Quotes About Achievement

Darwin Smith stands as a classic example of what we came to call a Level 5 leader—an individual who blends extreme personal humility with intense professional will.

As the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu pointed out 2,500 years ago, "True leaders inspire people to do great things and, when the work is done, their people proudly say, 'We did this ourselves.

James C. Collins

Everyone gets luck, good and bad, but 10X winners make more of the luck they get.

generally to do something which is of value.1

THE "FLYWHEEL EFFECT" The good-to-great companies understood a simple truth: Tremendous power exists in the fact of continued improvement and the delivery of results.

we also found comparable amounts of luck in the control set of comparison cases we studied! The big winners did not generally get more good luck, less bad luck, bigger spikes of luck, or better-timed luck than their comparisons. What the best achieved, instead, was a higher return on luck.

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly. The

transformations never happened in one fell swoop. There was no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.

Paradox: "We're not going to hit breakthrough by Christmas, but if we keep pushing in the right direction, we will eventually hit breakthrough.

All comes to him who waits—and works.

Like every serious student, follow the most important law for all students: repay your teacher by making it your duty to surpass him!

So many firsts. Yes. And so many deaths to win them.

Only a real man has the right to stand at the pinnacle.

if you succeed or fail, what does it matter? The try will live forever!

The roots of learning are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.   —Polish Proverb

Legend, tradition, history can drive a commitment to excellence that raises people and has them perform at a level above anything they ever dreamed they could do. And it makes all of us realize the potential that everybody has who serves for you and goes to sea on ships.

Success was never accidental, he would say; it was always the result of a vision and hard work. Dad

You can't make history all the time, Dougie. Sometimes the best you can do is make money.

In our zeal to become the landlords of our own being, we cling to each achievement as a kind of verification of our self-proclaimed reality. We become the center and God somehow recedes to an invisible fringe. Others become real to the extent they become significant others to the designs of our own ego. And in this process the ALL of God dies in us and the sterile nothingness of our desires becomes our God.

I am aware that the battle I am fighting is a petty one, but I am also aware that in order to win that which is great, you must first win that which is small.

We ask for progress, not perfection. Just do your best.

I like to tread uncharted territory and push myself in terms of performance.

Success was always critical to me. What it meant was winning enough praise and external admiration that I could feel myself to be a logical extension of my Uncle Alex, Uncle Zoli, and my father, in that order.