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To be a winner … be unselfish
Steve Kerr, head coach of the Golden State Warriors was asked the reason his team defeated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2017 NBA championship. He answered in one word: “Unselfish.” The NBA Finals were a feast for basketball junkies like me. The excitement extended far beyond the games themselves. The players put on…
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Friendships can lead to good working relationships
Two friends were walking through a dense jungle. Knowing the dangers, they promised to stick together whatever happened. Suddenly a tiger appeared in the bushes. One friend immediately turned and ran, climbing up a tree and leaving his companion behind. He watched as his friend dropped to the ground and played dead. The tiger…
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The worst failure is the failure to try
That is the message I hear every spring when I attend the Horatio Alger Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C., where 10 new members are inducted annually. I was honored to be one of them in 2004, during the short speeches given by new members to the audience, which includes more than 100. Failure can become…
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Optimists see opportunities in challenge
Two hikers were camped out overnight in the mountains. A thunderous voice roused them from their sleep. The voice said, “This will be the saddest day or the happiest day of your lives,” then instructed them to pack up their belongings, make their way to the river, gather stones in their backpacks that they couldn’t…
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Mentoring Works Both Ways
Anyone who doesn’t understand the value of one minute hasn’t been paying attention to my good friend Ken Blanchard. Starting with his “One Minute Manager” and moving through a series of bestsellers, he has shown his millions of fans how just sixty seconds can improve your chances for success. Good news – he’s at it…
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Losing isn’t the opposite of winning, it can be a part of winning
Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” Like most kids growing up, the importance of finishing first or winning was always stressed. As a competitive person, I thought that second place was the same as last. Losing was a source of shame and bitterness. No one wants to be defined as…
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Strong corporate culture is a boon to business
In 1788 Edward Gibbon set forth in his famous book, “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” five basic reasons why that great civilization withered and died. They were: 1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis for human society. 2. Higher and higher taxes. 3. The mad…
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Sales is everyone’s business
Everyone is in sales. To me, job titles don’t matter. Everyone has to be thinking about sales. It’s the only way any company can stay in business. There are no jobs if you don’t bring the business through the front door. That’s why I have a sign on my office door, “If you know where…
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Change your perspective, change your life
Perspective has many definitions, such as the ability to understand what is important and what isn’t. And the capacity to view things in their true relations or relative importance. Consider this excellent example of how differently people view the same subject in this ancient fable. Four blind men were asked to examine an elephant and…
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Creativity can be a life-saver
We take many everyday items for granted, but when these items were introduced to the market, they were anything but ordinary. Have you ever wondered how you got along without a specific product, a must-have invention … or the latest version of your smartphone? Somewhere between necessity being the mother of invention and pure creative…