MANAGED ENTHUSIASM

"Zeal is like fire: it needs both feeding and watching."

Proverb

It really is like that.

Too much, too little is a problem.

As a manager, what, if anything, can you do to create the right balance?

THAT IS SICK

"Never find fault with the absent."

Unknown

And yet we do don't we?

We go to work sick, concerned that others will think we are faking.

We wonder whether those who stay home sick really are.

(WHAT IF?) IT JUST DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT

"There is something in omens."

Ovid (BC 43-AD 18) Roman poet

I suspect we are more likely to believe this in our everyday rather than our business lives.

But should we?

What role, if any, should omens (hunches, intuition, etc.) play in our business decisions?

(TEMPORARILY) IN CHARGE

"One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves."

Albert Camus (1913-1960) French novelist/essayist/dramatist

Dramatists, such as Mr. Camas, are expected to be dramatic; it's what they do.

But his sentiment is not overly dramatic.

You may be the CEO, however if you lead as though you are the sole power, you won't be for long.

INSPIRATION: ONLY THE START

"An idea ran back and forward in his head like a blind man, knocking over the solid furniture."

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 – 1940) American author

One quote under the heading of "inspiration".

I wager the starting point for what ultimately become successful startups.

But only the starting point. 

After must come a lot of difficult and arduous planning followed by careful execution.

Otherwise, like the blind man, nothing accomplished other than chaos.

CAN YOU?

"The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do."

James Allen (1864-1912) British-born American essayist

Do you think you can?

If not the knowledge, at the very least the beginning of your own belief that you can.

WHAT TIME DO YOU HAVE?

"Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it."

Unknown

I'm not entirely comfortable thinking of some people as being "great", others "ordinary", however I understand the sentiment.

We are well advised to more use rather than spend the time we have.

PUT UP OR SHUT UP

"We never say so much as when we do not quite know what we want to say. We need few words when we have something to say, but all the words in all the dictionaries will not suffice when we have nothing to say and want desperately to say it."

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American philosopher/author

This being true the title I've selected for today's quote is the advice I believe Mr. Hoffer would have given were he not the gentleman he was.

THE BIGGEST FOOL OF ALL IS . . .

"Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves."

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) U.S. poet/essayist/lecturer

Those "games" he's referring to is us attempting to fool ourselves.

Seemingly impossible to do and yet we do it.

FORGET LATELY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, PERIOD?

"The perplexity of life arises from there being too many interesting things in it for us to be interested properly in any of them."

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) British journalist, novelist and poet

A problem made only worse in this time of "everything you want, whenever you want it, anywhere you want it" technology.

However that does not relieve you from the responsibility to actually get something done.

TOO MUCH OF EITHER IS A BAD THING

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Winston Churchill (1874-1965) British politician

We have the choice to be one or the other although we don't always see our options as choices.

They are.

Choose consciously.

YOU ARE ON THE ROAD TO . . . ?

"If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed."

Chinese proverb

And do you know where that will be?

Determine where and what that is and if you don't like it create a plan to change.

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

"A word carries far -- very far -- deals destruction through time as the bullets go flying through space."

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) British novelist

Even more so in this age of instant communication.

Choose what you say (and type) very carefully, it will outlast you, on occasion having outdone you.

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS

"You always admire what you really don't understand."

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) American columnist/lecturer/humanitarian.

I am leery of quotes such as this which use absolutes ("always").

Very little in life is "always" or "never", nor is "everyone" or "no one" always or never 100% for or against something.

Contrary to what extremist of all sorts would have you believe we live life in the middle.

That said the core of Ms. Roosevelt's statement is true.

COURAGEOUS PLANNING

"One who lacks courage to start has already finished."

Unknown

However, beginning without a plan is more foolish than courageous.

DEALING WITH IT

"Joys are our wings, sorrows our spurs."

Jean Paul (1763-1825) German novelist and humorist.

A bit too poetic for my taste but he was a humorist so maybe that's what he was going for.

Whatever he intended the delivery in no way detracts from the message. 

Joy does raise us up and sorrow should incentivize us to overcome.

GETTING TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER

"It is well for the heart to be naive and the mind not to be."

Anatole France (1844-1924) French writer.

However, since the heart often rules the mind there can be problems, particularly when making investments.

When it comes to business listen to your heart but make decisions with your mind.

I UNDERSTAND THAT

"Beware of the man who knows the answer before he understands the question."

Unknown source

And who among us has not been guilty of this?

You can't understand the question if you don't at least accept the possibility that you don't understand the question.

NOW THAT YOU'RE DOWN YOU CAN BETTER APPRECIATE UP

"Who has never tasted what is bitter does not know what is sweet."

German proverb

While I'd prefer not to have to experience every failure in order to achieve success, I do get the point.

Particularly in business where learning from failure is an important, almost mandatory, component of achieving success.

AND THAT'S NO EXAGGERATION

"Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else."

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish writer.

We all exaggerate, sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. 

There's no harm in that in business unless we begin to manage based on what really isn't true.

A dead end street.

THE COST OF WINNING

"I was never ruined but twice; once when I lost a lawsuit and once when I won one."

Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer/historian.

In business as in life, defend what is yours, that which has value.

But make certain the value exceeds the cost of the defense.