The habits of highly successful bosses.

Some things you may not think about when you think of a great manager:

Great bosses get the small picture.

Great bosses never forget that employees experience things locally, from the trenches of IT or accounting or sales. In words and action, great bosses take account of those perspectives.

Great bosses make people feel smart.

Great bosses, when presented in a meeting or in private conversation with some enthusiastic but misguided bit of twaddle, listen carefully for the tiniest germ of potential. Seizing that germ, they talk it through--teasing it, tweezing it, rearranging it--until they produce something workable and smart.

Great bosses know who does what.

There is no i in team, but there is an i in underappreciated, which is how people feel when their individual contributions disappear into the common collaborative slurry

Great bosses know when they're not wanted.

Good bosses delegate. Great ones don't hang around in the background monitoring how that delegation is going.

Great bosses remember.

Employees' hobbies. Their families' names. Who plays what position on the company softball team. Who is terrified of flying. Who has expressed interest in a leadership role. And employees, in return, remember them.

Use your time wisely; by slacking off

A recent survey found that the typical American worker wastes slightly more than two hours a day, not including lunch and scheduled breaks. The No. 1 time-wasting activity is surfing the Internet and sending personal e-mails, followed by socializing with co-workers, conducting personal business and just plain "spacing out." All of this loafing is supposedly costing employers $759 billion a year in lost productivity. But guess what, American workers, it turns out, are wasting less time than they did just a couple of years ago - 19% less. And the U.N.'s International Labor Organization recently issued a report that found that the U.S. leads the world in worker productivity - and by a wide margin.

So here is the paradox. "We are a nation of doers, hard workers, yet we are also a nation of ideas, big ideas." It has long been known that idea generation requires idleness, but idleness makes us uncomfortable. These two aspects of the American personality constantly rub against each other. This leads our minds to constantly shift from guilt (for using work time on personal matters) to resentment (for having to work so-damn-much) to boredom. This cycle causes us to misuse a lot of energy when in fact we can accept that there is a healthy balance between work, idleness (and whatever else you do on the job) that each of us can find for ourselves if we look for it.

Generation X & Y - What the Future Holds...

I recently attended a conference focused on the unique generational shift that is currently going on. The Baby Boomers (born 1944-1962) are getting old while Generation X'rs (born 1963-1981) are taking their roles as adults, and Generation Y's (born after 1981) are entering the workforce. What does this all mean??? Society is going to change quite a bit.

Interestingly generation X is one of the smallest generations since The Depression, but is sandwiched between two of histories largest generations, the Baby Boomers and Generation Y. This is why you've heard that organizations are very concerned about the aftermath of the Baby Boomer retirement. The fear is that there will be a shortage of quality employees to not only take the roles left empty by exiting Baby Boomers but also the question of who will manage the large group of younger generation Y employees.

This put's Generation X'rs in a very unique position as the intermediaries between two very different groups that have and will shape the world as we know it. How are these groups different? To help you with this imagine each of the following people as representatives to their respective generations (I didn't come up with these):

Baby Boomers - Bill Gates

Generation X - (None, that's why we are signified by the X)

Generation Y - Paris Hilton

Now, you may look at these representations and come to the simplified conclusion that I think those from the Y generation are idiots and that our society is going downhill, but you'd be wrong. Many people actually believe this point of view to be true and justify their concerns with evidence about how Y's are unwilling to work hard, can't focus, and are clueless when it comes to social interaction (e.g. showing respect for their elders). But this is only a shallow view of what this group brings to the table.

The Bad Background: Y's were raised by wealthy, protective, and overworked Baby Boomer parents taking excellent care of them (or at least hiring someone to do so). As a result they have a great feeling of entitlement and little discipline. They don't believe in sacrificing today for happiness tomorrow. They want to be happy today and tomorrow. To go along with this is a deeply ingrained feeling of equality. In there eye's people are people; things like age are not significant or justifications for special treatment (remember these are the kids having temper tantrums in the market, yelling at their parents because they tried to stop them from getting Power Ranger cereal). Again this all sounds negative, but look a bit deeper and you may see things a bit differently.

• When studying spiritual literature one is constantly reminded of the idea of focusing on the moment instead of dwelling on the past or anticipating the unknown of the future. Y's do this naturally.


• Feelings of entitlement combined with equality create a high standard for all to live up to. What I mean is, that someone who feels entitled has high expectations for themselves irrespective of the work they do or sacrifices they make. When this is combined with broadly supported feelings of equality with no thought of age, race, and gender then these high standards are expected for all.

Now, these characteristics don't appear to be as bad as they did before, do they?. When you add to this that Y's are resourceful, creative and fully integrated into the systems that Boomers still can't fully comprehend, and X's barely have a handle on, you find a group that is truly unique and definitely not inferior. That is except in one area: Focus.

It still waits to be seen whether Y's will have problems focusing on anything for long enough to really make any sizable impact. This is where the information overload, lack of discipline and constant connectivity may have hurt our newest generation. Will they be able to focus there energy, attention, etc. for long enough to meaningfully improve the world? I don't have the answer but I'll leave you with these quotes about managing Y's:

"Generation Y doesn't care about how much you know, until they know how much you care."

"Generation Y needs leaders not managers...Managers do things right; leaders do the right thing."

Tips on Aspiring Creativity

http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000932.html

I don't normally link to blogs, but this is good, real good. There is a detailed explanation of each of these tips if you go to the link.

So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years:
1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.
3. Put the hours in.
4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
5. You are responsible for your own experience.
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
7. Keep your day job.
8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
11. Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
13. Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.
14. Dying young is overrated.
15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
16. The world is changing.
17. Merit can be bought. Passion can't.
18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
19. Sing in your own voice.
20. The choice of media is irrelevant.
21. Selling out is harder than it looks.
22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
23. Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.
24. Don�t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
25. You have to find your own schtick.
26. Write from the heart.
27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.
28. Power is never given. Power is taken.
29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.
30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
31. Remain frugal.

The Teachings of "Fight Club"

Tyler Durden: The things you own end up owning you.
----
Tyler Durden: [whispering] Tell him the liberator who destroyed my property has realigned my perception.
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Narrator: I flipped through catalogs and wondered: What kind of dining set defines me as a person?
----
Tyler Durden: We're consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.
Narrator: Martha Stewart.
Tyler Durden: Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha's polishing the brass on the Titanic. It's all going down, man. So fuck off with your sofa units and Strinne green stripe patterns. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let... lets evolve, let the chips fall where they may.
----
Narrator: This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time.
----
Tyler Durden: People do it everyday, they talk to themselves... they see themselves as they'd like to be, they don't have the courage you have, to just run with it.
----
Tyler Durden: First you have to give up, first you have to *know*... not fear... *know*... that someday you're gonna die.
----
Tyler Durden: Hitting bottom isn't a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!
----
Tyler Durden: All right, if the applicant is young, tell him he's too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. If the applicant then waits for three days without food, shelter, or encouragement he may then enter and begin his training.
----
Tyler Durden: Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
----
Tyler Durden: All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I fuck like you wanna fuck, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.
----
Tyler Durden: You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.
----
Tyler Durden: Listen up, maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else.
----
Narrator: On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
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Narrator: When people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just... Marla Singer: - instead of just waiting for their turn to speak?
----
[after deliberately crashing the car on the side of the road] Tyler Durden: Goddamn! [Histerical laughs]
Tyler Durden: We just had a near-life experience, fellas.
----
Narrator: After fighting, everything else in your life got the volume turned down.
----
Narrator: And then, something happened. I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
----
Tyler Durden: Fuck what you know. You need to forget about what you know, that's your problem. Forget about what you think you know about life, about friendship, and especially about you and me.
----
Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler
---
[Gets up from airplane seat] Tyler Durden: Now a question of etiquette; as I pass, do I give you the ass or the crotch...?

Quotes on Selfishness

What is being selfish? Some people say everyone is selfish with even the nice things they do for others having some self-benefit. But the predominant belief is that people can be truly righteous, which means that others truly aren't.

Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.
Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities.
Ann Richards

The principle of liberty and equality, if coupled with mere selfishness, will make men only devils, each trying to be independent that he may fight only for his own interest. And here is the need of religion and its power, to bring in the principle of benevolence and love to men.
John Randolph (1773 - 1833)

Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires.
Lao-tzu (604 BC - 531 BC), The Way of Lao-tzu

Quote: Nelson Mandela

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

Nelson Mandela (1918 - ), 'A Long Walk to Freedom'

Strategic Incompetence

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/102876/the-art-of-showing-pure-incompetence-at-an-unwanted-task

"Strategic incompetence isn't about having a strategy that fails, but a failure that succeeds. It almost always works to deflect work one doesn't want to do -- without ever having to admit it. For junior staffers, it's a way of attaining power through powerlessness. For managers, it can juice their status by pretending to be incapable of lowly tasks."

This just illustrates that people's jobs have become solely about avoiding change or self-promotion rather than some broader goal or purpose. Sad.

Big Rocks

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.As he stood in front of the group of high powered overachievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?"Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he said, "Really?"He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied.He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good."Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!""No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." What are the 'big rocks' in your life?
Your children
Your loved ones
Your education
Your dreams
A worthy cause
Teaching or mentoring others
Doing things that you love
Time for yourself
Your health
Your significant other
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat the little stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about that don't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff (the big rocks).So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

http://www.glantzberg.us/Rocks/big_rocks.htm

I always loved this story...

Quote on RISK: Robert Anthony

Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy.
-Robert Anthony

I think people forget or may never realize that uncertainty is not an inherently bad thing. If the current position of our lives is certain to suck, then opening it up for some uncertainty is not "risk free" but certainly in our favor.

Survey Reveals Most Satisfying Jobs

According to the 2006 General Social Survey, based on interviews with randomly selected people who collectively represent a cross section of Americans “The most satisfying jobs are mostly professions, especially those involving caring for, teaching and protecting others and creative pursuits.”

"The Awakening"

A time comes in your life when you finally get it...
when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity,
you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out...ENOUGH!
Enough fighting and crying and blaming and struggling to hold on.
Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum,
you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You realize it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change,
or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.
You realize that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings,
and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you...
and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and
that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are... and that's OK.
They are entitled to their own views and opinions.
You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself...
and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.
You stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you -
or didn't do for you - and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.
You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say
and that not everyone will always be there for you and that everything isn't always about you.
So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself...
and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.
You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are
and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties...
and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.
You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view.
You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.
You learn the difference between wanting and needing
and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown,
or should never have bought into to begin with.
You learn that there is power and glory in creating
and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a "consumer" looking for your next fix.
You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era,
but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.
You learn that you don't know everything,
it's not your job to save the world
and that you can't teach a pig to sing.
You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry
and that martyrs get burned at the stake.
Then you learn about love.
You learn to look at relationships as they really are
and not as you would have them be.
You learn that alone does not mean lonely.
You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes.
You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility
and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.
You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside,
smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.
You learn that your body really is your temple.
You begin to care for it and treat it with respect.
You begin to eat a balanced diet, drink more water, and take more time to exercise.
You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty
and so you take more time to rest.
And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul.
So you take more time to laugh and to play.
You learn that, for the most part,
you get in life what you believe you deserve,
and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for
and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.
More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success
you need direction, discipline and perseverance.
You also learn that no one can do it all alone,
and that it's OK to risk asking for help.
You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself.
You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know
that whatever happens you can handle it
and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.
You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.
You learn that life isn't always fair,
you don't always get what you think you deserve
and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people...
and you learn not to always take it personally.
You learn that nobody's punishing you and everything isn't always somebody's fault.
It's just life happening.
You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.
You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment
must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.
You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted,
things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about:
a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.
Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself
and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never,
ever settle for less than your heart's desire.
You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.
You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.
Finally, with courage in your heart, you take a stand,
you take a deep breath,
and you begin to design the life you want to live as best you can.
- Author Unknown

Review: Stephen R. Covey - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

http://engtech.wordpress.com/2006/05/28/book-review-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-people-by-stephen-r-covey/

"It is incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy — very busy — without being very effective." -Stephen R. Covey

This is one of the only business guidance books that I have read that has a soul (unlike the works of Dale Carnegie). All of its advice has meaning and purpose. The review linked above gives a good introduction to each step.

Let It Go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Hunt

http://www.esquire.com/features/the-endorsement/letitgo0407

I am rarely touched by an emotional story on the radio but a few months ago I heard the story of a many who had been wrongly incarcerated for 17 years for crimes he did not commit. Using new DNA tests he was found innocent of the crimes and released. Now I think that any of us would be bitter over this situation. I think I'd be OUTRAGED, but this man wasn't. He was happy and at peace. Simply enjoying his new-found freedom and working to build a better life for himself. Amazing if you ask me... and soon to be the feature of an HBO documentary.

http://www.darrylhuntproject.org/about.html

Quotes on Talent

I've been studying the idea of talent recently and what I've learned is that we spend a disproportionate amount of time focusing on our weaknesses. We take our innate strengths for granted, but it is time that we stop. Here are some quotes to get you thinking about the nature of talent.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860)

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 - 1930), (Sherlock Holmes) Valley of Fear, 1915

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to people who have none.
Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.
Brendan Francis

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
Erica Jong

Dimissing "The Secret"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601819.html?hpid=opinionsbox2

These sources are trying to show you the many false claims made in Rhonda Byrns self-help book and documentary "The Secret." Since Oprah's promotion of this, dare I say, almost worthless and completely unjustified philosophy, people have been jumping on "The Secret" bandwagon. Luckily there are some people out their like Tim Watkins of The Washington Post with a little more sense and who use their voice to shed light on what could confuse and end up demoralizing a of people.

Quotes on "Failure"

I don't know what made me look into this, this morning but I'm happy I did:

I can't give you a sure-fire formula for success, but I can give you a formula for failure: try to please everybody all the time.
Herbert Bayard Swope (1882 - 1958)

What we call failure is not the falling down but the staying down.
Mary Pickford (1893 - 1979)

Success isn't permanent, and failure isn't fatal.
Mike Ditka (1939 - )

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
Thomas A. Edison (1847 - 1931)

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure.
William Saroyan (1908 - 1981)

I'm not sure about how I feel about that last one... but it got me thinking.

Your Strengths...Better than "The Secret"

After you've gotten sick of trying to tune your positive energy, why not identify your core strengths and work to build them. The book Now, Discover Your Strengths (by the same author as Go Put Your Strengths to Work and currently #5 on the NY Times Best Sellers list) takes a very practical outlook on how we can be more successful. Based on research consisting of interviews conducted by Gallup of over 1.7 million employees from 101 companies, representing 63 countries, the authors have presented information to completely shift our current state of mind around self-improvement. Around the world (more so in east Asia) when people look to improve themselves, they identify their weaknesses and attempt to correct them. This book explains how that is the an ineffective use of our time and talents. Instead we should work to identify, utilize, and enhance our natural strengths for by doing this we will make the most progress in our lives.

Quote: Stephen R. Covey

“Real character development begins with the humble recognition that we are not in charge, that principles ultimately govern. I don't talk much about ethics and values because to me those words imply situational behaviors, subjective beliefs, social mores, cultural norms, or relative truths. I prefer to talk about universal principles and natural laws that are more absolute. You may think that it's just a matter of semantics and that when most people talk about values they really mean these universal principles. But I see a clear difference between principles and values. Hitler was value-driven; Saddam Hussein is value-driven. Every person and organization is driven by what they value. But they aren't necessarily ethical or principle-centered. The Humility of Principles The key to quality of life is to be centered on principles. We're not in control; principles are in control. We're arrogant when we think we are in control. Yes, we may control our actions, but not the consequences of our actions. Those are controlled by principles, by natural laws. Building character and creating quality of life is a function of aligning our beliefs and behaviors with universal principles. These principles are impersonal, external, factual, objective, and self-evident. They operate regardless of our awareness of them, or our obedience to them. If your current lifestyle is not in alignment with these principles, then you might trade a value-based map for a principle-centered compass. When you recognize that external verities and realities ultimately govern, you might willingly subordinate your values to them and align your roles and goals, plans, and activities with them. But doing so often takes a crisis: your company's downsizing; your job's on the line; your relationship with the boss goes sour; you lose a major account; your marriage is threatened; your financial problems peak; or you're told you have just a few months to live. In the absence of such a catalytic crisis, we tend to live in numbed complacency so busy doing good, easy, or routine things that we don't even stop to ask ourselves if we're doing what really matters. The good, then, becomes the enemy of the best. Humility is the mother of all virtues: the humble in spirit progress and are blessed because they willingly submit to higher powers and try to live in harmony with natural laws and universal principles. Courage is the father of all virtues: we need great courage to lead our lives by correct principles and to have integrity in the moment of choice. When we set up our own self-generated or socially-validated value systems and then develop our missions and goals based on what we value, we tend to become laws unto ourselves, proud and independent. Pride hopes to impress; humility seeks to bless. Just because we value a thing doesn't mean that having it will enhance our quality of life. No "quality movement" in government, business, or education will succeed unless based on "true north" principles. And yet we see leaders who cling to their current style based on self-selected values and bad habits even as their "ship" is sinking when they could be floating safely on the life raft of principles. Nothing sinks people faster in their careers than arrogance. Arrogance shouts "I know best." In the uniform of arrogance, we fumble and falter pride comes and goes before the fall. But dressed in humility, we make progress. As the character Indiana Jones learned in The Last Crusade, "The penitent man will pass." In pride, we often sow one thing and expect to reap another. Many of our paradigms and the processes and habits that grow out of them never produce the results we expect because they are based on illusions, advertising slogans, program-of-the-month training, and personality-based success strategies. Quality of life can't grow out of illusion. So how do we align our lives with "true north" realities that govern quality of life?”
Center on Principles, by Stephen R. Covey, February 1994

Quote: Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi from "Finding Flow"

“If we do not take charge of its (life’s) direction, our life will be controlled by the outside to serve the purpose of some other agency. Biologically programmed instincts will use it to replicate the genetic material we carry; the culture will make sure that we use it to propagate its values and institutions; and other people will try to take as much of our energy as possible to further their own agenda – all of this without regard to how any of this will affect us. We cannot expect anyone to help us live; we must discover how to do it by ourselves.”
-Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Finding Flow