of the material out of which rich relationships are made.
Let us in our ministry be nondiscriminatory in the giving of commendation. True, he who is down spirited needs to be lifted up. True, those who are fledglings in the faith may need extra encouragement and deserved, specific praise. But meanwhile, let us not forget the often unnoticed, faithful veterans, lest, like the son who stayed loyally at home and saw the banquet and benefactions given to the prodigal son, the faithful wonder if they are truly appreciated. Let us not assume that another has no need of commendation. Let us give it even if the other does not seem to need it, for we need to give commendation in any event.
Let us never unwittingly turn others in the direction of the praise of the world merely because they are so starved for the praise of the righteous!
Good managers are magnets of talent. Bad managers are repellents of it.
You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat treat secretaries, janitors, waitresses, etc.
Leaders do NOT need to finish first. They need to get everyone across the finish line.
History teaches it is a mistake to have too many convictions, held with equal certitude and tenacity. They crowd each other out. A great leader is someone who can distinguish between the essential and the peripheral – between what must be done and what is merely desirable.
What successful statesmanship in the past teaches us, again and again, is that clarity of aim is paramount...
A superior who works on his own development sets an almost irresistible example.
Too often we, as leaders, treat individuals as cogs in the machine—interchangeable parts to be hired and used. Sometimes we use them up, discard them, and hire some more. This is the danger of literally believing the label that people are only “human resources.” Your concern for the individual is an important starting point for solving this problem.
When we allow someone to stay in their position and it results in others being abused, team values being sacrificed, and work being inefficient, it’s not compassion, it’s negligence. The difficult challenge of leadership requires balancing our concern for all the stakeholders and working through their often conflicting needs.
At a minimum, direct reports deserve their leader’s honest evaluation of their work. They deserve targeted, behaviorally specific feedback, and improvement suggestions. Anything less shortchanges the individual and undercuts team and organizational effectiveness.
Many leaders assume the problem with poor performers is they lack motivation; therefore, the obvious way to fix the problem is to motivate their employees. However, motivation is only one of three possible causes of poor performance. It is also possible that the employee wants to perform but is unable to do so because of a lack of skills, knowledge, or resources.
To try and skill up the unmotivated is a waste of time and resources. To motivate the unable only creates depression, not progress.
Responsible leaders care about their people—the one and the many. They don’t callously fire individuals, nor do they allow a single employee to disrespect, abuse, or negatively impact others. They don’t demand change without helping people have the means to change and reasonable time to do it. Responsible leaders give actionable feedback and recognize progress. And they follow through.
Another common mistake leaders make is to put our concern about individuals above all other people in the organization. We often hold on to problematic individuals or underperformers at the expense of fellow teammates.
Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.
Great leaders have great vision—the ability to see situations clearly and the impact these situations will have on future outcomes. Often, for many reasons, leaders suffer from impaired vision. Some leaders are nearsighted, having the ability to see objectives and situations that are close. Others are farsighted and can properly see objectives that are far away. When it comes to accountability, the goal of every leader should be twenty-twenty vision. We should be able to see each situation for its ability to impact objectives that are both near and far.
"There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority. But those who lead inspire us. Whether they are individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead not for them but for ourselves and its those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them"
Jesus operated from a base of fixed principles or truths rather than making up the rules as he went along. Thus, his leadership style was not only correct, but also constant.
Jesus said several times, “Come, follow me.” His was a program of “do what I do,” rather than “do what I say.” His innate brilliance would have permitted him to put on a dazzling display, but that would have left his followers far behind. He walked and worked with those he was to serve. His was not a long-distance leadership. He was not afraid of close friendships; he was not afraid that proximity to him would disappoint his followers. The leaven of true leadership cannot lift others unless we are with and serve those to be led.
Because Jesus loved his followers, he was able to level with them, to be candid and forthright with them. He reproved Peter at times because he loved him, and Peter, being a great man, was able to grow from this reproof. There is a wonderful verse in the book of Proverbs all of us need to remember: “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. “He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” (Prov. 15:31–32.) It is a wise leader or a wise follower who can cope with the “reproof of life.” Peter could do this because he knew that Jesus loved him, and thus Jesus was able to groom Peter for a very high place or responsibility in the kingdom.
Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual. We can show forth our love for others even when we are called upon to correct them. We need to be able to look deeply enough into the lives of others to see the basic causes for their failures and shortcomings.
The Savior’s leadership was selfless. He put himself and his own needs second and ministered to others beyond the call of duty, tirelessly, lovingly, effectively. So many of the problems in the world today spring from selfishness and self-centeredness in which too many make harsh demands of life and others in order to meet their demands. This is a direct reversal of the principles and practices pursued so perfectly by that perfect example of leadership, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus’ leadership emphasized the importance of being discerning with regard to others, without seeking to control them. He cared about the freedom of his followers to choose. Even he, in those moments that mattered so much, had to choose voluntarily to go through Gethsemane and to hang on the cross at Calvary. He taught us that there can be no growth without real freedom. One of the problems with manipulative leadership is that it does not spring from a love of others but from a need to use them. Such leaders focus on their own needs and desires and not on the needs of others.
Jesus knew how to involve his disciples in the process of life. He gave them important and specific things to do for their development. Other leaders have sought to be so omnicompetent that they have tried to do everything themselves, which produces little growth in others. Jesus trusts his followers enough to share his work with them so that they can grow. That is one of the greatest lessons of his leadership. If we brush other people aside in order to see a task done more quickly and effectively, the task may get done all right, but without the growth and development in followers that is so important. Because Jesus knows that this life is purposeful and that we have been placed on this planet in order to perform and grow, growth then becomes one of the great ends of life as well as a means. We can give corrective feedback to others in a loving and helpful way when mistakes are made.
Jesus gave people truths and tasks that were matched to their capacity. He did not overwhelm them with more than they could manage, but gave them enough to stretch their souls. Jesus was concerned with basics in human nature and in bringing about lasting changes, not simply cosmetic changes.
Jesus taught us that we are accountable not only for our actions but also for our very thoughts. This is so important for us to remember. We live in an age that stresses “no-fault insurance”—and “no fault” in other human behavior as well. Accountability is not possible, of course, without fixed principles. A good leader will remember he is accountable to God as well as to those he leads. By demanding accountability of himself, he is in a better position, therefore, to see that others are accountable for their behavior and their performance. People tend to perform at a standard set by their leaders.
Conversely, those leaders in history who have been most tragic in their impact on mankind were tragic precisely because they lacked to almost any degree the qualities of the Man of Galilee. Where Jesus was selfless, they were selfish. Where Jesus was concerned with freedom, they were concerned with control. Where Jesus was concerned with service, they were concerned with status. Where Jesus met the genuine needs of others, they were concerned only with their own needs and wants. Where Jesus was concerned with the development of his disciples, they sought to manipulate mortals. Where Jesus was filled with compassion balanced by justice, they have so often been filled with harshness and injustice.
I make no apology for giving something of the accomplishments of Jesus Christ to those who seek success as leaders. If we would be eminently successful, here is our pattern. All the ennobling, perfect, and beautiful qualities of maturity, of strength, and of courage are found in this one person. As a large, surly mob, armed to the teeth, came to take him prisoner, he faced them resolutely and said, “Whom seek ye?” The mob, startled, mumbled his name, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I am he,” answered Jesus of Nazareth with pride and courage—and with power: the soldiers “went backward, and fell to the ground.” A second time he said, “Whom seek ye?” and when they named him, he said, “I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these [his disciples] go their way.” (John 18:4–8).
Perhaps the most important thing I can say about Jesus Christ, more important than all else I have said, is that he lives. He really does embody all those virtues and attributes the scriptures tell us of. If we can come to know that, we then know the central reality about man and the universe. If we don’t accept that truth and that reality, then we will not have the fixed principles or the transcendent truths by which to live out our lives in happiness and in service. In other words, we will find it very difficult to be significant leaders unless we recognize the reality of the perfect leader, Jesus Christ, and let him be the light by which we see the way!
He is an effective leader because he has this ability to develop and cultivate the best in others.
Leadership is getting results in a way that inspires trust.
Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based on mutual benefit - in other words, when we genuinely care not only for ourselves, but also for the people we interact with, lead, or serve.
A symbolic action is any action you take where other people who are watching will walk away having concluded what you care about, what your priorities are, and even what you value. Now for those of you who have leadership positions, what percentage of your actions would you guess are symbolic? Did you guess 100%? If you did, you would be correct; it’s everything you do, or don’t do.
Titles and designations are like those superhero suits. They are mere tools. It is a leader who gives identity to the suit; It is never the suit that makes a leader.
If people see their leader just dipping their toe in, they will think, rightly, that the effort probably won't amount to much. Consequently, the leader sees a lukewarm response in his or her people and on that basis decides it isn't worth the effort. But that same leader is blind to the biggest reason for the observed reaction: the people have a tepid response because they see the leader's tepid response.
Remember, the principle to apply is, as far as I am concerned, the problem is me. I am the place to start. Others responses will depend mostly on what they see in me.
Leadership is more than a word when we remember that the power to lead is also the power to mislead, and the power to mislead is the power to destroy.
Our service is to save souls. May I suggest five helpful guidelines: 1. Take time to think 2. Make room for faith. The prophet Isaiah declared that man's ways are not God's ways. (Isaiah 55:8.) 3. Stand firm for truth. Our leaders of youth become the stable force, the port of safety in the storm-tossed seas, the watchman on the tower, even the guide at the crossroads. Youth looks to us. How do we stand? May we answer: 4. Reach out to help 5. Provide place for prayer. Our task is larger than ourselves. We need God's divine help.
Some may question, But what is the value of such an illustrious list of heroes, even a private Hall of Fame? I answer: When we obey as did Adam, endure as did Job, teach as did Paul, testify as did Peter, serve as did Nephi, give ourselves as did the Prophet Joseph, respond as did Ruth, honor as did Mary, and live as did Christ, we are born anew. All power becomes ours. Cast off forever is the old self, and with it defeat, despair, doubt, and disbelief. To a newness of life we come—a life of faith, hope, courage, and joy. No task looms too large. No responsibility weighs too heavily. No duty is a burden. All things become possible.
When a member of your bishopric stopped by your home and asked that you serve the Lord as a Scoutmaster, a teacher of a Beehive class, or perhaps a secretary or executive in the Sunday School, did you actually stop and contemplate the true meaning of your acceptance? Did you look upon your assignment in terms of twenty-four Boy Scouts, or twelve Beehive girls, or perhaps an obligation to devote two hours each Sunday morning? Or did you reflect upon the real meaning of your opportunity as the words of the Lord found lodgment in your heart: "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." (D&C 18:10.) If so, you were humbled as you became aware that God, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son had chosen you to play a vital role in a glorious cause. "This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.)
When a member of your bishopric stopped by your home and asked that you serve the Lord as a Scoutmaster, a teacher of a Beehive class, or perhaps a secretary or executive in the Sunday School, did you actually stop and contemplate the true meaning of your acceptance? Did you look upon your assignment in terms of twenty-four Boy Scouts, or twelve Beehive girls, or perhaps an obligation to devote two hours each Sunday morning? Or did you reflect upon the real meaning of your opportunity as the words of the Lord found lodgment in your heart: "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." (D&C 18:10.) If so, you were humbled as you became aware that God, our Eternal Father, and His Beloved Son had chosen you to play a vital role in a glorious cause. "This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.) First, the successful leader has faith. He recognizes that the greatest force in this world today is the power of God as it works through man. He takes comfort from the very real assurance that divine help can be his blessing. He is, through his faith, a believer in prayer, knowing that prayer provides power-spiritual power, and that prayer provides peace-spiritual peace. He knows and he teaches youth that the recognition of a power higher than man himself does not in any sense debase him; rather, it exalts him. He further declares, "If we will but realize that we have been created in the image of God, we will not find Him difficult to approach." This knowledge, acquired through faith, accounts for the inner calm that characterizes the successful leader. Second, the successful leader lives as he teaches. He is honest with others. He is honest with himself. He is honest with God. He is honest by habit and as a matter of course. Third, the successful leader works willingly. Formula "W" applies to him. What is Formula "W"? Simply this: Work will win when wishy-washy wishing won't. Victory is bound to come to him who gives all of himself to the cause he represents when there be truth in the cause. Fourth, the successful leader leads with love. Where love prevails in a class, discipline problems vanish. Fifth, the successful leader is prepared. In his mind, he has carefully stored full information with respect to his assignment. He knows the program. He knows what is expected of him. He does not approach his assignment just hoping or wishing for success. In his heart, he has made spiritual preparation, too. He has earned, through his faithfulness, the companionship of the Holy Spirit. He has knowledge to give. He has a testimony to share. Sixth, the successful leader achieves results. To begin with, he recognizes that no aim leads to no end. In short, he develops goals of accomplishment. If he be a Scoutmaster, he determines that each boy will achieve. You see such a leader at every court of honor in full uniform, his boys receiving award upon award. Their leader has taught them that we were not placed on earth to fail, but rather to succeed; that we cannot rest content with mediocrity when excellence is within our reach. Such a leader recognizes that his attitude determines his altitude. He knows full well that nothing is as contagious as enthusiasm, unless it is a lack of enthusiasm. He carries others to accomplishment through the sheer strength of his overwhelming desire to bring success to his assignment. The leader who gets the job done is one who inspires confidence, who motivates action, and who generates enthusiasm. You will ever recognize his work-for it will be well done.
At times the preparation period may appear dull, uninteresting, and even unnecessary. But experience continues to demonstrate that the future belongs to those who prepare for it. And if we are to become leaders, we cannot skimp on our preparation.
To be prepared spiritually for leadership overshadows all other types of preparation. A wise leader cautioned, "When you play, play hard. When you work, don't play at all." Leadership requires effort, hard work, a do-or-die philosophy. When we speak of work as an essential ingredient of leadership, we speak also of teamwork. Getting along with others must be part of our work and service pattern, or leadership assignments will pass us by. One cannot perform all of the needed work by himself. J. C. Penney, the business leader, advised, "My definition of leadership is brief and to the point. It is simply this: Getting things done through the aid of other people. Cooperativeness is not so much learning how to get along with others as taking the kinks out of yourself so that others can get along with you."
May each of us think big, prepare well, work hard, and live right, thereby finding success in life.
It has been said by one, years ago, that history turns on small hinges, and so do people's lives. Our lives will depend upon the decisions we make, for decisions determine destiny.
Think of the decision of a fourteen-year-old boy who had read that if anyone lacked wisdom, he should ask of God, "that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (James 1:5.) He made the decision to put to the test the epistle of James. He went into the grove and he prayed. Was that a minor decision? No—that was a decision that has affected all mankind and particularly all of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What are the important decisions our youth must make? First, what will be my faith. Second, whom shall I marry. And third, what will be my life's work.
My counsel to returning missionaries and to every youth is that they should study and prepare for their life's work in a field that they enjoy, because they are going to spend a good share of their lives in that field. I believe it should be a field that will challenge their intellect and a field that will make maximum utilization of their talents and their capabilities, and, finally, a field that will provide them sufficient remuneration to provide adequately for a companion and children. Such is a big order, but I bear testimony that these criteria are very important in choosing one's life's work.
During a momentous battle, a Japanese general decided to attack even though his army was greatly outnumbered. He was confident they would win, but his men were filled with doubt. On the way to the battle they stopped at a religious shrine. After praying with the men, the general took out a coin and said, “I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If tails, we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself.” He threw the coin into the air and all watched intently as it landed. It was heads. The soldiers were so overjoyed and filled with confidence that they vigorously attacked the enemy and were victorious. After the battle, a lieutenant remarked to the general, “No one can change destiny.” “Quite right,” the general replied as he showed the lieutenant the coin, which had heads on both sides.
There comes a point when one must make a decision. Are YOU willing to do what it takes to push the right buttons to elevate those around you? If the answer is YES, are you willing to push the right buttons even if it means being perceived as the villain? Here's where the true responsibility of being a leader lies.
Companies can never demand loyalty and motivation from their employees. They have to earn it from every individual they employ, and that's not easy when job security can no longer be taken for granted.
Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised. Usually it implies some risk — especially in new undertakings. Courage to initiate something and to keep it going, pioneering an adventurous spirit to blaze new ways, often, in our land of opportunity.
Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has shown judgement, wisdom, personal appeal, and proven competence.
Great Leaders Do What Drug Addicts Do
Leadership is understanding how to influence and empower others to discover and use their individual talents to reach their full potential.
A middle-school girl in pursuit of an iPhone will display all the characteristics of bold leadership: 1.Clarity: She knows exactly what she wants. 2.Focus: Everything else can wait. 3: Stubbornness: This is a virtue when you’re right. 4: Resourcefulness: If Mom won’t buy it, Dad will; if he won’t buy it, Grandma will; somehow I’m going to get my iPhone.
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business. It's as simple as that.
Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to.
Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the senior most levels of organizations who are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them. And I know many people who are at the bottom of organizations who have no authority and they are absolutely leaders.
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