August 31, 2012

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?

August 30, 2012

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?


August 29, 2012

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.

August 28, 2012

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?

August 27, 2012

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?

August 24, 2012

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.

August 23, 2012

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.


August 22, 2012

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?

August 21, 2012

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.

August 20, 2012

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.

August 17, 2012

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.

August 16, 2012

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.


August 15, 2012

(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.

August 14, 2012

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.

August 13, 2012

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.

August 10, 2012

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.

August 09, 2012

August 08, 2012

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.

August 07, 2012

(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.

August 06, 2012

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.


August 03, 2012

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.

August 02, 2012

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.


August 01, 2012

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?