Miss Brown is a Chocolate Labrador Retriever with an ego. "Not to brag," she says, "but I'm unusually smart." That's why she runs her own business, and that's why she has some strong ideas about leadership. Miss Brown also likes certain leadership quotes. Here's why she likes them, in her own words. Thomas Jefferson once said, "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." I like this quote a lot - because I like to swim in my pond. I also like to be stylish, so it makes sense to me to "go with the flow," so to speak. But I also like having principles.
I like it so much that I've developed 13 common sense principles that are good for leaders, but good for just living, too. Having principles means that you've always got some basic rules to live by, and often, that makes deciding what to do in a given situation much, much easier. It also makes it easier to know if you've succeeded. You can think about the principle and ask yourself, "Did I stick to this principle?" If you did, then you know you're successful. Another quote I like a lot came from some unknown person - or maybe another very smart dog. It says, "A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not." Wow, isn't that cool? What it means is that people look more at what you do than they listen to what you say.
So, to be a real leadership quotes, you have to do things the right way, the way you want those who follow you to do them. Some people call this "walking the talk." It's a very important thing for leaders to do. My best friend Kate had a leader once that she admired a lot. Why? Because when things got tough, he didn't just tell people what to do. He rolled up his sleeves and helped them do what needed to be done, even if that meant staying after work until very late. He was right there with everyone else, and he was very calm and sure they things would get done right. He made everyone else feel good by his example. Another famous person, Mohandas Gandhi, said this: "I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; today, it means getting along with people." Now, I'm not putting muscles down. I have plenty of them myself, and I use them all the time when retrieving my Frisbee. But I don't use them to boss people around or show off how strong I am.
I speak soulfully with my eyes, and I ask nicely with nudges, the dog version of saying please. Because I am so nice, and they know it, they will almost always do what I want them to do. Getting along with people really works. These are just three of my favorite quotes. I have quite a few more that I like a lot and try to follow every day. More to Come As you can see, Miss Brown is pretty wise. Look for more quotes and explanations of why she likes them soon. The interesting part is, her favorite quotes are about work - but they apply to life, too. The same things that work at work help you to live better, too.