Leary Gates Blog

Thought for the Day – Thomas J. Watson, Jr. on Conformity

Leary Gates — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:30:06 +0000

If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good.”- Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

I remember early in my career, […]

Thought for the Day – William Blake on Forgiveness

Leary Gates — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:30:00 +0000

The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness.”- William Blake

Chances are good that today you will be wronged. You may be judged harshly, or inappropriately, for something you’ll say or do. A benevolent act on your part may be misconstrued or unappreciated. Someone may lie to you, […]

Thought for the Day – Madeleine L’Engle on Talent

Leary Gates — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:30:30 +0000

We can’t take any credit for our talents. It’s how we use them that counts.”- Madeleine L’Engle

The Academy Awards are arguably one of the most celebrated talent events of the year. Each year, the red carpet is rolled out to receive motion picture celebrities donning the latest […]

Thought for the Day – Psalm 18:29 on Confidence

Leary Gates — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:30:05 +0000

With my God I can scale a wall.”- Psalm 18:29 (NIV)

Walls protect. They also keep unwanted things out. David, ancient king of Israel and psalmist, had enemies that certainly wanted to keep him out. You can imagine them boasting of their great wall, taking foolish comfort in their […]

Thought for the Day – Yogi Berra on Mistakes

Leary Gates — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:30:16 +0000

We made too many wrong mistakes.”- Yogi Berra

Recently my wife, Anna, was telling me about a frustrating experience she had earlier that day. As her hero, I donned my cape and offered several excellent suggestions on how she might handle it. That’s when I realized I’d not only […]

Thought for the Day – L. King on Listening

Leary Gates — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:30:39 +0000

I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.”- Larry King

Most of us are learning disabled—by design. That’s because our brains are wired for speed. Over 100 billion neurons, connected by […]

Thought for the Day – M. Twain on Worry

Leary Gates — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:30:20 +0000

I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”- Mark Twain

There’s no shortage of trouble—especially of our own making in the form of worry. We worry about our jobs, our bank account, our family, our health, our country and […]

Thought for the Day – H. Ford on Thinking

Leary Gates — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:30:13 +0000

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”- Henry Ford

From the earliest words out of her mouth, my daughter has always been adept at keeping a conversation moving along. One morning, when she was very young, we were […]

Thought for the Day – B. Pascal on Pretentiousness

Leary Gates — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:30:16 +0000

We are all something, but none of us are everything.”- Blaise Pascal

Recently a friend of mine told me about an incident that really irritated him. He and the colleagues from his firm recently invited an number of executives of a partner firm to join them in a get-to-know-you […]

Presentation: Giving Perspective

Leary Gates — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:22:32 +0000

Since before the birth of Christ, explorers have used triangulation—a method of determining the distance to objects from two reference points—to accurately map their world. Successfully navigating our world requires two reference points too. In this half-hour presentation I explore how your reference point can give a another man […]