Leadership & Teamwork

Awesome Teamwork

2011-07-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

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Teamwork - Inspirational video

2011-07-04T02:39:00.000-07:00

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3 Ways to Be a Positive Leader

2011-06-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

I realized that any hard-charging leader can create success in the short term, but it would take a positive leader with a people and process-driven approach to build a successful organization for the long term.
As John Maxwell said, “If you are all alone at the top, you are not a leader. You are a hiker.”
No one creates success alone. To win in business, you must win with people. Running over people will only get you so far. To create true and lasting success you must nurture and invest in your people. Here are 3 essential ways to do this.
Care about them - The main question every employee in every organization is asking is, “Do you care about me; can I trust you?” Employees want to know if you care about them. If you do, they will be more likely to stay on the bus and work with you. Employees are more engaged at work and will work at their highest potential when their manager cares about them.
Develop a relationship with them - Author Andy Stanley once said, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” Far too many managers and leaders share rules with their people, but they don’t have a relationship with them. So what happens? The people rebel, and they disengage from their jobs and the mission of the team. I’ve had many managers approach me and tell me that my books helped them realize they needed to focus less on rules and invest more in their work relationships. The result was a dramatic increase in team performance and productivity. To develop a relationship with your employees, you need to build trust, listen to them, make time for them, recognize them and mentor them.
Appreciate them - The main reason why people leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated. For example, Doug Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup, has written more than 16,000 thank-you notes to employees in the past seven years and created a very positive business in the process. It’s as easy as saying (or writing) “Thank you.”
It’s a simple truth: When you care about your employees and the people you work with, they are more likely to stay on the bus and work harder, with more loyalty and greater positive energy. In turn, they are more likely to share their positive energy with your customers, thus enhancing service and the bottom line. The greatest customer-service strategy has nothing to do with customer service, but it has everything to do with how you treat your employees. If you model great service, they will provide great service.
Remember, leadership is not just about what you do, but what you can inspire, encourage and empower others to do. Instead of running over the people in your team/organization, invite them on the bus with you and engage them to help you create an amazing and successful ride.

Jon Gordon

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The Tree of Sorrow

2011-06-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

So it was that when the Hasidic pilgrims vied for those among them who had endured the most suffering, who was most entitled to complain, the Zaddck told them the story of the Sorrow Tree. On the Day of Judgment, each person will be allowed to hang one's unhappiness and sufferings on a brach of the great Tree of Sorrows. After all have found a limb from which their miseries may dangle, they may all walk slowly around the tree. Each person is to search for a set of sufferings that he or she would prefer to those he or she has hung on the tree.

In the end, each one freely chooses to reclaim his or her own assortment of sorrows rather than those of another. Each person leaves the Tree of Sorrows wiser that when he or she arrived.

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Killing Creativity

2011-05-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Always pretend to know more than everybody around you.
Get employees to fill in time sheets.
Run daily checks on progress of everyone's work.
Ensure that highly qualified people do mundane work for long periods.
Put barriers up between departments.
Don't speak personally to employees, except when announcing increased targets, shortened deadlines and tightened cost restraints.
Ask for a 200-page document to justify every new idea.
Call lots of meetings.
Place the biggest emphasis on the budget.
Buy lots of computers.

~author unknown

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Teamwork Quotes 2

2011-05-24T15:31:00.001-07:00

Unknown
It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit.

Unknown
There is no "I" in "TEAMWORK".

Unknown
Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.

Unknown
TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More

Andrew Carnegie
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Unknown
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Unknown
Teamwork is working together — even when apart.

Unknown
A job worth doing is worth doing together.

Unknown
Coming together, sharing together, working together, succeeding together.

Unknown
A successful team beats with one heart.

Unknown
Teamwork divides the task and doubles the success.

Unknown
Teamwork doesn't tolerate the inconvenience of distance.

Ken Blanchard
None of us is as smart as all of us.

Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach for the NFL
People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society."

Henry Ford
Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.

Bruce Coslet, Coach, Bengals
The era of the rugged individual is giving way to the era of the team player.
Everyone is needed, but no one is necessary.

Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach for the NFL
Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another…

Susan Gerke, IBM, Leadership Development
Conflict is inevitable in a team ... in fact, to achieve synergistic solutions, a variety of ideas and approaches are needed. These are the ingredients for conflict.

Coach Dean Smith to Michael Jordan in his freshman year at UNC
Michael, if you can't pass, you can't play.

Benjamin Franklin
We must all hang together,
or assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Thomas Edison, when asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants
If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.

Lewis B. Ergen
The ratio of We's to I's is the best indicator of the development of a team.

Stephen Covey
Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional, and psychological differences between people.

Max DePree
The key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential...the needs of the team are best met when we meet the needs of individuals persons.

R. Meredith Belbin
Do you want a collection of brilliant minds or a brilliant collection of minds?

Baltasar Gracion, Spanish Priest
The path to greatness is along with others.

Doug Smith
Teams share the burden and divide the grief.

Tom Bouchard
Teams are successful when they are focused, have a short cycle time, and are supported by the executives.

Coach Phil Jackson Chicago Bulls
The strength of the team is each individual member...the strength of each member is the team.

Norman Shidle
A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others.

Robert F. Bales
Effective teamwork will not take the place of knowing how to do the job or how to manage the work. Poor teamwork, however, can prevent effective final performance. And it can also prevent team members from gaining satisfaction in being a member of a team and the organization.

Dennis Kinlaw
Teamplayer: One who unites others toward a shared destiny through sharing information and ideas, empowering others and developing trust.

Buchholz and Roth
Wearing the same shirts doesn't make you a team

Jason Kidd upon being drafted to the Dallas Mavericks
We're going to turn this team around 360 degrees.

Buchholz and Roth
Synergism is the simultaneous actions of separate entities which together have greater total effect than the sum of their individual effects.

Casey Stengel
Gettin' good players is easy. Gettin' 'em to play together is the hard part.

Katzenbach & Smith
A demanding performance challenge tends to create a team.

Marvin Weisbord
Teamwork is the quintessential contradiction of a society grounded in individual achievement.

Will Schutz
Team members who feel threatened but who are not aware of it become rigid — and that stops teamwork.

Barbara Glacel & Emile Robert Jr.
A team is more than a collection of people. It is a process of give and take.

Mark Twain
Synergy — the bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously.

Ned Lautenbach
Teamwork is the lynchpin in our long term success.

Michael Jordan
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

Joe Paterno
When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter
A self-reinforcing upward spiral: performance stimulating pride stimulating performance.

Max DePree
Without forgiveness, there can be no real freedom to act within a group.

Katzenbach & Smith
The same dynamics that promote performance also support learning and behavioral change.

Dennis Kinlaw
Work and self-worth are the two factors in pride that interact with each other and that tend to increase the strong sense of pride found in superior work teams. When people do something of obvious worth, they feel a strong sense of personal worth.

Dr. Rob Gilbert
Working together works.

H.E. Luccock
No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.

Richard Wellins, William Byham, Jeanne Wilson
Teams are not ends in themselves; they are a means by which to achieve other organizational goals.

Sandra Richardson, OD Consultant
Effective teamwork is all about making a good, well-balanced salad not whipping individuals into a single batch of V8.

Reinhold Niebuhr
Men have never been individually self-sufficient.

Douglas McGregor
Most teams aren't teams at all but merely collections of individual relationships with the boss. Each individual vying with the others for power, prestige and position.

Katzenbach & Smith
Overcoming barriers to performance is how groups become teams.

Paul McCartney
I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity... to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.

Benjamin Franklin
We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach
All winning teams are goal-oriented. Teams like these win consistently because everyone connected with them concentrates on specific objectives. They go about their business with blinders on; nothing will distract them from achieving their aims.

Paul Bear Bryant
In order to have a winner, the team must have a feeling of unity; every player must put the team first-ahead of personal glory.

Bud Wilkinson, football coach (1916 )
If a team is to reach its potential, each player must be willing to subordinate his personal goals to the good of the team.

Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach for the NFL
Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

Katzenbach & Smith
Teamwork represents a set of values that encourage behaviors such as listening and constructively responding to points of view expressed by others, giving others the benefit of the doubt, providing support to those who need it, and recognizing the interests and achievements of others.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970)
The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

Robert Yates
It is amazing what can be accomplished when nobody cares about who gets the credit.

Margaret Carty
The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.

A Harvey Block
The ideas that come out of most brainstorming sessions are usually superficial, trivial, and not very original. They are rarely useful. The process, however, seems to make uncreative people feel that they are making innovative contributions and that others are listening to them.

Katzenbach & Smith
Fun is only real and sustainable if it feeds off the team's purpose and performance aspirations.

Vince Lombardi, football coach for the NFL (1913-1970)
Individual commitment to a group effort-that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

Robert Crandall
You put together the best team that you can with the players you've got, and replace those who aren't good enough.

B. Dodge
No problem is insurmountable. With a little courage, teamwork and determination a person can overcome anything.

Dr. Allan Fromme
People have been known to achieve more as a result of working with others than against them.

Debra Mancuso
Win together, lose together, play together, stay together.

Katzenbach & Smith
Real teams don't emerge unless individuals on them take risks involving conflict, trust, interdependence and hard work.

Vince Lombardi (1913-1970), football coach for the NFL
Teams do not go physically flat, they go mentally stale.

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Call me by name and throw me the ball...

2011-05-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Purpose: There are several purposes for this exercise:

1) It is fun. I have used it with adults, teenagers and my family and everyone loves it. 2) It creates great energy. 3) Creates teaching opportunities.

When: Is really good for new teams, but can used with great success for existing teams as well. Use when a team needs some energy like at the beginning of a meeting or training, or during the middle of the day or afternoon. Can also be used when you want to make a point and teach something.

Materials: 12 – 24 tennis balls or any type of ball with a soft texture.

How:

1) Have a team of 8–12 participants form a circle. The easiest way to do this is to have them hold hands and then let go at about arms length.

2) Give a ball to someone in the circle and ask them to call the name of someone else in the circle, and then throw the ball to them. The person who receives the ball says “thank you” to the person who threw it. For example, if Steve threw the ball, whoever received the ball would say “thank you Steve.” That person would then call someone else’s name and then throw the ball to them. They would then thank them.

3) Continue around the circle until everyone has received the ball once. Tell the participants that they need to remember who they threw the ball to and who they received the ball from. They will go in the same order each time.

4) Once everyone has received the ball, go around again, but faster. The goal is to get the group comfortable doing this quickly with one ball.

5) Finally, introduce other balls slowly until they are all in the circle being thrown.

6) Once the activity gets to a point where a majority of the group is fetching balls instead of catching them, then it is time to stop the activity.

7) Ask the group how this game relates to what is being trained, or decided upon, or to the team dynamics etc…

Outcome: This activity should create a lot of laughing and energy once multiple balls are introduced and there are lots of names being called. It should provide a great opportunity for the trainer or leader to teach.

Things to note: This activity is most effective with 8 – 12 participants in a group. If the group is 16 or larger, then break them into two separate teams to begin. Then do it as one large team at the end for fun.

Mike Rogers

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Samurai Sayings

2011-05-17T15:21:00.000-07:00

Don't think dishonestly
The Way is in training
Become acquainted with every art
Know the ways of all professions

Distinguish between gain and loss
Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything
Perceive those things which cannot be seen
Pay attention even to trifles
Do nothing which is of no use

Mayomoto Musashi Japan, c.1630

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First, you need a cat

2011-05-15T15:21:00.001-07:00

In a village in India there lived a Pandit (Brahmin priest) who was the only educated person in that village. He used to conduct prayers and other Vedhic (religious) rituals for other people at his home.

The Pandit had a cat. Before starting his rituals, he would tie the cat with a rope to a pillar so that it would not wander around the home and disturb him during the rituals.

One day, the Pandit died unexpectedly. Now the villagers had no one to perform the rituals, so they decided to do them with the help of the Pandit's wife. They asked her for instructions. The Pandit's wife began like this...

"First, you need a cat. You have to tie it with a rope to a pillar. Then, you have to....."

~author unknown

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Time management story

2011-05-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

Start with a bucket, some big rocks enough to fill it, some small stones, some sand and water.

Put the big rocks in the bucket - is it full?

Put the small stones in around the big rocks - is it full?

Put the sand in and give it a shake - is it full?

Put the water in. Now it's full.

The point is: unless you put the big rocks in first, you won't get them in at all.

In other words: Plan time-slots for your big issues before anything else, or the inevitable sand and water issues will fill up your days and you won't fit the big issues in (a big issue doesn't necessarily have to be a work task - it could be your child's sports-day, or a holiday).

~author unknown

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The Monkey Story

2011-05-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

Start with a cage containing five monkeys.

Inside the cage, hang a banana on a string and place a set of stairs under it.

Before long, a monkey will go to the stairs and start to climb towards the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, spray all of the monkeys with cold water.

After a while, another monkey makes an attempt with the same result - all the monkeys are sprayed with cold water.

Pretty soon, when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, turn off the cold water.

Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one.

The new monkey sees the banana and wants to climb the stairs.

To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attack him.

After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs, he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys and replace it with a new one.

The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked.

The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment with enthusiasm.

Again, replace a third original monkey with a new one.

The new one makes it to the stairs and is attacked as well.

Two of the four monkeys that beat him have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs, or why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing the fourth and fifth original monkeys, all the monkeys that have been sprayed with cold water have been replaced.

Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approaches the stairs.

Why not?

Because as far as they know that's the way it's always been around here.

And that's how company policy begins ...

~author unknown

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The Tortoise and the Hare, Continued

2011-05-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is an age old fable of the tortoise and hare race. Everyone knows who won the race or do you? Well, recently I heard a new version of this story with a new twist. Read this inspirational teamwork story with lessons in teamwork from an age old fable.

Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. The tortoise and hare both agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race.

The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. This is the version of the story that we've all grown up with.

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But then recently, someone told me a more interesting version of this tortoise and hare story. It continues.

The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.

This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.

The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady. If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap.

It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.

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But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. The tortoise and hare started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river.

The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race.

The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.

In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable the senior management to notice you.

If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.

The story still hasn't ended.

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The tortoise and hare, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So the tortoise and hare decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time.

They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. Both the tortoise and hare felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.

The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well.

Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.

~author unknown

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You are a Success

2011-05-05T17:52:00.001-07:00

"Goals are dreams and wishes that are not easily reached.
You have to work hard to obtain them,
Never knowing when or where you will reach your goal.
But keep trying! Do not give up hope.
And most of all…never stop believing in yourself.
For within you there is someone special… someone wonderful and successful.
No matter what you achieve, as long as you want it and it makes you happy,
You are a success."

Rosemary De Paolis

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Lessons From Geese

2011-05-03T07:41:00.001-07:00

FACT 1:

As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson:

People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

FACT 2:
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Lesson:

If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

FACT 3:

When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson:

It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.

FACT 4:

The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson:

We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

FACT 5:

When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Lesson:

If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

~Based on work by Milton Olson

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Fate Is in Your Own Hands

2011-05-03T07:38:00.001-07:00

Once upon a time, there was a general who was leading his army into battle against an enemy ten times the size of his own. Along the way to the battle field, the troops stopped by a small temple to pray for victory.

The general held up a coin and told his troops, "I am going to implore the gods to help us crush our enemy. If this coin lands with the heads on top, we'll win. If it's tails, we'll lose. Our fate is in the hands of the gods. Let's pray wholeheartedly."

After a short prayer, the general tossed the coin. It landed with the heads on top. The troops were overjoyed and went into the battle with high spirits. Just as predicted, the smaller army won the battle. The soldiers were exalted, "It's good to have the gods on our side! No one can change what they have determined."

"Really?" The general show them the coin--both sides of it were heads.

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6 Phases of a Project

2011-05-03T07:36:00.001-07:00

Not exactly a story, but a widely referred to ironic model detailing the six phases of a project. Do you recognize this model?

1. Enthusiasm

2. Disillusionment

3. Panic

4. Search for the guilty

5. Punishment of the innocent

6. Praise and honours for the non-participants

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Come to the Edge

2011-05-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Come to the edge, he said.

They said, we are afraid.

Come to the edge, he said.

They came.

He pushed...and they flew.

~Guillaume Apollinaire

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Don't you quit

2011-05-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill.
When funds are low and the debts are high.
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit.
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns.
As everyone of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are.
It may be near when it seems so far:
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

~author unknown

The Rude Parrot

2011-05-02T01:08:00.001-07:00

A retired sergeant major inherited a talking parrot from a recently departed relative who had run a busy dockside pub. For the first few days in his new home the normally talkative parrot was distinctly shy. The old major, despite his stern and disciplined ways, felt sorry for the bird, and gently encouraged it with soft words and pieces of fruit.

After a week or so the parrot began to find its voice - a little at first - and then more so. Responding to the kind treatment, the parrot's vocabulary continued to recover, including particularly the many colourful expressions it had been taught in the dockside pub. The old sergeant major began to be quite irritated by the parrot's incessant rudeness, and after a few more days of worsening profanities, decided action was required to bring the bird under control. The sergeant major tried at first to incentivise the parrot with the promise of reward for good behaviour, but to no avail. He next tried to teach the bird a lesson by withdrawing its privileges, again to no avail; the parrot remained stubbornly rude. Finally the old major flipped into battleground management mode; he grabbed the bird, clamped his hands around its beak, and thrust the struggling, swearing parrot, into the top drawer of the freezer, slamming the door tightly shut.

The swearing and struggling noises continued inside the freezer for a few seconds and then abruptly stopped. The sergeant major listened for a while and then, concerned that the parrot's shock might have been terminal, carefully opened the freezer door and opened the drawer to look. The parrot slowly clambered out of the drawer and perched on its edge.

"I must apologize for my rude and disrespectful behavior," said the parrot, "I promise never to use bad language again. And by the way, what did the turkey do?"

~author unknown

The Balloon Story

2011-05-02T00:48:00.000-07:00

A man in a hot air balloon is lost. He sees a man on the ground and reduces height to speak to him.

"Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in a hot air balloon hovering thirty feet above this field," comes the reply.

"You must work in Information Technology," says the balloonist.

"I do," says the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," says the balloonist, "Everything you told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone."

"You must be in business," says the man.

"I am," says the balloonist, "How did you know?"

"Well," says the man, "You don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."

~author unknown

Do It Anyway

2011-05-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.

LOVE THEM ANYWAY.

If you do good, people accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

DO GOOD ANYWAY.

If you are successful, you win false and true enemies.

SUCCEED ANYWAY.

The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow.

DO GOOD ANYWAY.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY.

What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight.

BUILD ANYWAY.

People really need help but may attack you if you help them.

HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU'VE GOT ANYWAY.

~From a sign in Mother Teresa's children's home of Shushu Bhavan, Calcutta, India

Author unknown

Two Wolves

2011-05-02T00:40:00.000-07:00

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

~author unknown

Teamwork Quotes

2011-05-02T00:31:00.001-07:00

Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. ~Author Unknown

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it. ~H.E. Luccock

Teamwork is the ability to work as a group toward a common vision, even if that vision becomes extremely blurry. ~Author Unknown

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. ~Vince Lombardi

The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side. ~Margaret Carty

Many hands make light work. ~John Heywood

One piece of log creates a small fire, adequate to warm you up, add just a few more pieces to blast an immense bonfire, large enough to warm up your entire circle of friends; needless to say that individuality counts but team work dynamites. ~Jin Kwon

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent. ~John Donne

Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there. ~Virginia Burden

Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. ~Kenyan Proverb

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. ~Henry Ford

None of us is as smart as all of us. ~Ken Blanchard

It is amazing how much you can accomplish when it doesn't matter who gets the credit. ~Author Unknown

Team means Together Everyone Achieves More! ~Author Unknown

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. ~Andrew Carnegie

Regardless of differences, we strive shoulder to shoulder... [T]eamwork can be summed up in five short words: "We believe in each other." ~Author Unknown

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. ~Author Unknown

Contrary to popular belief, there most certainly is an "I" in "team." It is the same "I" that appears three times in "responsibility." ~Amber Harding

We must all hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately. ~Benjamin Franklin

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Meade

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. ~Babe Ruth

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. ~Henry Ford

Teamwork is essential - it allows you to blame someone else. ~Author Unknown

The ratio of We's to I's is the best indicator of the development of a team. ~Lewis B. Ergen

Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it. ~Bill Bradley

I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion. ~Mia Hamm

Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it. ~Brian Tracy

No member of a crew is praised for the rugged individuality of his rowing. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together! ~Author Unknown

In union there is strength. ~Aesop

Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all. ~Alexander the Great

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others. ~Norman Shidle

Gettin' good players is easy. Gettin' 'em to play together is the hard part. ~Casey Stengel

It is a fact that in the right formation, the lifting power of many wings can achieve twice the distance of any bird flying alone. ~Author Unknown

Sure there's no "I" in "team," but there is a "ME"! ~Author Unknown

Leadership Quotes

2011-05-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says "Go!" - a leader says "Let's go!" ~E.M. Kelly

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says "I was beaten," he does not say "My men were beaten." ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not. ~Author Unknown

Leadership is action, not position. ~Donald H. McGannon

You can't lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself. ~Gene Mauch

The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it. ~Elaine Agather

You don't have to hold a position in order to be a leader. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. ~Albert Schweitzer

Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them. ~Robert Jarvik

You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself. ~Thomas J. Watson

If two or three persons should come with a high spiritual aim and with great powers, the world would fall into their hands like a ripe peach. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

A leader is a dealer in hope. ~Napoleon Bonaparte, attributed

Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders. ~Tom Peters

One measure of leadership is the caliber of people who choose to follow you. ~Dennis A. Peer

A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. ~John C. Maxwell

A leader is best
When people barely know that he exists.
~Witter Bynner, The Way of Life According to Laotzu

The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way. ~Henry Miller, The Wisdom of the Heart

If you wish a general to be beaten, send him a ream full of instructions; if you wish him to succeed, give him a destination, and bid him conquer. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

I am more afraid of an army of one hundred sheep led by a lion than an army of one hundred lions led by a sheep. ~Charles Maurice, Prince de Talleyrand-Périgord

A man is only a leader when a follower stands beside him. ~Mark Brouwer

I suppose that leadership at one time meant muscle; but today it means getting along with people. ~Indira Gandhi

Leaders need to be optimists. Their vision is beyond the present. ~Rudy Giuliani

A leader leads by example not by Force. ~Sun Tzu

A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader. ~Golda Meir

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. ~Theodore Roosevelt

He led his regiment from behind -
He found it less exciting.
But when away his regiment ran,
His place was at the fore, O.
~W.S. Gilbert

Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow. ~Vince Lombardi

We have great managers who haven't spent a day in management school. Do we have great surgeons that haven't spent a day in surgical school? ~Henry Mintzberg

Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers. ~Author Unknown

The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes. ~Tony Blair

Leadership: the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy. ~Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish. ~Anne Bradstreet

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. ~Ralph Nader

Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships. ~Charles Simic

Management is nothing more than motivating other people. ~Lee Iacocca

There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them. ~Alexandre Ledru-Rollin

I am not a labor leader. I don't want you to follow me or anyone else. If you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of the capitalist wilderness you will stay right where you are. I would not lead you into this promised land if I could, because if I could lead you in, someone else could lead you out. ~Eugene V. Debs

To lead the people, walk behind them. ~Lao-Tzu

Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership. ~Eric Hoffer