'“Pessimists don’t change the world. Critics write words but they don’t write the future. Naysayers talk about problems but they don’t solve them” (pg. 9).

“Culture drives expectations and beliefs. Expectations and beliefs drives behaviors. Behaviors drive habits. And habits create the future” (pg. 16).

“You can’t create a culture where people hear about what’s important. You must create a culture where people feel what’s important. You must create a culture where people don’t just hear your talk but rather they feel your walk. When the feel the mission and also hear about the mission, they’ll be on a mission” (pg. 24).

“A positive leader sees what’s possible and then takes the next steps to rally and unite people to create it” (pg. 31).

Learn to talk to yourself instead of listen to yourself (pg. 52).

“Greatness is never born from easy circumstances. We become stronger when the world becomes harder” (pg. 59).

“Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (pg. 65).

”If you are complaining you are not leading. If you are complaining you are not showing your team the way forward. Complaining causes you and your team to focus on everything but being your best. It causes you to be stuck where you are instead of moving forward to where you want to be” (pg 81).

“Besides selfishness, the enemies are busyness and stress” (pg. 94.).

“People follow the leader first and their vision second. What you say is important, but who you are is even more important” (pg. 101).

“Self-serving leaders don’t leave legacies that change the world for the better. They may make money and achieve some fame in the short run, but true greatness is achieved when a leader brings out the greatness in others. Great leaders are great servants” (pg 120).

“When you focus on helping others improve, you improve. When you lose your ego in the service of others, you find the greatness within you” (pg 127).

“If someone violates the process and you don’t address it, then everyone knows you aren’t committed to it. If you don’t hold people accountable to it, your team won’t live and breathe it” (pg 140).

“There will be days that you wake up and don’t feel very positive. There will be times your culture doesn’t seem strong. There will be moments you don’t feel very positive about the vision of where you are going. There will be meetings where the energy vampires seem like they have the upper hand. There will be conversations where you don’t feel like communicating and connecting. There will be nights where you wonder why you chose a leadership position at all. It’s times like these where you need a purpose to give you something to be positive about” (pg 151).

“People think hard work is what makes us tired. Hard word doesn’t make us tired. A lack of purpose is what makes us tired. We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it” (pg 152).

“Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals” (pg 170).

“Leadership is knowing that the critics will criticize you while still saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done. History doesn’t remember the critic. It remembers the one who withstood criticism to accomplish something great” (pg 175)

Probably my favorite of the Gordon books.

Grade: A

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