I often wonder what happens to these great thoughts and words as they are absorbed in countless places across the globe.
Here is my take on one way you can possibly use these thoughts from some of the greatest minds who have ever lived.
Pause a while
Even if you have heard some of these famous leadership quotes before, then do not gloss over them or skip on by. Pause a while. Read them again. Absorb the great thinking which is behind them. Absorb the simplicity and try to look beyond the familiarity.
Leadership Quotes: A challenge for you
Now, here is my question to you. It is in the form of a challenge:
WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THIS INSPIRATION FROM THE MINDS OF GREAT LEADERS?
If you are reading these pages just for fun, then fine. Is that really your intention? My guess would be that you have arrived at this site to do something with it.
Some practical help – read on!
I have some ideas about how you can use the quotes on leadership more practically. Use these quotes and my thoughts as a new beginning. Here are some ideas to help you on your way:
Every morning
Read a quotation every morning and think for three minutes about what it means to you in your own circumstance. How does it apply to the challenges you are facing in the coming day, week, month or year? What can you take away from it to help you?
Here is an introduction to a way of thinking which will help you to use the quotations to your great advantage:
Day one:
Everyone has a setback now and then. Some dwell on these, others bounce back. Imagine you wake up one morning and a few minutes later, before you start your day, you pick up this book and the next quotation you read is the one from Nelson Mandela:
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
What challenges did you face in recent days? Did any of them knock you down? Can you imagine the voice of the great man saying that the greatest glory is to rise after you have fallen? Can you imagine him helping you up? Can you imagine what he would do? He would stand up. He would stand and firm and resolutely face the next challenge.
Use Nelson Mandela’s words to coach you to achieve, to rise from adversity you face.
Day two:
Here is another example: use the quotations as signposts to point you in a certain direction. Bill Gates said:
“If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?”
Have you achieved some great things already? I know you have. Think about your life and be proud. Then think about feeling proud of your achievements, and then put those feelings into the context of your next goal, your next target. Use Bill’s words to move you past the next goal. Be ambitious and see far into the future. You are not Bill Gates (if you are, Bill give me a call, I’d love to hear from you…) but I know you have a whole list of things you want to do in your life. See them stretching out into the distance. Use Bill’s words to inspire you to move towards those goals in the far distance. Hear him say the words. Imagine what they mean to you.
You have Bill Gates, right there in your room with you, urging you on with his thoughts… You have him there before breakfast.
Day three:
Here is another thought for you: John F Kennedy said:
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
Do you think it’s worth listening to JFK? Of course it is! Don’t just see the words as a few blobs of ink on the page. Take the words, take his gift to you, experience him in the room with you. What can you do with those words now he is saying them directly to you, personally? Take out of those eight words the meaning. Leadership and learning are indispensable – he is sending you a message, a very strong message, that you must use your time and your life to learn. Absorb the words from JFK. Progress!
Those are just three quick examples. Do you see how you can take each of these quotations from some of the world’s greatest minds and use them for yourself? They are handed down to you and me, given to us to use for our very own purposes.
Day four:
Now you have the idea, you must do the following:
Make a daily appointment with yourself!
Make an appointment with yourself every day. Put the appointment in your diary. Give yourself three minutes, five at the most. Read the next quote in the book and think how you can use it. Make a note of the quotation on a piece of paper and keep it with you during the day. Writing it out will place it in a different part of your mind and your subconscious will use it in new ways during the day ahead.
These are just some of the ideas for using this book. There are many others. You can grow into the learning habit. Reading and re-reading these great leadership quotes will inspire your mind to learn and to discover other new ways of using the information and ideas in them. There are so many ways you can uncover new things.
Work at this and you will find a way!