Some Great Quotes!

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”—Helen Keller

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.”— James Dean

“The two most powerful things in existence: a kind word and a thoughtful gesture.”— Ken Langone, founder, Home Depot

“The deepest human need is the need to be appreciated.”— William James

“Don’t belittle!” — OD Consultant, on the essence of a well-functioning human community

“If you don’t listen, you don’t sell anything.”— Carolyn Marland/MD/Guardian Group

“It was much later that I realized Dad’s secret. He gained respect by giving it. He talked and listened to the fourth-grade kids in Spring Valley who shined shoes the same way he talked and listened to a bishop or a college president. He was seriously interested in who you were and what you had to say.” —Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Respect

“What creates trust, in the end, is the leader’s manifest respect for the followers.” — Jim O’Toole, Leading Change

“If you can’t state your position in eight words or less, you don’t have a position.” —Seth Godin

“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

“Make your life itself a creative work of art.” —Mike Ray, The Highest Goal

“Have you invested as much this year in your career as in your car?” —Molly Sargent, OD consultant and trainer

“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.” —James Yorke, Mathematician, on chaos theory in The New Scientist

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” —Oscar Wilde

“People want to be part of something larger than themselves. They want to be part of something they’re really proud of, that they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, that they trust.”—Howard Schultz, Starbucks

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” —Charles Darwin

“We may not be interested in chaos but chaos is interested in us.” —Robert Cooper, The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century

“If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less.”—General Eric Shinseki, retired Chief of Staff, U. S. Army

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”—Gandhi

“We eat change for breakfast!”—Harry Quadracci, founder, QuadGraphics

“If things seem under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” —Mario Andretti

“You can’t behave in a calm, rational manner. You’ve got to be out there on the lunatic fringe.” —Jack Welch, retired CEO, GE

“We have a ‘strategic’ plan. It’s called doing things.”—Herb Kelleher, founder, Southwest Airlines

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying.” —The Shawshank Redemption (Tim Robbins)

“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”—Steve Jobs, Apple

“Groups become great only when everyone in them, leaders and members alike, is free to do his or her absolute best.”—Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius

“The best thing a leader can do for a Great Group is to allow its members to discover their greatness.”—Warren Bennis and Patricia Ward Biederman, Organizing Genius

“You are the storyteller of your own life, and you can create your own legend or not.”—Isabel Allende

“Nobody can prevent you from choosing to be exceptional.” —Mark Sanborn, The Fred Factor

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”—Napoleon

“Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm.” —Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it". Michelangelo

“If you’re enthusiastic about the things you’re working on, people will come ask you to do interesting things.” —James Woolsey, former CIA director

“Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.” —Winston Churchill

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."—John Quincy Adams

“A year from now you may wish you had started today.”—Karen Lamb

Jerks at Work (Revisited)

A book was written not long back entitled "The No A**holes Rule". In it, the author - Robert Sutton -discusses how "A**holes" a.k.a. "work jerks" can cause major disruptions in the workplace. The author  defines work jerks as "people who pick on those beneath them and leave others feeling belittled and sapped of energy. They use their power to schmooze those above them and beat down those beneath them. Much of the rest of their time can be spent bullying their peers".

My takeaway from the book is that jerks at work have a negative impact on the bottom line. They always cost organizations more than they are worth, and they cause upheaval that is harmful to individuals as well as the organization they work for.

What can we do when confronted with jerks on our projects? When possible we should avoid and ignore them. We can also look for ways to work around their influence and create partnerships with others that are willing to help. If somebody believes falsely that being a jerk will get them to the top quicker, there isn't much you and I can do about it. One thing is certain, we don't ever want to emulate their behavior. Jerks are poisonous, they are detrimental to project progress, and the value they sometimes create is erased by the disruption they cause.

Jerks almost always know they are jerks. They don't believe in Win/Win, they believe in Win/Lose (they must win, others must lose). Jerks are self centered, have large egos, and we aren't going to change them.

Project Management Rule: Project managers have to get the job done in spite of work jerks.

As project managers, we must learn to work with all types of people and get our projects completed on time and on budget in spite of them and their behaviors.  Remember, when confronted by a jerk be patient and respectful. Kill them with kindness. Don't forget that jerks can have influence over your project and career, and they occasionally have good ideas. There biggest flaw is they lack good character.

Project Management Rule: Work jerks don't subscribe to lofty ideas like fairness, cooperation, self-discipline, or integrity. 

They are reactive, many times "enemy-centered", and concerned about defending their desires and rights.

The bottom line is that work jerks lack emotional maturity. One definition of maturity is the balance between courage and consideration. Companies and organizations need to do a better job of screening for jerks during the hiring process. They need to know that studies have shown work jerks cost them more then they produce. Organizations don't need people in a leadership or any position for that matter that have questionable character, a win/lose work ethic, and a Scarcity Mentality.

Project Teams Members Need These Things

Project team members will perform at their peak when they:

Clearly understand and embrace the project's goals

Understand clearly the expectations put upon them

Understand how success will be measured

Understand the expectations of the project manager and sponsor

Believe their concerns will be listened to and addressed

Believe the project manager and sponsor are 100% committed to the success of the project

Understand that constructive, open, and free flowing communication is appreciated and welcome

Know they will be recognized and rewarded for their achievements

Don't Try to Please Everyone

As we manage our projects, we need to remember to spend the bulk of our time working with our advocates and supporters, not answering or arguing with our critics. If you say you don’t have critics on any of your projects than I say you probably aren't pushing hard enough, and that means you probably aren't a very good project manager. 

Trust and Leadership

I was reading the book "The Truth About Managing People" today and thought I would post a couple of excerpts from the book about leadership.  The link to the book is at the end of this posting.  I highly recommend this book, especially if you manage people, or are a project manager.

In regards to leadership, the book states, "When we trust someone, we assume they'll act honestly and truthfully and be reliable and predictable.  We also assume they won't take advantage of our trust.  Trust is the essence of leadership because it's impossible to lead people who don't trust you. "

Some quotes from the book to gain the trust from others....

Be open

Be fair

Speak your feelings

Tell the truth

Show consistency

Fulfill your promises

Maintain confidences

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I think this is a great book.  Enjoy!

One Rule from the Nordstrom's Employee Handbook

Nordstrom's Employee Handbook

from Minimal

"For years, Nordstrom’s Employee Handbook was a single 5×8” gray card containing these 75 words:

Welcome to Nordstrom

We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.

Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.

Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.

During this time, Nordstrom had the highest sales per square foot performance in the retail industry"

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Does your company have a "Rule #1 for its employees?  


When you review your employee's performance does their employee appraisal include a review of his or her customer service strengths and weaknesses?  Regular formal appraisals (quarterly, or better yet monthly) will help your employees improve their skills.


Do you provide your employees with regular training to ensure they are providing the highest level of customer service?


Does your company survey its customers to find out their level of satisfaction?  


Are your customer survey results used as part of the employee's appraisal process?


Remember, you can't manage what you don't measure, and you probably aren't providing excellent customer service if you aren't surveying your customers and providing continuous customer service training to your employees.

Effective Project Teams

Teams are dynamic and always changing.  Teams work when the individual team members unite around a common goal and have a vested interest in each others successes.  Once team members begin to bicker and fight amongst themselves, the team begins to lose its effectiveness and the reputations of the each of the team members can suffer.

Once teams lose that "all for one and one for all" dynamic the whole team loses.  Win-lose relationships on teams are never an option.  There are only two options when working with another person on your team.  You either both win or you both lose.  The team leader and team members must openly discuss issues that hinder the team from performing at their highest level and work through the issues quickly.  Lingering problems between team members can only fester and worsen, which drags down the effectiveness of the whole team.

EMOTIONAL OUTBURST - team members that display a pattern of destructive or caustic behavior to others (inside or outside of the team) should be removed from the team immediately.

Remember, when working through team dysfunction, compromise doesn't satisfy anybody and doesn't solve problems.  Collaboration is key to working through team issues and getting team performance working at a high level.  Compromise and capitulation are flawed strategies for working through problems as they don't support a win-win outcome.

In closing, keep in mind that poor listeners are not good collaborators.  In order to be an effective team leader you must listen carefully and think win-win while working through problems with your team.