Quotes

Developing excellent communication skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter." — Gilbert Amelio President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp.

"Leaders who make it a practice to draw out the thoughts and ideas of their subordinates and who are receptive even to bad news will be properly informed. Communicate downward to subordinates with at least the same care and attention as you communicate upward to superiors." — L. B. Belker

"Frown on lapses of information. When people admit that they didn't keep you informed, let them know that you don't want this kind of protection. A couple of strong reactions by the manager, and a subordinate learns to make sure the boss gets the word—all of it. — Thomas L. Quick

"Regardless of the changes in technology, the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience." — Steve Burnett The Burnett Group

"Precision of communication is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act." — James Thurber

"Talkers have always ruled. They will continue to rule. The smart thing is to join them." — Bruce Barton Congressman and Author

"The basic building block of good communications is the feeling that every human being is unique and of value." — Unknown

"If you have nothing to say, say nothing." — Mark Twain

"The day soldiers stop bring you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them." — General Colin Powell

"Keep things informal. Talking is the natural way to do business. Writing is great for keeping records and putting down details, but talk generates ideas. Great things come from out luncheon meetings which consist of a sandwich, a cup of soup, and a good idea or two. No martinis." — T. Boone Pickens

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere. — Lee Iacocca

" . . . ;a sense of humor can be a great help—particularly a sense of humor about (oneself). William Howard Taft joked about his own corpulence and people loved it; took nothing from his inherent dignity. Lincoln eased tense moments with bawdy stories, and often poked fun at himself—and history honors him for this human quality. A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done." — Dwight D.Eisenhower

"One learns peoples through the heart, not the eyes or the intellect." — Mark Twain

"Be amusing: never tell unkind stories; above all, never tell long ones." — Benjamin Disraeli

"Communicate unto the other person that which you would want him to communicate unto you if your positions were reversed." — Aaron Goldman

"The commander must be at constant pains to keep his troops abreast of all the latest tactical experience and developments, and must insist on their practical application. He must see to it that his subordinates are trained in accordance with the latest requirements. The best form ofwelfare for the troops is first-class training, for this saves unnecessary casualties." — Field Marchall Erwin Rommel

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." — Mark Twain

"It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt." — Mark Twain

"The art of communication is the language of leadership." — James Humes

"Preaching for life changes requires far less information and more application. Less explanation and more inspiration." — Andy Stanley

"The void created by the failure to communicate is soon filled with poison, drivel and misrepresentation." — C. Northcote Parkinson

"The less people know, the more they yell." — Seth Godin "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind." — William James Psychologist

"The most positive men are the most credulous." — Alexander Pope

"No one ever finds life worth living—he has to make it worth living." — Unknown

"Pity is one of the noblest emotions available to human beings; self-pity is possibly the most ignoble . . . . [It] is an incapacity, a crippling emotional disease that severely distorts our perception of reality . . . a narcotic that leaves its addicts wasted and derelict." — Eugene H. Peterson Author of Earth and Altar

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; noting on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." — W. W. Ziege

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him." — David Brinkley Television Journalist

"We can not tell what may happen to you in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens to us—how we take it, what we do with it—and that is what really counts in the end." — Joseph F. Newton

"You can not always control circumstances, but you can control your own thoughts." — Charles Popplestown

"If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." — Thomas Edison

"Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious ... think about these things." — Philippians 4:8

"Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms —to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." — Victor Frankl Man's Search For Meaning

"If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be." — John R. Miller

"Cultivate optimism by committing yourself to a cause, a plan or a value system. You'll feel that you are growing in a meaningful direction which will help you rise above day-to-day setbacks." — Dr. Robert Conroy in Bottom Line-Personal

"The winner's edge is not in a gifted birth, a high IQ, or in talent. The winner's edge is all in the attitude, not aptitude. Attitude is the criterion for success." — Dennis Waitley

"Let your Discourse with Men of Business be Short and Comprehensive." — George Washington Rules of Civility

"If a man be gloomy let him keep to himself. No one has the right to go croaking about society, or what is worse, looking as if he stifled grief." — Benjamin Disraeli

"What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you." — George Matthew Adams Author

"[Sprezzatura ("unstudied nonchalance"):] Employ in everything a certain casualness which conceals art and creates the impression that what is done and said is accomplished without effort and without its being thought about. It is from this, in my opinion, that grace largely derives." — Baldassare Castiglione The Book of the Courtier, 1528

"Change your thoughts and you change the world." — Norman Vincent Peale

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right." — Henry Ford

"Up is never where you are now." — Belasco & Stayer

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." — Herm Albright Bernard Shaw

2. “COMMUNICATION - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success.” ~Paul J. Meyer 3. “Good COMMUNICATION does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences and paragraphs. It isn't about slickness. Simple and clear go a long way.” ~John Kotter 4. “The most important thing in COMMUNICATION is to hear what isn't being said.” ~Peter Drucker 5. “The real art of CONVERSATION is not only to say the right thing at the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” ~Dorothy Nevill 6.

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ~Epictetus

7.

“The most important things are the hardest to say, because WORDS diminish them.” ~Stephen King

8. “Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic EXPRESSION of an unmet need.” ~Marshall Rosenberg 9. "Developing excellent COMMUNICATION skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter." ~Gilbert Amelio, President and CEO of National Semiconductor Corp. 10. "Precision of COMMUNICATION is important, more important than ever, in our era of hair trigger balances, when a false or misunderstood word may create as much disaster as a sudden thoughtless act." ~James Thurber 11. “Civilization grew in the beginning from the minute that we had COMMUNICATION -- particularly communication by sea that enabled people to get inspiration and ideas from each other and to exchange basic raw materials.” ~Thor Heyerdahl 12. “Think like a wise man but COMMUNICATE in the language of the people.” ~William Butler Yeats 13. “COMMUNICATION does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard. People can only hear you when they are moving toward you, and they are not likely to when your words are pursuing them.” ~Edwin H. Friedman

14. “One kind WORD can warm three winter months.” ~Japanese Proverb 15. “Deep LISTENING is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand.” ~Sue Patton Thoele 16. “Music . . . can name the unnameable and COMMUNICATE the unknowable.” ~Leonard Bernstein 17. “COMMUNICATION works for those who work at it.” ~John Powell 18. “COMMUNICATION can't always follow the top-down model. With the fluidity of information in business today, leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to be able to receive as well as send.” ~Joseph Badaracco 19. “COMMUNICATION leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ~Rollo May 20. “A good CONVERSATIONALIST is not one who remembers what was said, but says what someone wants to remember.” ~John Mason Brown