The spirit of America has nurtured responsibility and community unlike any other country.
It takes a great deal of character strength to apologize quickly out of one's heart rather than out of pity. A person must possess himself and have a deep sense of security in fundamental principles and values in order to genuinely apologize.
Between stimulus and response, there is a space where we choose our response.
Every human has four endowments - self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom... The power to choose, to respond, to change.
The challenge of work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles faced by modern man.
Want balance in your life? Then sure, get your own act together, but don't forget four powerful disciplines of execution in your team and organization.
The average family spends 30 hours in front of a television, and they say they don't have the time to have a balanced, integrated life.
Our character is basically a composite of our habits. Because they are consistent, often unconcious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character.
Most people are basically a victim of the circumstances of their life. They have things like 9/11, they have terrorism threats, they have new war threats, they have economy problems, and they think, 'What can I do? I'm basically a victim.'
You can't talk your way out of problems you behave yourself into.
Public behavior is merely private character writ large.
When one side benefits more than the other, that's a win-lose situation. To the winner it might look like success for a while, but in the long run, it breeds resentment and distrust.
People and organizations don't grow much without delegation and completed staff work because they are confined to the capacities of the boss and reflect both personal strengths and weaknesses.
The bottom line is, when people are crystal clear about the most important priorities of the organization and team they work with and prioritized their work around those top priorities, not only are they many times more productive, they discover they have the time they need to have a whole life.
Employers and business leaders need people who can think for themselves - who can take initiative and be the solution to problems.
We need to have business leaders who live by deep, strong principles.
A cardinal principle of Total Quality escapes too many managers: you cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.
We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.
If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience, you will find your definition of success.
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.