Satisfied?

"If all you ever do is all you've ever done, then all you'll ever get is all you've ever got."

Unknown

Which may be more than enough.

Is it for you?

I Stand Firm, But Then Again . . .

"This lady is not for turning."

Margaret Thatcher

20th century British stateswoman

Do you think that people are more, the same, or less likely to compromise their business ethics than they are their personal ethics?

Passionate Turmoil

"Passions are the gales of life."

Alexander Pope

17/18th century English poet

Management talks of being "passionate" about what they do.

Wonderful, but in passion there is uncertainty and turmoil along with whatever good you expect.

Be prepared for all three.

It All Evens Out In The End?

"Every sweet has its sour, every evil its good."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

19th century American poet/writer

In other words, balance.

Do you agree?

Regardless of elsewhere is this true in business?

Know Thyself

"No one is worse for knowing the worst of themselves."

Proverb

In fact you are better for knowing because you can act to correct your faults.

Will you?

There Are No Accidents

"We make our fortunes and we call them fate."

Benjamin Disraeli

19th century British politician/author

And he means "fortunes" in the general sense, both good and bad.

You will reap what you sew whether intentional or not.

Will They Remember You?

"Fame is a constant effort."

Jules Renard

19th century French writer

Yes and no.

It is if you intend to stay famous, no if you don't.

And it's no different in business.

Work hard to achieve recognition for your business.

Work even harder to keep it.

Did You Know . . . ?

"He mastered whatever was not worth the knowing."

James Russell Lowell

19th century American poet/writer

I have considerable knowledge about things not worth knowing.

And you?

Undoing Mistakes

"Sometimes you must be cruel to be kind."

English proverb

If you find you've hired the wrong person, as cruel as you might feel, let them go.

One Or The Other

"The jealous are possessed by a mad devil and a dull spirit at the same time."

Johann Kaspar Lavater

18th century Swiss theologian

It's not that a jealous person is not capable of also being creative in their own right.

It's just that they typically don't have time to be both simultaneously.

The Law Of Averages

"Remember: The average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top."

Unknown

And about as useful as a descriptor as is no descriptor.

Moreover being average today does not mean you will be again tomorrow.

Focus on what YOU are and should be and let "average" take care of itself.

New Thinking, Every Day

"Most people grow old within a small circle of ideas, which they have not discovered for themselves."

Marquis de Vauvenargues

18th century French moralist, writer

I have no problem only adapting the ideas of others, but the number should always be increasing.

(I Should) Do As I Say Not As I Do

"Successful men follow the same advice they prescribe for others."

Unknown

True, assuming the advice we give to others is worth following in the first place.

Sooner Or Later They Will Be Heard

"A populace never rebels from passion for attack, but from impatience of suffering."

Edmund Burke

18th century British political writer

If your staff has grievances, hear them.

You Can Only Spend What You've Got

"A great fortune in the hands of a fool is a great misfortune."

Unknown

Administer budgets wisely or they'll soon be little to administer at all.

In The Extreme

"Extreme positions are not succeeded by moderate ones, but by contrary extreme positions."

Frederich Nietzsche

19th century German-Swiss philosopher

Do you want to neutralize the extreme positions of a co-worker?

Begin by neutralizing your own.

Now, Before It's Too Late!

"Time is the soul of business."

English proverb

Not money or any other resource you can name.

Act, now!

Repay Those Who Pay You

"Eaten bread is soon forgotten."

Thomas Fuller

17th century English cleric/author

What have you done for me lately?

If you have to work to remember recent kindness, do so.

(In Business) Live For Today

"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one that will last forever."

Anatole France

Late 19th/early 20 century French writer

So true.

And in business we often focus more on what we hope will be rather than concentrating on what is.

Plan for the future but don't forget to execute today.

Taking Care Of Business

"A small leak can sink a great ship."

Benjamin Franklin

18th century American statesman, philosopher, inventor

"Leaks" come in many forms and in business they are often the small things that don't get the attention they deserve.

The Passionate Choice

"Do what you love.  Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still."

Henry David Thoreau

18th century American naturalist

Because doing what you don't love is difficult at best, if not impossible for long.

First You Have To Belong

"To be no part of any body is to be nothing."

John Donne

16th century English poet

The best manager attempting to manage outside of the group manages nothing.

Standing Up For What?

"Pride is the mask of one's own faults."

Jewish proverb

Not nice to think of it that way is it?

Much better to see yourself as a bulwark defending honesty, truth, and justice.

But what if you're simply wrong?