Don Yaeger Quotes

If Albert Einstein was right, Cal Ripken should have been a CEO or politician rather than a shortstop, because Ripken led by example over and over… and over again.

One way Great Teams can share their visions is by creatively laying out their plans and visions, creating a road map for its members to follow. A Great Team outlines expectations for all members of an organization and for the organization as a whole. This clear-cut set of objectives – a road map – enables the organization to set benchmarks and goals and ultimately to lay the foundation for its own success.

The challenge CEOs will face three to five years from now is the same one that they face today. That is engagement. It’s hard to keep people engaged in what they are doing. As this generation grows up around social media like Twitter where things are 140 characters, how do you keep them engaged all hours every day at work? How do you keep them focused on the big goals you have?

Leadership belongs to all of us. I’m a big believer in John Maxwell, a leadership speaker and author, who talks about the 360-degree leader. Before leading others, you have to learn to lead yourself. Wherever you work in an organization you have to learn to lead up, lead down, and lead side to side. Leadership belongs to all of us. You have to see yourself, and believe in yourself in the way that we are talking about here to give to those that you lead.

A group of amazingly high achievers can be brought together and play together, and all believe that they are competing for something bigger than themselves. Those players are so used to being patted on the back and told how good they are. Frankly, those are usually the hardest people to remind that they are aspiring to achieve something bigger than themselves.

Sometimes legends find themselves remembered more for what they have not done than for their accomplishments. But those resume gaps can also help drive them to achieve even greater things in new arenas.

When leaders of a professional team perform a scan, they examine the trends dominating their customer demographics, education, government policy, and especially their competition.

In sports and in business, the greatest leaders are those who make the best decisions in the most crucial of situations. They are the ones who focus their energy on turning tough decisions into winning decisions.

We should all strive to be extraordinary, and that starts with a focus on our own capabilities instead of those of our opponents.

My formal education as an extension to my college degree in journalism was the time that I spent working with the student newspaper. I would argue that my greatest education occurred by working for the student newspaper. It wasn’t necessarily the classroom work that made my formal education special. It was the idea that I had the opportunity to practice it before I went into the real world.

In the end, leadership comes down to consistency and strong, confident action upon which the team can rely – and this doesnt mean imposing a bunch of rules.

Emmitt Smith has run past legends, danced with stars and posed for the sculptor crafting his Hall of Fame bust. Hes built upon his athletic talents by working hard, seizing opportunities and reaching out to others for advice when he needed it.