The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.

Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people see themselves better than they are

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"Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory." -- J. Donald Walters

"Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch—what makes you go beyond the norm." -- Cicely Tyson

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." -- Peter Marshal

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." -- Margaret Thatcher

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"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think." -- Benjamin Disraeli

"The subconscious mind makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thought impulses. It works with the material we feed it, through our thought impulses. The sub-conscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven by fear, just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by courage or faith." -- Napoleon Hill

"By thinking and acting affirmatively in this minute, you will influence the hour, the day, and the time, your entire life." -- Denis Waitley

"Look at the weaknesses of others with compassion, not accusation. It's not what they're not doing or should be doing that's the issue. The issue is your own chosen response to the situation and what you should be doing. If you start to think the problem is "out there," stop yourself. That thought is the problem." -- Stephen Covey

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"To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals - that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him." -- Honore De Balzac

"It is not what you say you believe that is important, but what you model, encourage, reward and let happen." -- Patricia Fripp

"Companies with clear written statements of values and principles are more dynamic and profitable than those without. People, too." -- Brian Tracy

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Thomas Jefferson

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Respect your opponent.

Never get full of yourself, or you may get ambushed.

Don't ever think you have arrived. Don't be intimidated, but do give respect to your opponent.

You have to pay your dues and prove yourself before being promoted.

Be the perfect gentleman off the field and the ultimate competitor on the field.

Be grateful for what you have and for the support of those around you.

Qotes are excerpted from Todd Dodge's Lessons from Sports Excerpt booklet

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"Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you,
knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and
better than your current situation." ~Brian Tracy

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If standard of living is your major objective, quality of life almost never improves, but if quality of life is your number one objective, your standard of living almost always improves.

The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to his or her commitment to excellence, regardless of his or her chosen field of endeavor.
- Zig Ziglar

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It’s not the situation, but whether we react (negative)
or respond (positive) to the situation that’s important.
There’s not a lot you can do about the national economy
but there is a lot you can do about your personal economy.(Zig Ziglar)

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The basic goal-reaching principle is to understand that you go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will always be able to see farther.

Zig Ziglar

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"Nothing needs reforming so much as other people´s habits." -- Mark Twain

"When you do the wrong thing, knowing it is wrong, you do so because you haven't developed the habit of effectively controlling or neutralizing strong inner urges that tempt you, or because you have established the wrong habits and don't know how to eliminate them effectively." -- W. Clement Stone

"The secret to Momentum in life can be found in the word Momentum... you create it Moment by Moment..." -- Doug Firebaugh

"Being miserable is a habit; being happy is a habit; and the choice is yours." -- Tom Hopkins

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Empathy/Caring

Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.

Be sensitive to the plight of others. You have to know about the tragedies as well as the triumphs, the failures as well as the success.

How do you build a bridge between age 12 and age 40? By remembering.

One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention.

The more you care, the stronger you can be.

Don't operate on the heart with a hatchet.

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"Bitterness and an unforgiving spirit can be likened to you taking poison and expecting that someone else would die from the effect. Forgiveness is about setting the prisoner in your heart free only to discover that all along, you had been the real prisoner." -- Tope Popoola

"To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness." -- Robert Muller

"One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody everything every night before you go to bed." -- Bernard Baruch

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"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything." -- Wyatt Earp

Chris' Widener Commentary: We live in a very fast paced world. Everything is needed NOW. I suppose there is a market for fast, and there will be some who are rewarded handsomely for it, but most success stories revolve around quality rather than speed. Someone may be doing it faster, but the successful do it better. The first go around may go to the fast, but when people realize there is lesser quality there, they will look for, and stay with, the better quality from then on. I remember early on in my career when I was building an organization I had started, and an old friend sent me a card that said only these words, "Remember, you are growing an oak tree, not a squash." Good words for me. Good words for all of us.

Action Point: Is there something you have been pushing to get done at the expense of the quality? Take sometime today to slow down, go over it again, improve the quality and readjust your schedule. Build something strong that lasts, though it takes longer, not something you can build fast that dies out soon thereafter.

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"You were born to win, but to be a winner you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win." – Zig Ziglar

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Life is a magnificent fertile garden plot given you to till, to plant, to nurture and to reap from. What you grow in your garden is your choice. How you respond to the process along the way also is your choice.

Your garden will never be in a state of perfection. It will always be in transition.

With the end of each season is the anticipation of the next. No one season is the best, not even harvest. It has its special joys and frequent challenges, just as each of the other seasons.

To everything there is a season and place under heaven. There is a magnificent rhythm and cycle to life.

Seed to sprout. Sprout to bloom. Bloom to blossom. Blossom to fruit. Fruit to seed.

Success is a process. It cycles again and again. How you use the cycles to produce what benefits your life and the lives of others is up to you.

(These quotes were taken from Denis Waitley's The Seeds of Greatness Treasury)

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