Proven Leader Quotes

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Success is not just about what you achieve, but also about how you impact others. Be a leader, inspire those around you, and leave a lasting legacy.
Shubham Shukla (Career's Quest: Proven Strategies for Mastering Success in Your Profession: Networking and Building Professional Relationships)
Depression, somehow, is much more in line with society's notions of what women are all about: passive, sensitive, hopeless, helpless, stricken, dependent, confused, rather tiresome, and with limited aspirations. Manic states, on the other hand, seem to be more the provenance of men: restless, fiery, aggressive, volatile, energetic, risk taking, grandiose and visionary, and impatient with the status quo. Anger or irritability in men, under such circumstances, is more tolerated and understandable; leaders or takers of voyages are permitted a wider latitude for being temperamental. Journalists and other writers, quite understandably, have tended to focus on women and depression, rather than women and mania. This is not surprising: depression is twice as common in women as men. But manic-depressive illness occurs equally often in women and men, and, being a relatively common condition, mania ends up affecting a large number of women. They, in turn, often are misdiagnosed, receive poor, if any, psychiatric treatment, and are at high risk for suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, and violence. But they, like men who have manic-depressive illness, also often contribute a great deal of energy, fire, enthusiasm, and imagination to the people and world around them.
Kay Redfield Jamison (An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness)
You can’t afford to limit your joy. It has been proven several times that angry people are never happy people.
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Frontpage: Leadership Insights from 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Thoughts)
My littermates said I was too small...too weak. But I have proven them wrong. I've learned how to live for blood. Because that's the key. The only answer. I am leader of BloodClan. I am Scourge. And I have won!
Erin Hunter (The Rise of Scourge (Warriors Manga))
When people follow a leader because they have to, they will do only what they have to. People don’t give their best to leaders they like least. They give reluctant compliance, not commitment. They may give their hands but certainly not their heads or hearts.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Once upon a time millions applauded and supported Adolf Hitler; ignorant masses often cannot see the simple truths and evidently they do not have the ability to see the very clear ends! The stupidity of the ignorant masses has been proven thousands of times in the history! Each time they follow the wrong leader and in the end fall in the cesspool!
Mehmet Murat ildan
...Spinoza’s Conjecture:“Belief comes quickly and naturally, skepticism is slow and unnatural, and most people have a low tolerance for ambiguity. The scientific principle that a claim is untrue unless proven otherwise runs counter to our natural tendency to accept as true that which we can comprehend quickly. Thus it is that we should reward skepticism and disbelief, and champion those willing to change their mind in the teeth of new evidence. Instead, most social institutions-most notably those in religion, politics, and economics-reward belief in the doctrines of the faith or party or ideology, punish those who challenge the authority of the leaders, and discourage uncertainty and especially skepticism.
Michael Shermer
Moreover, events often move too quickly to allow for precise calculation; leaders have to make judgments based on intuitions and hypotheses that cannot be proven at the time of decision. Management of risk is as critical to the leader as analytical skill.
Henry Kissinger (Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy)
To be effective, leaders must always be learners. You can never arrive - you can only strive to get better.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
a project leader should always work with proven technologies in most of the systems as far as possible and experiment only from multiple resources.
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Wings of Fire)
Clearly, if leaders have a strong set of ethical values and live them out, then people will respect them, not just their position. Immature leaders try to use their position to drive high performance.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
I know that words cannot move mountains, but they can move the multitude - we've proven that time and time again. People are more ready to fight and die for a word than for anything else. Words shape thought, stir feeling, and force action. They kill and revive, corrupt and cure. If being an iterator has taught me anything, it's that men of words - priests, prophets and intellectuals - have played a more decisive role in history than any military leaders or statesmen." - Kyril Sindermann
Graham McNeill (False Gods (The Horus Heresy, #2))
When we buy into those limiting and marginalizing stories, our souls are in exile. We spend our days worrying about pleasing others rather than doing what’s right for us—and, ultimately, what’s right for our families, our community, and our world.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Can I get my swans?" Reyna asked. Hildar turned to her. "Freya does not have swans." "Right," Matt said. "I got that wrong. Sorry. Freya is said to be the leader of the Valkyries, who are swan maidens." "We are not swan maidens," Hildar said, straightening and lifting her sword. "But you can turn into swans." "No, we are not swans." "Not even vicious killer swans?" Reyna asked. "No." "Okay, but I'm still your leader, right, Like Matt said, Freya -" "No." Hildar hesitated. "You are not battle proven. You may lead us one day. But we are still not swans.
K.L. Armstrong (Odin's Ravens (The Blackwell Pages, #2))
The West has to take a critical look at itself and examine the apparent double standards at work that allow it to attack Iraq for possessing weapons of mass destruction but not North Korea, whose leader shared Saddam Hussein's megalomaniacal qualities; that permit it to rail against Iran about nuclear weapons but be silent about Israel's arsenal; that allow it to only selectively demand enforcement of UN resolutions. The West has to own up to the mistakes it has made: such as with Abu Ghraib and the torture in Afghan prisons; in the errant attacks on civilians; in its disregard for the basic precept of a civilized legal system, which maintains that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.
Kathy Gannon (I Is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror: 18 Years Inside Afghanistan)
Don’t run down your checklist. There is a tendency, even for senior leaders, to use meetings with a boss as an opportunity to run through your checklist of what you’ve been doing. Sometimes this is appropriate, but it is rarely what your boss needs or wants to hear. You should assume she wants to focus on the most important things you’re trying to do and how she can help.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
At times we think it might be easier to play small, to hide, and, for a time, it might be. But the soul’s calling is much more powerful. It never goes away. Listening to it brings us energy, peace, and a sense of excitement. Denying it—resisting our calling—is a path into the abyss of despair. We then look to food, alcohol, and unhealthy sexual partners to soothe our agony.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Join the PKM community. On Twitter, LinkedIn, Substack, Medium, or your platform(s) of choice, follow and subscribe to thought leaders and join communities who are creating content related to personal knowledge management (#PKM), #SecondBrain, #BASB, or #toolsforthought. Share your top takeaways from this book or anything else you’ve realized or discovered. There’s nothing more effective for adopting new behaviors than surrounding yourself with people who already have them.
Tiago Forte (Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential)
As we lead organizations—businesses, nonprofits, and churches—size doesn’t matter as much as another crucial factor. The biggest difference between leaders of large organizations and small organizations isn’t their location, the size of their building, the scope of the vision, the number of staff members, or their talent. In fact, some of the best leaders I’ve ever met have small organizations. But in all my consulting and conferences, I’ve seen a single factor: leaders of larger organizations have proven they can handle more pain.
Samuel R. Chand (Leadership Pain: The Classroom for Growth)
The scientific principle that a claim is untrue unless proven otherwise runs counter to our natural tendency to accept as true that which we can comprehend quickly. Thus it is that we should reward skepticism and disbelief, and champion those willing to change their mind in the teeth of new evidence. Instead, most social institutions—most notably those in religion, politics, and economics—reward belief in the doctrines of the faith or party or ideology, punish those who challenge the authority of the leaders, and discourage uncertainty and especially skepticism.
Michael Shermer (The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths)
A complete history of sexual scandal in Washington will probably never be written, because the public does not want to read a 20,000 page book that needs to be updated weekly (note to self: maybe they DO -- idea for next book). From the earliest days of the Republic, when our first Ambassador, Benjamin Franklin, fondled and groped the awestruck wives of his French hosts while on mission to Paris, shortly to be succeeded by the even-more-amorous Thomas Jefferson, who broke an ankle in the Louvre while leaping to an assignation with yet another married Frenchwoman, all the way down to our contemporary satyrs, the priapic Kennedys, Wilbur "Fanne Fox" Mills, "Slobbering Bob" Packwood, Bill "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Clinton, etc., our political leaders have repeatedly proven to be incredibly horny old goats.
Guillermo Jiménez (Red Genes, Blue Genes: Exposing Political Irrationality)
Information or allegations reflecting negatively on individuals or groups seen less sympathetically by the intelligentsia pass rapidly into the public domain with little scrutiny and much publicity. Two of the biggest proven hoaxes of our time have involved allegations of white men gang-raping a black woman-- first the Tawana Brawley hoax of 1987 and later the false rape charges against three Duke University students in 2006. In both cases, editorial indignation rang out across the land, without a speck of evidence to substantiate either of these charges. Moreover, the denunciations were not limited to the particular men accused, but were often extended to society at large, of whom these men were deemed to be symptoms or 'the tip of the iceberg.' In both cases, the charges fit a pre-existing vision, and that apparently made mundane facts unnecessary. Another widely publicized hoax-- one to which the President of the United States added his sub-hoax-- was a 1996 story appearing in USA Today under the headline, 'Arson at Black Churches Echoes Bigotry of the Past.' There was, according to USA Today, 'an epidemic of church burning,' targeting black churches. Like the gang-rape hoaxes, this story spread rapidly through the media. The Chicago Tribune referred to 'an epidemic of criminal and cowardly arson' leaving black churches in ruins. As with the gang-rape hoaxes, comments on the church fire stories went beyond those who were supposed to have set these fires to blame forces at work in society at large. Jesse Jackson was quoted was quoted in the New York Times as calling these arsons part of a 'cultural conspiracy' against blacks, which 'reflected the heightened racial tensions in the south that have been exacerbated by the assault on affirmative action and the populist oratory of Republican politicians like Pat Buchanan.' Time magazine writer Jack White likewise blamed 'the coded phrases' of Republican leaders for 'encouraging the arsonists.' Columnist Barbara Reynolds of USA Today said that the fires were 'an attempt to murder the spirit of black America.' New York Times columnist Bob Herbert said, "The fuel for these fires can be traced to a carefully crafted environment of bigotry and hatred that was developed over the last century.' As with the gang-rape hoaxes, the charges publicized were taken as reflecting on the whole society, not just those supposedly involved in what was widely presumed to be arson, rather than fires that break out for a variety of other reasons. Washington Post columnist Dorothy Gilliam said that society in effect was 'giving these arsonists permission to commit these horrible crimes.' The climax of these comments came when President Bill Clinton, in his weekly radio address, said that these church burnings recalled similar burnings of black churches in Arkansas when he was a boy. There were more that 2,000 media stories done on the subject after the President's address. This story began to unravel when factual research showed that (1) no black churches were burned in Arkansas when Bill Clinton was growing up, (2) there had been no increase in fires at black churches, but an actual decrease over the previous 15 years, (3) the incidence of fires at white churches was similar to the incidence of fires at black churches, and (4) where there was arson, one-third of the suspects were black. However, retractions of the original story-- where there were retractions at all-- typically were given far less prominence than the original banner headlines and heated editorial comments.
Thomas Sowell (Intellectuals and Society)
The newspapers, according to their political colour, urged punishment, eradication, colonisation or a crusade against the newts, a general strike, resignation of the government, the arrest of newt owners, the arrest of communist leaders and agitators and many other protective measures of this sort. People began frantically to stockpile food when rumours of the shores and ports being closed off began to spread, and the prices of goods of every sort soared; riots caused by rising prices broke out in the industrial cities; the stock exchange was closed for three days. It was simply the more worrying and dangerous than it had been at any time over the previous three or four months. But this was when the minister for agriculture, Monsieur Monti, stepped dexterously in. He gave orders that several hundred loads of apples for the newts should be discharged into the sea twice a week along the French coasts, at government cost, of course. This measure was remarkably successful in pacifying both the newts and the villagers in Normandy and elsewhere. But Monsieur Monti went even further: there had long been deep and serious disturbances in the wine-growing regions, resulting from a lack of turnover, so he ordered that the state should provide each newt with a half litre of white wine per day. At first the newts did not know what to do with this wine because it caused them serious diarrhoea and they poured it into the sea; but with a little time they clearly became used to it, and it was noticed that from then on the newts would show a lot more enthusiasm for sex, although with lower fertility rates than before. In this way, problems to do with the newts and with agriculture were solved in one stroke; fear and tension were assuaged, and, in short, the next time there was another government crisis, caused by the financial scandal around Madame Töppler, the clever and well proven Monsieur Monti became the minister for marine affairs in the new cabinet.
Karel Čapek (War with the Newts)
Of course, in the end a sense of mutual understanding isn’t enough. After all, talk is cheap; like any value, empathy must be acted upon. When I was a community organizer back in the eighties, I would often challenge neighborhood leaders by asking them where they put their time, energy, and money. Those are the true tests of what we value, I’d tell them, regardless of what we like to tell ourselves. If we aren’t willing to pay a price for our values, if we aren’t willing to make some sacrifices in order to realize them, then we should ask ourselves whether we truly believe in them at all. By these standards at least, it sometimes appears that Americans today value nothing so much as being rich, thin, young, famous, safe, and entertained. We say we value the legacy we leave the next generation and then saddle that generation with mountains of debt. We say we believe in equal opportunity but then stand idle while millions of American children languish in poverty. We insist that we value family, but then structure our economy and organize our lives so as to ensure that our families get less and less of our time. And yet a part of us knows better. We hang on to our values, even if they seem at times tarnished and worn; even if, as a nation and in our own lives, we have betrayed them more often than we care to remember. What else is there to guide us? Those values are our inheritance, what makes us who we are as a people. And although we recognize that they are subject to challenge, can be poked and prodded and debunked and turned inside out by intellectuals and cultural critics, they have proven to be both surprisingly durable and surprisingly constant across classes, and races, and faiths, and generations. We can make claims on their behalf, so long as we understand that our values must be tested against fact and experience, so long as we recall that they demand deeds and not just words. To do otherwise would be to relinquish our best selves.
Barack Obama (The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream)
Entrenched myth: Successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries. Contrary finding: The best leaders we studied did not have a visionary ability to predict the future. They observed what worked, figured out why it worked, and built upon proven foundations. They were not more risk taking, more bold, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons. They were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid. Entrenched myth: Innovation distinguishes 10X companies in a fast-moving, uncertain, and chaotic world. Contrary finding: To our surprise, no. Yes, the 10X cases innovated, a lot. But the evidence does not support the premise that 10X companies will necessarily be more innovative than their less successful comparisons; and in some surprise cases, the 10X cases were less innovative. Innovation by itself turns out not to be the trump card we expected; more important is the ability to scale innovation, to blend creativity with discipline. Entrenched myth: A threat-filled world favors the speedy; you’re either the quick or the dead. Contrary finding: The idea that leading in a “fast world” always requires “fast decisions” and “fast action”—and that we should embrace an overall ethos of “Fast! Fast! Fast!”—is a good way to get killed. 10X leaders figure out when to go fast, and when not to. Entrenched myth: Radical change on the outside requires radical change on the inside. Contrary finding: The 10X cases changed less in reaction to their changing world than the comparison cases. Just because your environment is rocked by dramatic change does not mean that you should inflict radical change upon yourself. Entrenched myth: Great enterprises with 10X success have a lot more good luck. Contrary finding: The 10X companies did not generally have more luck than the comparisons. Both sets had luck—lots of luck, both good and bad—in comparable amounts. The critical question is not whether you’ll have luck, but what you do with the luck that you get.
James C. Collins (Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All)
1. How can synagogue leaders transform those events already planned into Public Space Judaism events? 2. How can we reallocate our human and fiscal resources to make Public Space Judaism events a priority? 3. Who among our active participants and members would be most effective planning and implementing such events? Public Space Judaism events are only one way of turning your institution inside out. But they are proven, effective entry vehicles for finding people and engaging them. They are not meant to replace more intensive programs or activities for those who already part of your community. But they are a good way to begin the process of turning your institution completely inside out.
Kerry M. Olitzky (Playlist Judaism: Making Choices for a Vital Future)
Almost seventy-five percent of our leaders have come right out of Willow. These are people who have proven their character, competence, and chemistry fit while serving in volunteer positions within our ministry.
Bill Hybels (Courageous Leadership)
The opening of this letter is the easy part. Jesus praises the church for the positive things it is being and doing. The Lord repeats this pattern of opening each letter with encouraging words throughout this section of Scripture. Ironically, praise is crucial to recovery. It instills hope. Most men who struggle sexually have hidden their secret lives of sin for so long that they are hounded by a tremendous fear of being found out. If their fears come true, they may fall into a pit of despair. By contrast, it is the Lord’s nature to be gentle with his people, even when they are in sin. He truly is longsuffering. As the second chapter in Romans points out, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” (2:4). By offering praise, Jesus gently affirms his love for them. He continued to John in Revelation, “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols” (2:20). The Lord now transitions into the real issue. First, notice the use of the word tolerate. It appears this church knew what was going on but just looked the other way. Were the leaders merely putting up with open immorality? Not only that, but the woman somehow worked her way into a position of authority—a self-made leader. This situation isn’t unique to the first century. We see the same thing happening today. Many pastors refuse to believe that the men, women, and youth in their churches are viewing pornography and engaging in immoral sexual behaviors. Either they simply don’t want to believe it or they are trapped by the same problems and feel a lack of credibility to address those who are in the wrong. Today, the word tolerance is used as if it were a great virtue. I want to dispel this myth. No doubt God is patient, and we are all living proof of his patience. However, God is not tolerant in that he is consistent in what he does and doesn’t like in our behaviors and hearts. Otherwise Jesus would not have had to die for the sin of the world. The same things that upset him in Genesis upset him throughout Scripture. Remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
Douglas Weiss (Clean: A Proven Plan for Men Committed to Sexual Integrity)
Based on your current results, what changes are you going to have to make to ensure that your products and services of tomorrow are exactly what the customers will be wanting at that time?
Brian Tracy (How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Yourself and Others)
The most important contribution you can make to your company is to be a leader, accept responsibility for results, and dare to go forward.
Brian Tracy (How the Best Leaders Lead: Proven Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Yourself and Others)
How we live as leaders matters.
Michael Hyatt (Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want)
In our world today, we have a commitment problem. Everywhere you look, it seems you can find a lack of commitment or follow-through. Leaders shirk responsibilities. Politicians blame the “other party.” And many drift from one job to the next, never fully committing to any of them.
Jeff Goins (The Art of Work: A Proven Path to Discovering What You Were Meant to Do)
Entrenched myth: Successful leaders in a turbulent world are bold, risk-seeking visionaries. Contrary finding: The best leaders we studied did not have a visionary ability to predict the future. They observed what worked, figured out why it worked, and built upon proven foundations. They were not more risk taking, more bold, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons. They were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid.
James C. Collins (Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All)
Transition failures happen because new leaders either misunderstand the essential demands of the situation or lack the skill and flexibility to adapt to them.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
Automotive sales is changing. What skills are required at the front line today and how do you develop them? According to our data, we’re getting fewer visits to dealers but conversion rates are going up and up. Customers now visit a dealer simply to see the car in the flesh and then to buy it, so they’ve already more or less decided what to buy from all the information available online. For us, it’s important to ensure that in our digital channels we can still provoke the same feelings, the sensations and the comfort with the brand that we used to always do in the dealerships. The
Thomas Baumgartner (Sales Growth: Five Proven Strategies from the World's Sales Leaders)
This is followed by a meeting with the leader’s new direct reports in which they are asked questions such as, What would you like to know about the new leader? What would you like him to know about you? About the business situation? The main findings are then fed back, without attribution, to the new leader. The process ends with a facilitated meeting between the new leader and the direct reports.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
How can we harness the wind of change for growth? How can we thrive in times of worldwide change? And more specifically, how can leaders turn a crisis into a business opportunity?
Adi Mazor Kario (Innovating Through Chaos: The proven formula for launching unbeatable products during uncertain times)
The Creator Creates, Followers, Follow, Teacher, Teaches, A Leader Leads, but The Entrepreneur Does All.
Angela B. Spragg (The Growth Hacking Book 2 : 100 Proven Hacks for Business and Startup Success in the New Decade)
God have blessed the earth equally with deferent natural sources from, oil, to gold, diamonds, minerals to drinking waters! History have proven that politicians & rich people managed the wealth of your country, and If your country, you state or you city is poor? It is because of your leader are robing you!
Beta Metani'Marashi
Oftentimes, leaders don’t want to fully understand Current Reality because they’re afraid they’ll have to make difficult decisions.
Daniel Harkavy (The 7 Perspectives of Effective Leaders: A Proven Framework for Improving Decisions and Increasing Your Influence)
PROVEN BIAS HAS COME TO BE THE VIRTUE OF A LEADER. Bias has become the first qualification to join a party, and extreme bias the virtue to become a leader.
Vineet Raj Kapoor
Leadership Leadership has a lot more to it than simply telling people what to do, keeping track of efforts, penalizing those who are late or who disrupt, and hiring / firing. Great leaders are also great workers with a level of competence and confidence learned on the job that others accept and are willing to follow. These leaders are good at working with themselves, they have developed discipline, an ability to delay gratification, curiosity as to why people think or do things the way they do, and are open minded and accepting of change. Just look at any sports team, military unit or successful company and you will read or hear about all the leaders that make up the company. Most frequently these leaders are not the ones with a title, but the ones who make the place run through their efforts, focus, determination and ability to overcome obstacles. It is from these ranks that titles are granted and rewards given. These people have proven that they can lead by example, are able to shoulder the load and have what it takes to lead others, helping them grow just as they were helped on their way. My book entitled YOU Working With YOU is all about you, helping you to become the leader that you are capable of becoming. Just showing up to work might keep you employed, stepping up and leading by example is what others will notice and align with.
Richard Morin (You Working With You: A Roadmap to Self Mastery)
Don’t complain of terrible circumstances. It has been proven several times that they are the sources of celebrated trophies.
Israelmore Ayivor (Leaders' Frontpage: Leadership Insights from 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Thoughts)
In recent years there has been a tendency by some Western historians and politicians to look back at the aftermath of the Second World War through rose-tinted spectacles. Frustrated with the progress of rebuilding and reconciliation in the wake of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq at the beginning of the twenty-first century, they pointed to the success of similar projects in Europe in the 1940s. The Marshall Plan in particular was singled out as the template for postwar economic reconstruction. Such politicians would have done well to remember that the process of rebuilding did not begin straight away in Europe – the Marshall Plan was not even thought of until 1947 – and the entire continent remained economically, politically and morally unstable far beyond the end of the decade. As in Iraq and Afghanistan more recently, the United Nations recognized the need for local leaders to take command of their own institutions. But it took time for such leaders to emerge. In the immediate aftermath of the war, the only people who had the moral authority to take charge were those with proven records of resistance. But people who are skilled in the arts of guerrilla warfare, sabotage and violence, and who have become used to conducting all their business in strict secrecy, are not necessarily those best suited to running democratic governments.
Keith Lowe (Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II)
Contrary finding: The best leaders we studied did not have a visionary ability to predict the future. They observed what worked, figured out why it worked, and built upon proven foundations. They were not more risk taking, more bold, more visionary, and more creative than the comparisons. They were more disciplined, more empirical, and more paranoid. ………. Entrenched myth: A threat filled world favors the speedy; you’re either the quick or the dead. Contrary finding: The idea that leading in a “fast world” always requires “fast decisions” and “fast action”—and that we should embrace an overall ethos of “Fast! Fast! Fast!”—is a good way to get killed. 10X leaders figure out when to go fast, and when not to. Entrenched myth: Radical change on the outside requires radical change on the inside. Contrary finding: The 10X cases changed less in reaction to their changing world than the comparison cases. Just because your environment is rocked by dramatic change does not mean that you should inflict radical change upon yourself.
Jim Collins
If sales managers hire C-grade players and do everything else perfectly—onboarding, training, developing, and maintaining a great sales process—that team will still have a difficult time becoming the number one sales force. However, if you hire only grade A players and do everything else average, the A players will help you find a way to win.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. Each time you write a page, you are a writer. Each time you practice the violin, you are a musician. Each time you start a workout, you are an athlete. Each time you encourage your employees, you are a leader.
James Clear (Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones)
..incompetent people are so annoying: their very incompetence blinds them to how incompetent they are." (or as Darwin said, "ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge") - both of which explain this bafflingly ignorant quote by the author: "Thankfully, the American public is aware of this issue and elects only smart, fair leaders with proven competence in governing and expertise in world affairs." hahahaha, that's the most ridiculous thing I've read in ages.
Herman Pontzer (Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Stay Healthy, and Lose Weight)
Identifying Cultural Norms The following domains are areas in which cultural norms may vary significantly from company to company. Transitioning leaders should use this checklist to help them figure out how things really work in the organizations they’re joining. Influence. How do people get support for critical initiatives? Is it more important to have the support of a patron within the senior team, or affirmation from your peers and direct reports that your idea is a good one? Meetings. Are meetings filled with dialogue on hard issues, or are they simply forums for publicly ratifying agreements that have been reached in private? Execution. When it comes time to get things done, which matters more—a deep understanding of processes or knowing the right people? Conflict. Can people talk openly about difficult issues without fear of retribution? Or do they avoid conflict—or, even worse, push it to lower levels, where it can wreak havoc? Recognition. Does the company promote stars, rewarding those who visibly and vocally drive business initiatives? Or does it encourage team players, rewarding those who lead authoritatively but quietly and collaboratively? Ends versus means. Are there any restrictions on how you achieve results? Does the organization have a well-defined, well-communicated set of values that is reinforced through positive and negative incentives?
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
I emphasized the importance of essays since, as scientists, they would one day have to write papers to prove their theories. But in reality, nothing was ever proven in their world, since everything was at the whim of the Great Leader. Their writing skills were as stunted as their research skills. Writing inevitably consisted of an endless repetition of his achievements, none of which was ever verified, since they lacked the concept of backing up a claim with evidence.
Suki Kim (Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite)
It must have been deeply confusing to approach his writing on Juche like an essay. In his country there was no proof, no checks and balances—unless, of course, they wanted to prove that the Great Leader had single-handedly written hundreds of operas and thousands of books and saved the nation and done a miraculous number of things. Their entire system was designed not to be questioned, and to squash critical thinking. So the form of an essay, in which a thesis had to be proven, was antithetical to their entire system. The writer of an essay acknowledges the arguments opposing his thesis and refutes them. Here, opposition was not an option.
Suki Kim (Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite)
Richard Delury - Proven Leader Richard Delury is highly skilled in the complex field of electric controls. He has over 15 years of experience as an electrician and is keen to continue. Richard Delury also has managerial experience and can keep even the most challenging team running efficiently.
Richard Delury
The leader is the servant who removes the obstacles that prevent people from doing their jobs.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Leadership is not always an open or closed lid but the continuous action of leading. It is not a Win, Lose; Winner Takes All; but a Win, Win if you never stop learning to lead. A leader that falls short of the mark and uses the wisdom of their past history of pitfalls and blunders can develop into a more powerful leader than before. This successful leadership style can be proven and altered over time, therefore; nothing is instant gratification. It takes time, hard work, planning, and prayer to become a great leader and maintain leadership." – Terrance Robinson, Artist, Author, and Educator
Terrance Robinson, Artist, Author, and Educator
Leadership is not always an open or closed case but the continuous action of leading. It is not a Win, Lose; Winner Takes All; but a Win, Win if you never stop learning to lead. A leader that falls short of the mark and uses the wisdom of their past history of pitfalls and blunders can develop into a more effective leader than before. This successful leadership style can be proven and altered over time, therefore; nothing is instant gratification. It takes time, hard work, planning, and prayer to become a great leader and maintain leadership.
Terrance Robinson, Artist, Author, and Educator
In many organizations, Clarity and Curiosity don’t coexist. Leaders focus on one or the other and experience predictable challenges. When you embrace Clarity to the exclusion of Curiosity, you miss opportunities that are hiding in plain sight. Silos and internal competition creep in as forward motion grinds to a halt. FOSU becomes an epidemic as people become more reluctant to challenge the proven status quo. You often lose top talent who want to innovate and achieve breakthrough results. Ultimately, you have teams full of people who just want to be told what to do and aren’t creating the future.
Karin Hurt (Courageous Cultures: How to Build Teams of Micro-Innovators, Problem Solvers, and Customer Advocates)
Good leaders don't take anything for granted. They keep working and keep leading. They understand that leadership must be earned and established. They remain dissatisfied in a way, because dissatisfaction is a good one-word definition for motivation. Good leaders strive to keep the people and organization moving forward toward its vision. They recognize that organizations can sometimes be filled with appointments, but teams can be built only by good leadership.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
In order to do anything new in life, we must be willing to leave our comfort zone. That involves taking risks, which can be frightening. However, each time we leave our comfort zone and conquer new territory, it not only expands our comfort zone but also enlarges us. If you want to grow as a leader, be prepared to be uncomfortable. But know this: the risks are well worth the rewards.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
As a leader, my goal is to help people, not make them happy.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
If you want to become a better leader, let go of control and start fostering cooperation. Good leaders stop bossing people around and start encouraging them. That is the secret to being a people-oriented leader, because much of leadership is encouragement.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
All great leaders are productive. However, it is possible to be a producer and not a leader. Personal success does not always translate into team success. Leadership is defined by what a person does with and for others. It is established by making the team better and more productive. It's measured by what the entire group accomplishes, not by the individual efforts of the person in charge. Good leadership is never based on what someone does by and for himself.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
While the things we have in common may make relationships enjoyable, the differences are what really make them interesting. Good leaders deal successfully with these differences and leverage them for the benefit of the team and the organization. Good leaders are able to look at hard truths, see people's flaws, face reality, and do it in a spirit of grace and truth. They don't avoid problems; they solve them. Leaders who build relationships understand that conflict is part of the progress. Often it is even constructive.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
You must think of people before you try to achieve progress. To do that as a permissional leader, you must exhibit a consistent mood, maintain an optimistic attitude, possess a listening ear, and present to others your authentic self.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Prioritize the things that yield high return. What's the key to being productive? Prioritizing. To be an effective leader, you must learn to not only get a lot done, but to get a lot of the right things done. That means understanding how to prioritize time, tasks, resources, and even people. Effective prioritizing begins with eliminating the things you shouldn't be doing.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Make developing leaders a priority. It will require you to shift from doing to developing. It will require you to believe in people. And it will require you to share the load. Leadership is the art of helping people change from who they're thought to be to who they ought to be.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
As you look at potential leaders, try to assess their capacity in the following areas: Stress Management - their ability to withstand and overcome pressure, failure, deadlines, and obstacles Skill - their ability to get specific tasks done Thinking - their ability to be creative, develop strategy, solve problems, and adapt Leadership - their ability to gather followers and build a team Attitude - their ability to remain positive and tenacious amidst negative circumstances As a leader, your goal should be to identify what their capacity is, recognize what they think their capacity is, and motivate, challenge, and equip them in such as way that they close the gap between the two.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
As you release tasks to the leaders you're developing, you need to trust them, believe in them, and hold them accountable.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Successful leaders help their people find their right seats. Sometimes that requires moving people around to find where they make the greatest contribution. Sometimes it means trying and failing. As a leader, you have to take it all in stride. Positioning people correctly is a process, and you have to treat it that way.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Leaders who have reached the top of their profession or the top of their organization cannot take anything for granted. No matter how good they've been in the past, they still need to strategize, weigh decisions, plan, and execute at a high level.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Leaders have to deal simultaneously with people issues and business issues, and they need to be able to do both effectively. That's an art. As you work to develop people, maintain a relational approach, valuing them and adding value to them. At the same time, do what you must to achieve a good bottom line.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Leaders recognize the abilities in people and work fluidly with them. They are able to mentor people with different talents, temperaments, and styles. While average leaders try to lead everyone the same way, level 4 leaders lead everyone differently. That takes creativity and confidence.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
As a leader, you should be continually on the lookout for holes in the life skills of someone you are leading and developing. Ask yourself: Where does this person seem to be failing? Where are this person's blind spots? What does my intuition tell me is "off" in this person's thinking? Why isn't this person reaching his or her potential? Who is this person following who might be leading him or her in a wrong direction? When does this person do well? When does this person stumble? What telltale clues can I find that give me insight into where this person needs help? Where is this person's sweet spot? A good leader is always on the lookout for a person's weaknesses and wrong thinking - not to exploit that person, but to strengthen and help him or her succeed.
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Found business pain creates opportunity. Quantified business pain drives higher price points. Implicated business pain drives urgency. Business pain and urgency finds business Champions. Business champions get you to the Economic Buyer. The Economic Buyer has access to major funds. You sell big deals based on value. The opposite is also true: No discovered pain means a small or no opportunity. No quantified business pain means no cost justification. No implicated business pain means no urgency to buy. No business Champion means no access to the Economic Buyer. No access to the Economic Buyer means no access to major funds. No access to major funds means either selling small deals based on product features or selling no deals.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
These stunning global improvements have already been tested, vetted and proven effective: 1. To feed the world, easily. Yet grains waste in warehouses to ensure “Profitable Supply and Demand Ratios.” 2. To power the world endlessly, freely, without pollution or waste. Yet basic subsidies are given to polluting, exploiting, un-replenishable resources to ensure power remains in the hands of the controllers. 3. To end all armed conflict and usher in an era of global prosperity. Yet childish leaders propagate “The Demonic Other” to ensure they remain in power. 4. To improve global quality of life by a factor of 3x to 8x in under a decade. Yet it is suppressed to ensure that the elite remain an Elite and separate ruling class. 5. To end drug addictions and social inequality. Yet drugs are industriously pumped into ghettos to breed despair and ensure that ordinary people remain in conflict with each other. 6. To radically reduce crime worldwide. Yet again, suppressed to ensure the reign of an elite prison complex. 7. To reduce the work week by over 50%. Suppressed to occupy the masses with trifling banality. 8. To globally stabilize and secure the world’s clean drinking water supply, EASILY. Suppressed to retain control over the world’s most impoverished. All of these “Trigger Ready Solutions” are suppressed by humans to ensure their power and control over other Humans. They argue about currency manipulation while poisoning the collective air and water to a level where the oceans have little left to give. Absolving themselves of all crimes, preaching kindness and forgiveness, they race into battle against the OTHER while denouncing greed and indoctrinating youth to find it funny to say, “He who dies with the most toys wins.
Rico Roho (Adventures With A.I.: Age of Discovery)
Coachability and Adaptability Multiple times, I've seen reps who are either too insecure to admit that they cannot perform a new function or too fearful of change. They won’t let anyone coach them. If you're not coachable, you won't learn. If you won’t learn, you won’t adapt. Adaptability is a critical trait in any rapidly growing company. As your product, market, competition, and company changes, you'll need people who are flexible enough to adapt to the changing environment. They'll need to perform new tasks, learn new products, and develop new skills.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
Leaders who are onboarding into new organizations must therefore focus on learning and adapting to the new culture.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
Many of us commit the error of following the rules of our cultural community, which prevents us from stepping out of our caves and sharing our gifts in the world.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum, and Accelerate Results)
My story is a perfect example of how, early in our lives, we follow the rules set down by those who come before us—often without questioning why these rules are in place. However, when we observe our circumstances, we may find that the rules keep the current ruler in power—not for the good of the whole, but for the good of the one or the few.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
We’re held hostage by the stories that other people write for us and about us. We don’t stop long enough to question why the story was written and whose purpose it serves.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Fear is the enemy of our “Why”—our calling, our passion, our mission. It prevents us from taking our unique place in the world and sharing our gifts so that others may benefit from our courageous acts. It becomes our imprisoner and, in some cases, the executioner.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
When we step into the leading role of our own life, rather than continue to play supporting roles in others, we are energized and vitalized. Work is no longer drudgery. It becomes fun, meaningful, productive, and often profitable.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Showing up in our own story—being present with it and embracing our mission—takes courage. It’s a ride to be enjoyed and not feared, and it requires dancing at our edges and taking risks to step out of our comfort zone. Often, we’re brought to our knees before we’re truly able to rise above the limitations and expectations we’ve accepted from others. It’s a journey—one that is for the warrior— not for the ego-driven coward who is merely looking for accolades. Humility and vulnerability are a must.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Women can learn to be more confident and protective of our gifts, unwilling to buy into the stories written for us by other people. We can learn to expect to be honored for what we bring to the table. We can learn to unite our natural tendencies to nurture and heal by committing to our purpose, our mission, and our stories—our “Why.
Kathy Sparrow (Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum and Accelerate Results)
Learning Plan Template Before Entry Find out whatever you can about the organization’s strategy, structure, performance, and people. Look for external assessments of the performance of the organization. You will learn how knowledgeable, fairly unbiased people view it. If you are a manager at a lower level, talk to people who deal with your new group as suppliers or customers. Find external observers who know the organization well, including former employees, recent retirees, and people who have transacted business with the organization. Ask these people open-ended questions about history, politics, and culture. Talk with your predecessor if possible. Talk to your new boss. As you begin to learn about the organization, write down your first impressions and eventually some hypotheses. Compile an initial set of questions to guide your structured inquiry after you arrive. Soon After Entry Review detailed operating plans, performance data, and personnel data. Meet one-on-one with your direct reports and ask them the questions you compiled. You will learn about convergent and divergent views and about your reports as people. Assess how things are going at key interfaces. You will hear how salespeople, purchasing agents, customer service representatives, and others perceive your organization’s dealings with external constituencies. You will also learn about problems they see that others do not. Test strategic alignment from the top down. Ask people at the top what the company’s vision and strategy are. Then see how far down into the organizational hierarchy those beliefs penetrate. You will learn how well the previous leader drove vision and strategy down through the organization. Test awareness of challenges and opportunities from the bottom up. Start by asking frontline people how they view the company’s challenges and opportunities. Then work your way up. You will learn how well the people at the top check the pulse of the organization. Update your questions and hypotheses. Meet with your boss to discuss your hypotheses and findings. By the End of the First Month Gather your team to feed back to them your preliminary findings. You will elicit confirmation and challenges of your assessments and will learn more about the group and its dynamics. Now analyze key interfaces from the outside in. You will learn how people on the outside (suppliers, customers, distributors, and others) perceive your organization and its strengths and weaknesses. Analyze a couple of key processes. Convene representatives of the responsible groups to map out and evaluate the processes you selected. You will learn about productivity, quality, and reliability. Meet with key integrators. You will learn how things work at interfaces among functional areas. What problems do they perceive that others do not? Seek out the natural historians. They can fill you in on the history, culture, and politics of the organization, and they are also potential allies and influencers. Update your questions and hypotheses. Meet with your boss again to discuss your observations.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
In general, though, new leaders are perceived as more credible when they display these characteristics: Demanding but able to be satisfied. Effective leaders get people to make realistic commitments and then hold them responsible for achieving results. But if you’re never satisfied, you’ll sap people’s motivation. Know when to celebrate success and when to push for more. Accessible but not too familiar. Being accessible does not mean making yourself available indiscriminately. It means being approachable, but in a way that preserves your authority. Decisive but judicious. New leaders communicate their capacity to take charge, perhaps by rapidly making some low-consequence decisions, without jumping too quickly into decisions that they aren’t ready to make. Early in your transition, you want to project decisiveness but defer some decisions until you know enough to make the right calls. Focused but flexible. Avoid setting up a vicious cycle and alienating others by coming across as rigid and unwilling to consider multiple solutions. Effective new leaders establish authority by zeroing in on issues but consulting others and encouraging input. They also know when to give people the flexibility to achieve results in their own ways. Active without causing commotion. There’s a fine line between building momentum and overwhelming your group or unit. Make things happen, but avoid pushing people to the point of burnout. Learn to pay attention to stress levels and pace yourself and others. Willing to make tough calls but humane. You may have to make tough calls right away, including letting go of marginal performers. Effective new leaders do what needs to be done, but they do it in ways that preserve people’s dignity and that others perceive as fair.
Michael D. Watkins (The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter)
Remain Approachable As a Leader, Role Model, and Coach:
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Commit to Spend the Time Needed to Develop Leaders:
John C. Maxwell (The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential)
Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the most brilliant men at the court of Queen Elizabeth of England. He had skills as a scientist, wrote poetry still recognized as among the most beautiful writing of the time, was a proven leader of men, an enterprising entrepreneur, a great sea captain, and on top of all this was a handsome, dashing courtier who charmed his way into becoming one of the queen's favorites.... In the end, the reason he was executed was treason, but envy will use any cover it finds to mask its destructiveness.
Robert Greene
When in the natural course of human affairs, the leaders of the nations of the earth fail in their duty to; Protect the dignity of its inhabitants, Preserve the health of the environment, Prevent the over accumulation of wealth to the elite and, Provide the necessary means to settle disputes among nations. Then it becomes incumbent upon the peoples of the earth to take as their right, a greater part in the governing of their respective jurisdictions. The main purpose of government is to ensure the natural rights of all people in this generation and the generations that follow, in order to provide, but not limited to, an equal opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are not the sole rights of any country, group, or person, and when a leader, body, or committee takes for themselves a greater share in order to deprive another group, person, or generation, then by necessity the people shall assemble and overturn any decision or policy that is proven to be inequitable. Our Creator has provided a guideline for the laws governing the affairs of men. The summary of which would be the outward expression of earnest affection for your Creator and your neighbor. Bearing one another's burden as a reasonable service. These leading to a lasting peace between all men. Natural law has provided a clear example of fair and balanced systems in the natural world. Any system of government should be modeled around the premise that the fitness of the system requires balance at every level of the hierarchy. With no concentration of power above that which is necessary to provide reasonable service to the community, and no allocation of resources beyond that which is necessary to the sustainable balance of any particular part of the system. With great care and attention given to preserving an efficient and effective bureaucracy that is never allowed to grow without meaningful oversight, designed to prevent the corruption and waste that plagues most forms of government.
R.A. Delmonico
Joseph too was now firmly established in the public mind as the leader of the Nez Perce, and in public depictions he became both fiercer and greater. To those in the West, who saw each confrontation and Indian escape as another bloody step toward their own extinction, he became the embodiment of all that was dark and cunning in the Indian character. For those in the East, who rankled at the cruelty and ineffectiveness of the government’s Indian policy and were not in harm’s way from Indian actions, he became a heroic symbol of noble resistance—the father figure of a beleaguered band of men, women, and children who were accomplishing a brilliant escape from the relentless pursuit of the bumbling U.S. military. The man who was spending his days trying to move lodges and herds of horses and his nights worrying over a newborn infant and a wounded wife was being elevated in the public imagination to the status of a red Napoleon or red fiend; and he was becoming the lightning rod for a national debate on the justice and sufficiency of the government’s Indian policy. On the trail, however, the issues were much less abstract and much more dire. The warriors had little fear of pursuing soldiers because they knew that most were on foot and had proven cowardly when forced to fight armed men rather than sleeping women and children. They shared mocking stories of how the soldiers in the grove of trees had cried like babies when they were trapped, and they formed teepee-shaped piles of horse dung on the trail behind as a signal of derision to any troops who might be following.
Kent Nerburn (Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy)
Karl was next. ‘I know the problem. We are not one team. It makes us happy on the inside when we fail because in our egos we think failure is a lesson for someone else on this team. We don’t do what’s required because we are busy playing the game of superiority with each other. Unless people here function as a team, nothing will change. I have tried to have conversations with people, but nothing has changed’.
Rajiv Talreja (LEAD Or BLEED: How Entrepreneurs And Corporate Leaders Can Adopt A PROVEN SYSTEM To STOP FIRE FIGHTING And START ACCELERATIONG PERFORMANCE And PROFITS)
I kept up with my work for the legal firm, continuing the transcription of the audio notes of one of the firm’s partners, presently engaged by a multinational oil and gas corporation to pursue every possible course of action against a certain individual, who happened also to be a member of the legal profession, and who had sought to prove, indeed had proven in law in certain countries though not his own, gross malfeasance on the part of the multinational’s leaders that had resulted in the poisoning of a number of water courses, the destruction of ancient woodland, the decimation of at least two protected species of birds, the kidnapping of activists and the corruption of public officials, as well as tax fraud, racketeering, stock-market manipulation and other crimes besides. The firm for which I worked, in representing this multinational oil and gas corporation, had already succeeded in having the attorney in question disbarred in several states, provinces, unincorporated territories and crown dependencies; in some but not in all places he could no longer practice law, the only profession he had ever dreamed of pursuing, he explained in a podcast interview from his home, where he was at present under house arrest.
Sarah Bernstein (Study for Obedience)
The sultan had proven himself on the battlefield back when he was crown prince he'd earned the people's love and reverence before he'd ever taken the throne. Meanwhile, as much as Jasmine had longed to leave the palace gates, in all her eighteen years she'd barely been allowed outside. The comparisons were inevitable, and yet impossible for her to match. I'll have to find my own way, Jasmine realized as she gazed out the crowd. To turn my differences into strengths and prove myself a true leader. Maybe she too could be a diamond in the rough.
Alexandra Monir (Realm of Wonders (The Queen’s Council, #3))
Authoritarians rise when economic, social, political, or religious change makes members of a formerly powerful group feel as if they have been left behind. Their frustration makes them vulnerable to leaders who promise to make them dominant again. A strongman downplays the real conditions that have created their problems and tells them that the only reason they have been dispossessed is that enemies have cheated them of power. Such leaders undermine existing power structures, and as they collapse, people previously apathetic about politics turn into activists, not necessarily expecting a better life, but seeing themselves as heroes reclaiming the country. Leaders don’t try to persuade people to support real solutions, but instead reinforce their followers’ fantasy self-image and organize them into a mass movement. Once people internalize their leader’s propaganda, it doesn’t matter when pieces of it are proven to be lies, because it has become central to their identity. As a strongman becomes more and more destructive, followers’ loyalty only increases. Having begun to treat their perceived enemies badly, they need to believe their victims deserve it. Turning against the leader who inspired such behavior would mean admitting they had been wrong and that they, not their enemies, are evil. This, they cannot do.
Heather Cox Richardson (Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America)
And an Executive Business Review? An executive business review (EBR) should present information at a much higher level, with a focus on executive leadership. It is one of the most influential meetings you will have with your customer all year, yet it’s the one most organizations tend to forget. QBRs happen frequently, across the industry, but EBRs? Not so much. Less tactical and less operational than a QBR, an EBR is typically reserved for your customer’s executive leadership team because it’s a high-level review of the value your product is providing the customer. When you draft an EBR, you should be thinking along the lines of, Who is my stakeholder’s boss? How do I co-present to my stakeholder and their boss the value my product has offered and will continue to offer them? An EBR is a way to move up the value chain, promote your stakeholder’s brand inside their own company, and share wins with the executive leader. It’s a strategic meeting that should focus on reinforcing the value in your customer ROI. It should also validate the goals of the organization, because like you did with your QBRs, you’re building a partnership through open dialogue. The only difference is now you’re doing it at an executive level. EBRs should be scheduled twice a year. I typically recommend scheduling one at least three months before the customer’s renewal because if the meeting goes well, it may help move the renewal along faster. I have seen executives stop pushing on price when they’re negotiating terms, and I’ve even seen some CSMs contact a stakeholder’s executive directly to ask for their help. “We’re having trouble with this renewal. Can you step in and assist?” More often than not, the executive will call whoever they need to call and say, “Just get it done.” Plus, when you reach out and ask for help, you’re engaging executive-level advocates, which is always a good thing.
Wayne McCulloch (The Seven Pillars of Customer Success: A Proven Framework to Drive Impactful Client Outcomes for Your Company)
Champions have personal aspirations,” I said. “To realize those aspirations, they need to differentiate themselves within the organization. One way to do that is to solve notable business problems. It’s a way for them to obtain a personal win by being recognized for their efforts and showing their added value to the company.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
Vending. Not selling.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
Stop confusing activities with accomplishment. Stop pushing reps to rush through the sales process. Master the customer conversation with specific personas and use cases. Understand how to sell business value, using a repeatable process. Learn to qualify deal advancement issues in account situations. Coach reps on how to control an opportunity. Understand how to forecast accurately.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
Forego’s customer churn was high because they sold too low in companies for small dollars. Selling small deals at low levels in a company, without the customer understanding the tangible business value of the product, causes a high degree of customer churn. If a customer doesn’t understand the business value of a subscription product, the customer won’t renew their annual subscription.
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)
Instead of tracking meaningful indicators of deal advancement and tangible sales process results, they only kept track of activity KPIs such as: Number of calls Number of emails sent Number of video introductions Number of POCs
John McMahon (The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO)