MANAGEMENT & MOTIVATION PRINCIPLES….
One-liners with some smiles

Published in INSIGHT - Spring 2017

By Dr. Charles Waldo

Dr. Peter Drucker, extraordinary professor, author, and consultant to top leaders, published Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices in 1973. Although Dr. Drucker authored over sixteen other books and scores of articles that appeared in all the notable business magazines, Management was his giant — all 803 pages. I read this tome from cover to cover but must confess that, while I found it interesting, especially his historical and international perspectives on organization and national business development, only a little of it “stuck”; it was just too much and too deep.

Over the years I have found that for me (and many of my business students and consulting clients) the KISS principle (Keep It Short and Simple) works a lot better for imparting management and motivation principles that seem to sink in and stay, — and, if a little humor is added, so much the better. How about you?
For your consideration and use at your church here are thirty quotes from a wide variety of authors, including the infamous “anon” (anonymous), that have been around for years and repeated many times. Despite their briefness – or, perhaps, because of it – they can help anyone become a better manager, employee, spouse, parent, or friend. Why not try a few on “for size”?
1. A smile is contagious — be a carrier. (ANON)
2. There are two types of persons – those who come into a room and say, “Well, here I am,” and those who come into a room and say, “Ah, I’m so glad you’re here.” Which are you? (FREDERICK COLLINS)
3. Only those who risk going too far will ever know how far they can go. (ANON)
4. Always do right. That will gratify some people and astonish the rest. (MARK TWAIN)
5. Courage is contagious. When one brave person takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened. (ANON)
6. A sincere apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything. (LYNN JOHNSTON)
7. You are the only person on this earth who can use your ability. (ANON)
8. You can make more friends in a month by being interested in them than in ten years by trying to get them interested in you. (CHARLES ALLEN)
9. Money will buy you a pretty good dog but won’t buy the wag of its tail. (anon)
10. Pride is tasteless, colorless, and sizeless. Yet it is the hardest thing in the world to swallow. (AUGUST BLACK)
11. God gave us two ears and one mouth. Some people say that’s because He wanted us to spend twice as much time listening as talking. Others claim it’s because He knew listening would be twice as hard. (ANON)
12. The only people you should want to “get even with” are those who have helped you. (JOHN HONEYFIELD)
13. The best way to forget your problems is to help someone else solve theirs. (ANON)
14. Getting other people to like you is simply the other side of liking other people. (NORMAN VINCENT PEALE)
15. Measure your wealth not by all the things you have but by just those things for which you would not take any amount of money. (ANON)
16. Fall seven times. Get up eight. (OLD INDIAN SAYING)
17. Behold the turtle. It makes progress only when it sticks its neck out. (JAMES CONANT)
18. Does he have 17 years of experience or one year of experience 17 times? (PAUL WESTERFIELD)
19. Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t get promoted. (ANON)
20. Always remember the distinction between contribution and commitment. For example, take the matter of bacon and eggs. The hen makes a contribution. The pig makes a commitment. (JACK CARTER)
21. The person who complains most about the way the ball bounces is most likely the one who dropped it. (LOU HOLTZ)
22. The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work. (THOMAS A. EDISON)
23. Man does not live by words alone despite the fact that too often one has to eat them. (ADLAI STEVENSON)
24. The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. (HUBERT HUMPHREY)
25. Even if you’re on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there. (WILL ROGERS)
26. There may be some luck involved in getting a job but there’s no luck in keeping it. (J. OGDEN ARMOUR)
27. Anyone can look good on paper. (JOHN Y. BROWN)
28. “Someday” is not a real day of the week. (ANON)
29. To finish first you must first finish. (RICK MEARS)
30. If your horse is dead, dismount. (OLD INDIANA SAYING)
31. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys. (ANON)

Looking back….and forward.
Did any of these quotes ring true with you? They did with me. Try out one or several and see what happens. I would be interested in hearing from you about the results. Good luck.
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The late Charles Waldo, Ph.D., was Professor of Marketing (ret.) in Anderson (Ind.) University’s Falls School of Business.