Be A People Person

John Maxwell's book, Be A People Person, has some good advise. As always Maxwell does a great job communicate some important principles. I trust you will enjoy the quotes below:

The lease important word:

I (gets the least amount done)

The most important word:

We (gets the most amount done)—relationships

The two most important words:

Thank you – appreciation

The three most important words:

All is forgiven – forgiveness

The four most important words:

What is your opinion? – listening

The five most important words:

You did a good job – encouragement

The six most important words:

I want to know you better – understanding p. 29

The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him but the number of people he serves. p. 75

A chip on the shoulder indicates wood higher up! p. 149

If you know your action or decision was right, hang in there. Time will prove you out. p. 152

Concentrate on your mission – change your mistakes. Most people do exactly the opposite – they change their mission and concentrate on their mistakes. p. 153

The only real mistakes in life are the mistakes from which we learn nothing. p. 153

The goal of confrontation should be to help, not to humiliate. p. 153

Instead of putting others in their place, put yourself in their place. p. 156

Sandwich the criticism between praise at the beginning and encouragement at the end. p. 157

We teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are. p. 161

The most valuable gift you can give your little ones is the example of a clear, consistent, disciplined approach to faith in God. p. 162

Encouragement has the effect of a gentle rain; it causes steady growth. p. 162

I’m just a plowhand from Arkansas, but I have learned how to hold a team together – how to lift some men up, how to calm down others, until finally they’ve got one heartbeat together, a team. There’s just three things I’d ever say: If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, then we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That’s all it takes to get people to win football games for you. – Coach Bear Bryant. p. 164 – 165

People are unreasonably, illogical, and self-centered – love them anyway! If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives – do good anyway! If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies – succeed anyway! The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow – do good anyway! Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable – be honest and frank anyway! p. 165

The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds – think big anyway!

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs – fight for some underdog anyway!

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight – build anyway!

Give the world the best you’ve got and you’ll get kicked in the teeth – give the world the best you’ve got anyway! p. 166

C. T. Studd made a great statement about risk-taking: “Are gamblers for gold so many and gamblers for God so few?” This is the same missionary who, when cautioned against returning to Africa because of the possibility of his martyrdom, replied, “Praise God, I’ve just been looking for a chance to die for Jesus.” How can a guy like that fail? He has everything to win and nothing to lose. p. 178

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