Quotes About Influence

When I was in my early twenties, it seemed like everyone I knew – every male, I should say – read Bukowski. These men of my acquaintance listened to the Go-Betweens, drank Guinness from a straight glass and loved Bukowski like little girls love ponies.

My parents, especially my mother, were no influence on me whatsoever.

Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives.

Every arena of life intersects with what's going on in our hearts. Everything passes through on its way to wherever it's going. Everything.

When people are convinced you want something FOR them rather than something FROM them, they are less likely to be offended when you challenge them.

When you try to exercise authority within a department that is outside your core competencies, you will hinder everything and everyone under your watch. If you fail to distinguish between authority and competence, you will exert your influence in ways that damage projects and people. To put it bluntly, there are things you are responsible for that you should keep your nose out of.

But leadership is not always about getting things done "right." Leadership is about getting things done through other people. Leaders miss opportunities to play to their strengths because they haven't figured out that great leaders work through other leaders, who work through others. Leadership is about multiplying your efforts, which automatically multiplies your results.

As leaders, we are never responsible for filling anyone else's cup. Our responsibility is to empty ours. So

What kind of vision are you casting for the people around you? Dad, what kind of vision are you casting for your children? Mom, what kind of vision are you casting for your husband? Grandparent, what about those grandkids? Leader, what kind of personal visions are you casting for the people who have invested their time and talents in your vision?

Simply recognizing the need for change does not define leadership. The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees…A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately. It is not his insight that sets the leader apart from the crowd. It is his courage to act on what he sees, to speak up when everyone else is silent.

Leadership is not always about getting things done "right." Leadership is about getting things done through other people…When a leader can't find someone to hand things off to, it is time for him to look in the mirror. We must never forget that the people who follow us are exactly where we have led them.

The generosity and compassion of Christians changed the world once. What would happen if the church became known for such behavior again?

In this way, courage establishes leadership.

Leaders are not always the first to see the need for change, but they are the first to act. And once they move away from the pack, they are positioned to lead.

You can't lead without taking risk. You won't take risk without courage. Courage is essential to leadership.

This goes right to the heart of leadership. Leaders instill courage in the hearts of those who follow. This rarely happens through words alone. It generally requires action. It goes back to what we said earlier: Somebody has to go first. By going first, the leader furnishes confidence to those who follow. In this way, leaders give permission.

one of the primary reasons that you have to listen to outsiders: If you don't, you will be driven by the complaints and demands of the insiders.

Leaders who don't listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.

Loyalty publicly results in leverage privately.

It's the movies that have really been running things in America ever since they were invented. They show you what to do, how to do it, when to do it, how to feel about it, and how to look how you feel about it.

Politics is a blood sport.

The purpose of getting power is to be able to give it away.

It is an axiom, enforced by all the experience of the ages, that they who rule industrially will rule politically.

You're not an M.P., you're a gastronomic pimp.