Don’t push others around if you have no blisters on your own feet.

Good officers lead by example and make sure the troops are cared for before attending to their own needs. When you treat others respectfully and never ask another to do something you would be unwilling to do yourself, you are entitled to the respect of others — and they will freely give it. But you cannot expect others to continue marching until they have blisters on their feet while you ride in the jeep. Leading others means you must be willing to give far more of yourself than you would ever ask from them.

In a well-managed business, all promotions are self-made. The employer’s only part in the transaction is to check carefully to make sure the promotion was earned.

The perfect formula for destroying morale in any organization is to create a working environment that leads employees to believe that the only way to get ahead is by playing politics. The best-managed businesses are those in which every promotion is earned and every qualified person has an equal opportunity to compete for it. If you’re a manager, weigh all decisions involving your employees on the basis of fairness. And if you aspire to be a manager, choose to work for a company that is fair in its treatment of workers. When you’ve earned your position through skill and effectiveness, you have the best job security.

When you take charge of your mind, you take charge of your life. When you understand your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and desires, you can direct them to any end you choose. Wisdom comes from taking the time to study yourself, to know why you are the person you are. Taking charge of your mind is a thoughtful, reflective, solitary process. Only you can come to understand the complex inner workings of your own mind, and you must be willing to spend the time and effort that gaining such insight requires.

The better portion of all sales I have made were made after people had said “no.”

Most of us are incapable of “going it alone.” All enduring success is founded upon harmonious human relationships.

Whether it is in our careers, in our personal relationships, or in life, we all need others if we are to achieve the level of success we desire. Besides, what’s the point of having it all if we have no one we care about to share it?

You may choose to work with others, you may ignore them, or you may choose to work against them, but the greatest successes in life come to those who work harmoniously with others. When your personal goals coincide with those of another, not only does the power of your combined labors benefit you, but such cooperation also creates a synergistic effect that allows you to achieve far more than the simple sum of your individual efforts.

Know that friendship freely given and gratefully received is one of life’s greatest gifts.

Experts in negotiation handle the process so smoothly that discussions hardly seem like negotiations at all. While the word negotiation itself conjures up visions of cigar-chomping adversaries pounding the table to emphasize their demands, the best results are achieved when all the parties involved are able to put themselves in the others’ shoes and arrive at an agreement that is beneficial to everyone involved.

Whether you are negotiating a higher salary, a new job, or the acquisition of a company, your chances of success are far greater when you approach the situation positively and with a clear objective in mind. It also helps to understand the motives of others involved and to have in-depth knowledge of the subject under discussion. Finally, approach every topic with an open mind — don’t simply try to bully others into accepting your proposal or point of view.

The most important job is that of learning how to negotiate with others without friction.

If you don’t know what you want from life, what do you think you will get?

The great majority of people in the world drift through life, never realizing that their future will be the one they create for themselves. The minority who achieve great success are people who know what they want and have a plan for realizing their objectives. They know what they want and how they are going to get it.

Your goals should be specific, they should be measurable, they should have a deadline for their achievement, and they should be divided into manageable pieces. Know exactly what you plan to achieve, when you plan to achieve it, and how. Review your progress regularly, correct your course when necessary, and never, ever give up.

There is only one person who is in charge of your career progression, and that person is you. Lee Iacocca is said to have written his entire career plan on the back of a business card. On it were the promotions he expected to earn and the dates he expected to receive them until he was named CEO of the company. Successful people know that they must create their own opportunities and be ready for them when they arrive.

Some organizations have clearly defined career paths while others are more informal in their approach, but if you study the senior people in the company, you can quickly identify the kind of education and experience you need to advance. If you are with the right company, one that excites and enthuses you, identify the career moves you’d like to make and get to work making yourself qualified for the job you want.

Don’t ask your employer why you are not promoted. Ask the person who really knows best — yourself

There is nothing like money to make you attractive and appealing to others.

But, of course, the kind of people who are attracted to you only because of what you can do for them may be acquaintances, not friends. You may have many acquaintances if you become wealthy, but whatever your station in life may be, you will never have true friends unless you are a friend to others. Be very selective in your choice of friends. Choose to associate with positive people who like you for the person you are, who encourage you to be yourself and to be the best you can be.

If you wish “acquaintanceship,” be rich. If you wish friends, be a friend.

When faced with a conflict between others, most of us are more inclined to walk away from the situation than to become involved. If we do allow ourselves to become a participant, it is usually by adopting the position of one at the expense

of the other. Of course, such behavior does little to resolve the dispute and may in fact exacerbate the problem.

But when you make a genuine attempt to help resolve the situation, you should not be surprised if you’re the only one. We are all complex individuals with feelings and emotions we often don’t fully understand. Sometimes the mere involvement of a disinterested party is enough to help resolve the dispute. Make sure, though, if you are the one in the middle that you don’t allow yourself to get into a position where you must choose between the desires of one person over the other. Work toward a compromise that best suits everyone’s interests.

If you must meddle in human relationships, try to be a peacemaker. You will find that you don’t have much competition.

If you have sound character, your decisions will be sound and you will generally not have worry about your reputation.

Thomas Jefferson once said that a majority is one man with the courage of his convictions. If you have the courage that comes from the sincere conviction that you are a person of sound character, an honest, dependable, kind, and caring person, you will never have to worry about what others think of you.

If you know in your own heart that you are a good and decent person, you can meet life’s challenges head-on and without fear of what others think.

High wages and the capacity to assume responsibility are two things that belong together.

It’s been said that a leader’s job is to inspire others to high levels of achievement, while a manager’s job is to protect the assets of investors. The most successful people are those who recognize the similarities and differences between leadership and management responsibilities, fulfilling both with equal skill and aplomb. When they do, they realize the rewards that are commensurate with their efforts.

When you cheerfully accept responsibility for your own actions and do your job in a way that protects the interests of your employer, you will soon be entrusted with more and more responsibilities. And those who have the capacity to assume responsibility — for the success of the project or organization — will always be paid the highest salaries.

As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” We usually choose friends and business associates who like the same things we do, people who share the same values.

If you choose happy, positive, productive companions, the odds are that you are or will soon become happy, positive, and productive yourself

Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Unhappy, negative, destructive people are sure to drag you down with them. Choose to spend most of your time with persons who have PMA — a Positive Mental Attitude.

If your job requires you to spend time with negative people, limit that time to the best of your ability and above all don’t let them discourage you with their negativism. Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time.

There is a great deal of wisdom in the old saw, “If you want friends, be a friend.” Friendship means giving without expecting anything in return. Busy, successful people are not searching for new friends. If you want to be their friend, you must make the effort to befriend them. Let them know that you are interested in them as people, not in what they can do for you, and you may find that you have made a true and loyal friend.

Your PMA is a huge asset…protect it with everything you have.

Why can we so easily overlook in ourselves the faults we are quick to spot in others?

It is easy to be objective when it comes to criticizing our friends, family members, and business associates, but it is far more difficult to be honest about our own shortcomings. Only when we recognize that we are all human, with the same faults and failings, do we begin to develop that wonderful quality of tolerance that enables us to accept others as they are and ask nothing in return.

Replacing faultfinding with “goodfinding” is never easy. But when you become one who always compliments instead of criticizes, you become the kind of friend we would all like to have. Remember that the faults of humankind are pretty evenly distributed among all of us.

Those who create good fellowship among others will never be short of friends.

If you have a friend who goes out of his way to help cement friendships between others, consider yourself fortunate indeed. In today’s frantic, mobile, throwaway society, such individuals are exceedingly rare. With the demands placed upon us by our careers, our families, and the hectic pace of daily life, most of us have little time for ourselves, and even less for our friends.

Yet we know that friendship freely given and gratefully received is one of life’s greatest gifts.

Henry Ford is reported to have offered $25,000 to anyone who would show him how to save a single nut and bolt on each automobile he made.

Without Henry Ford, our country would not be the America we know today. His obsession with reducing costs and improving productivity allowed him to build the first automobile that ordinary people could afford and led to the construction of a vast network of roads and highways that gave birth to today’s mobile society. It also set the stage for total quality management and continuous improvement programs that are prevalent in the automotive industry today.

We would all be well advised to take a page from the lessons that the automotive industry has learned in recent years. An obsessive focus on the needs and wants of our customers allows us to become an indispensable part of their lives, but nothing is forever. Continuous improvement is expected in virtually every industry, and quality is the minimum requirement in today’s global economy. Leaders are those who significantly outperform the competition in every aspect of the business.

Sometimes it is wiser to join forces with opponents than to fight them.

What a better world this would be if we worked together in harmony toward the achievement of our shared goals instead of engaging in petty disputes and turf battles. When you allow yourself to be dragged into personality conflicts, game playing, arguments about who gets the credit, and disagreements about trivial issues, they only drain your energy and sour your attitude.

Plus you waste valuable time that could be spent on far more important matters. When you make an effort to understand others’ motivations, you may well discover that your opponents have far more in common with you than you think. When you cage your ego and look at the situation from the other person’s point of view, you can almost always find a way to work together for your mutual advantage.