Professor Yoest’s Favorite Quotes

*The lucky man knows how much to leave to chance,* wrote CS Forester in Flying Colours, one of the 11-book saga of Horatio Hornblower.

https://twitter.com/AcademiaObscura/status/933623683867926528

“No man is fully able to command unless he has first learned to obey” Latin proverb

“Followers are active rather than passive. They can and should initiate change and engage in problem-solving and ethical behavior.”

http://www.journalofleadershiped.org/attachments/article/54/Raffo%202013.pdf

“No major armed effort is better than the staff of the commander that is directing it,”  James D. Hittle, Brigadier General, Marine Corps, historian of the military staff.

“Every Christian is a either a missionary or an imposter” Charles H. Spurgeon

“We step and do not step into the same rivers, we are and we are not,” Heraclitus says about a river, “Changing, it rests”

Show me an executive that works long hard hours and I’ll show you a bad executive.
Ronald Reagan

“My way of performing a work does not last longer than the actual playing of it,” Pablo Casals

“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all,” Pablo Casals on cello

“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable!” Beethoven

You can’t wait for Inspiration.  You have to go after it with a club.  Jack London (1876–1916)

“Leadership is the art of imposing one’s will upon other in such a manner as to command their obedience, their confidence, their respect, and their loyal co-operation.

The leader of a group should:

a) [Be qualified]

b) Motivate

c) Use the member of the group in accordance with their abilities.

d) Promote mutual confidence, respect, and co-operation in the group.

f) Be respected…

g) Punish violators of discipline.

h) Protect the best interests of the group, within the limits of the group mission…

Judgment

Intelligence

Responsibility

The orders issued by a leader, no matter where they originate, become his orders…

Good Character

Forceful…energy and resolution…

Courage

Ability to work rapidly

He must have to ability to subordinate his own convenience, comfort…

Fair distribution of difficult…tasks

The Army leader is responsible: To the group that they get all the credit due them.

No internal discord [Unit cohesion]

Productive

Accomplish the mission on time [and on budget]

Group receives rights and privileges

A military commander deserves to be called a leader when his subordinates obey his commands because they have confidence in him rather than because they fear the consequences of disobedience.

[I]n moving down the chain of command to closer personal relationship between superior and subordinate, there is a gradual shift in of emphasis from command to leadership, so that while the commander of a battalion or company is referred to as a commander, the commander of a platoon, section or squad is referred to as “leader.”

Inaction or indecision in a Commander are always wrong.

Commanders should not violate the sovereignty of command of his subordinates. [Chain of command.]

From The G-1 Manual of the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, 1947.

“A king, when he presides in council, let him beware how he opens his own inclination too much in that which he propoundeth; for else counsellors will but take the wind of hime, and, instead of giving free counsel, will sing him a song of “I shall please.” Francis Bacon in Of Counsel.

“At times I received advice rom friends, urging me to give up or curtail visits to troops. [Because] I could never speak, personally, to more than a tiny percentage…

I knew, of course, that news of a visit with even a few men in a division would soon spread throughout the unit.  This, I felt would encourage me to talk to their superiors, and this habit , I believe, promotes efficiency,  There is…a great amount of ingenuity and initiative.  If men can naturally and without restraint talk to thier officers, the products of their resourcefulness become available to all…An army fearful of its officers is never as good as one that trusts and confides in its leaders.”  Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade In Europe, 1948, p. 314.

Having problems at meetings? Set one key ground rule: “Silence denotes agreement” or “qui tacet consentire videtur,” http://buff.ly/1X5rTmD

“Every knowledge worker in modern organization is an ‘executive’ if, by virtue of his position or knowledge, he is responsible for a contribution that materially affects the capacity of the organization to perform and to obtain results.” Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive, quoted in Followership by Barbara Kellerman, page 148.

“Out of the crooked timber of humanity-no straight thing was ever made,” Emmanuel Kant 

Honesty’s the best policy. Miguel de Cervantes https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Miguel_de_Cervantes

Liars prosper.
Anonymous

Above two quotes from Stephen King’s title page of On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft

“Ego sum rex Romanus et super grammaticam,” https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Sigismund,_Holy_Roman_Emperor (I am king of the Romans and above grammar.) Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)

“I am determined to control events, not be controlled by them,” John Adams

Managers maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses. paraphrase Peter Drucker

We are so strangely made; the memories that could make us happy pass away; it is the memories that break our hearts that abide, Mark Twain in Joan of Arc.

A person who is excited can never throw straight, Mark Twain in Joan of Arc.

“But, the greatest of all her gifts, she has the seeing eye.” … He said the common eye sees only the outside of things, and judges by that, but the seeing eye pierces through and reads the heart and soul, finding there capacities which the outside didn’t indicate or promise…to… select its subordinates with an infallible judgment, Mark Twain of Joan of Arc.

80 percent of success in life is showing up, Woody Allen.

If you are lost — “climb, conserve, and confess.” — U.S. Navy SNJ Flight Manual

“If you get the objectives right, a lieutenant can write the strategy.” — Gen. George Marshall

Napoleon was asked, “Who do you consider to be the greatest generals?” He responded, “The victors.”

Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the president and do wonders for your performance, Donald Rumsfeld’s Rules: Advice on Government, Business & Life

From INC. magazine, February 2012, “Transformational” leaders are the most effective. Four Components:

First, learn to act like a leader; to manage your image…

Second, be inspirational… Be optimistic; no one is going to follow a pessimistic leader.

Third, know the people you are leading.

Fourth, Make them think. Make them take responsibility–but always with the positive support.

If you think you have things under control, you’re not going fast enough. — Mario Andretti, racecar driver.

On Subsidiarity Pope Pius XI said, “It is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, fixed and unchangeable, that one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and/or industry.”

Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical, Yogi Berra

Stories (not ideas, not features, not benefits) are what spread from person to person, Seth Godin, All Marketers are Liars–Story Tellers

In 2003 Pharmaceutical companies spent more on marketing and sales than they did on research and development. When it comes time to invest, it’s pretty clear that spreading the ideas behind the medicine is more important than inventing the medicine itselt, Seth Godin, All Marketers are Liars–Story Tellers

America’s competitive advantage is in marketing and innovation, paraphrased Peter Drucker.

A worldview is not who you are. It’s what you believe. It’s your biases. A worldview is not forever. It’s what the consumer believes right now. Seth Godin, All Marketers are Liars–Story Tellers

The best marketers are artists. They realize that whatever is being sold (a religion, a candidate, a widget, a service) is being purchased because it creates an emotional want, not because it feels a simple need.

The best stories offer:

A shortcut

a miracle

money

social success

safety

ego

fun

pleasure

belonging

Seth Godin, All Marketers are Liars–Story Tellers

From the Fullness of the heart the mouth speaks

If you think you can or cannot, you are right, Henry Ford

Stories are data with a soul, Dr. Rene Brown, on TED

If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist, Dr. Rene Brown, on TED

A teacher who can be replaced by a machine–should be, Arthur C. Clarke

“Tell’em what you’re gonna tell’em. Tell’em. Then tell’em what you told’em.”
– George Bernard Shaw

The presenter who loves his audience the most, wins.
– Seth Godin

You can feed your ego or you can feed your family. You can’t feed them both, Zig Ziglar