SOME FAVORITE
QUOTATIONS
In August 2007 I spoke to
a group of health club professionals at the IHRSA Institute
about “Building An Enduring
Business Culture”. In preparing for this talk
I found numerous relevant quotes via friends and my own
reading and listening. Like others, I have learned
a lot from stories and phrases and thought some of these
quotes which I especially liked may be of interest to others
as well.
— Roger
Ralph
JANE ADDAMS:
The definition
of a good social worker is someone who has one foot in
the street and one foot in the library.
BAHRAM AKARDI, Chairman, Life
Time Fitness:
The critical thing about business
culture is to know who you are and do that. You cannot
talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time.
JOEL BARKER, contemporary “futurist”:
Vision
without action is merely a dream. Action
without vision just passes time. Vision with action
can change the world.
MARCUS BUCKINGHAM, researcher
and author:
Great managers present no sweeping
new theories, no prefabricated formulae. All they
can offer you are insights into the nature of talent and
their secrets for turning talent into
lasting performance.
DANIEL BURNHAM, early 20th
century prominent Chicago based architect:
Make no little
plans. They have no magic to stir
men’s blood.
STEPHEN M.R. COVEY:
The ability to establish, grow, extend, and restore trust with all stakeholders- customers, business partners, investors, and coworkers- is the key leadership competency of the new global economy.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON:
Every great
and commanding event in the annals of the world is a triumph
of enthusiasm. Nothing great was
ever achieved without it.
HANNAH KARRASS, founder The
Healthworks Foundation:
As a leader you empower people with
the chance to be part of the process.
PATRICK LENCIONI, Management Consultant and Author:
Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.
GEORGIA O’ KEEFE, American
Painter:
To create one’s world takes courage.
ROGER RALPH, founder Bel Air
Athletic Club, Principal, Hockessin Athletic Club:
Great
managers never fall in love with their inventory. They
recognize that the devil is in the details. Effective
leaders inspire others to continuously narrow the width
of the
gap between their vision and their dreams and the day's
reality.
TIM RHODE, President, Maryland
Athletic Club:
Next to what you are; where you are; who
you are; caring is the most important value- all else follows.
CAL RIPKEN, JR:.
If you speak to your teammates regularly, misunderstandings will be cut to a minimum, and that promotes stability.
JAMES ROUSE, Shopping center
developer & founder
of Columbia, Md.:
Profit is always a by product of value.
It’s as hard
to do a little thing well as a big thing- so why not do
a big thing?
ALAN SCHWARTZ, Pres. Bear
Sterns and national leader in the Mentoring movement:
If
you think you can you’re right. If you
think you can’t you’re right
MATTHEW STEVENS, CEO Spectrum
Health Clubs:
I am a people person. I want to meet
30 people if I am interviewing for 2 spots. I look
for the intangibles that will make that person successful
in our organization.
SAM WALTON, Wal-Mart Founder:
Somehow
over the years folk have gotten the impression that Wal-Mart
was something that I dreamed up out of the blue as a middle
aged man, and that it was just this great idea that turned
into an over-night success…like
most “over-night successes”, it was about twenty
years in the making”.
JACK WELCH, former CEO, GE,
and former Coca-Cola Chairman,
Roberto Goizueta:
Now GE and Coca-Cola, were trying
to change every day. The
King of Coca-Cola and the King of GE are trying to change
the thing every day because if we don’t change we’re
going to be left behind. (Roberto Goizuetta)
It’s the biggest challenge (change) we have. I’m
always scared, okay? It’s true. And (Roberto)
I think you are probably, I mean you’re always scared… (Jack
Welch)
JOHN WHITNEY, Professor, Columbia University Business School:
Mistrust doubles the cost of doing business.
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