“Not all those who wander are lost.”
“I have been struck again and again by how important measuring is to improving the human condition.”
“Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.”
“Leadership is about capacity – the capacity of leaders to listen and observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to encourage dialogue between all levels of decision-making, to establish processes and transparency in decision-making, to articulate their own values and visions clearly but not impose them. Leadership is about setting and not just reacting to agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that makes for substantial improvement rather than managing change.”
“Having the freedom of speech does not mean saying what’s humane, hateless and non-prejudicial.”
“Within every man there is the reflection of a woman,
and within every woman there is the reflection of a man.
Within every man and woman there is also the reflection
of an old man and an old woman, a little boy and a little girl.”
“Trainers use humor to point out negative behaviors in ways that teach rather than preach. Mediators tell us that the right joke, or the right moment of levity, can reduce tensions to the point that two adversaries can sit down at the table to consider the possibility of agreement. So why does humor work? Because it shatters preconceptions at the moment when people are forming new perceptions—about their work, their spouse, or life itself. Laughter is a release; it is a moment of sheer pleasure. And in our world of tension and turmoil, the belly laugh is a physical escape valve. Choosing the humor is another matter. We live an era of the put-down, the snide aside, the searing retort. These comments do have their place, but all too often they make us laugh at someone else’s expense. Good humor, nourishing humor for example, enables us to laugh at ourselves for being human. It serves as a window into our souls.”
“Every two years the American politics industry fills the airwaves with the most virulent, scurrilous, wall-to-wall character assassination of nearly every political practitioner in the country – and then declares itself puzzled that America has lost trust in its politicians.”
“So I grew up feeling that I wasn’t good enough, and that no-one would love me unless I was perfect. But no-one’s perfect, we’re not meant to be perfect. We’re meant to be complete. But it’s hard to be complete if you’re trying to be perfect, so you kind of become disembodied. And I spent a lot of my life that way.” ” And if you don’t own your strength… Women like me tend to always look over their shoulder to see who… “Who’s the leader? Who’s the smart one?” Never thinking it might be ME. Took a long time for me to get over that.”
“… three main components of leadership: mastery of the subject-matter, ability convincingly to articulate the particular course of action required and a fervent belief in its correctness.”