To enjoy the things we ought and to hate the things we ought has the greatest bearing on excellence of character.Aristotle
One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.Helen KellerWith regard to excellence, it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it. Aristotle
Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come.Perry Paxton
The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.John F. Kennedy
Real excellence and humility are not incompatible one with the other, on the contrary they are twin sisters.Jean Baptiste Lacordaire
I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business.Michael J. Fox
Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.Henry Van Dyke
Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.George F. Will
To be great is to be misunderstood.Ralph Waldo EmersonStrive for excellence, not perfection.H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Some of the worlds greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.Anonymous
The renown which riches or beauty confer is fleeting and frail; mental excellence is a splendid and lasting possession.Sallust
Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great.Fernando Flores
There is a melancholy that stems from greatness.Chamfort
In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.Jane Austen
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.Pearl Buck
Commit yourself to quality from day one ... it's better to do nothing at all than to do something badly.Mark H. McCormack
It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.Publilius Syrus
The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.Shana Alexander
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.Aristotle
There ought to be so many who are excellent, there are so few.Janet Erskine Stuart
It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required.Sir Winston Churchill
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Here are seven "L"s to describe ways to be a leader:
Liquid: Be flexible and always look for the easy way. Water will always look for the easiest way to move. It does not try to prove anything by doing things the hard way. It also adjusts to a change in its environment. If the easy way becomes difficult, it will find the next easiest way to move.
Laugh: Find the humorous side of challenges and especially your mistakes. It is only work - lighten up! As a driven leader, it is easy to get caught up in making things happen. For the sake of performance (and sanity) of you and your staff, take the time to laugh at mistakes - especially your own! Your team will appreciate that you are willing to look human!
Learn: If your knowledge is not growing, it is dieing. There will always be something to learn. Our world changes at such an amazing rate. Learn from mistakes and successes. Learn from books and tapes. Learn from employees and customers. Take learning any and every way you can get it.
Listen: Listen to others and yourself. Okay, you knew this one was coming. Listening has been a crucial part of leadership from level one. However, at level two it was already forgotten and de-valued. If you aren't listening - really listening, you are missing out. Just as important, listen to your gut about important decisions. When the rubber hits the road, there is no honor in doing something you knew in your gut was wrong.
Level-headed: The sky is not falling, even if it is, freaking out won't help. Your team is constantly measuring their response to situations against how you respond. A leader must always remain calm during tough times. Be it an upset customer, a computer virus disabling your system, or bankruptcy, the leader must not melt-down, ever!
Long-term: Look at where you are turning, not the turn itself. When you make a turn in a car, you are well-advised to look where you are going, not where you are. Same goes for leadership. What seems easy now may not be helpful in the long run. A leader is concerned about long-term impacts of today's actions.
Lead: Leading does not mean doing it all. Do not rob your staff of growth opportunities by doing difficult tasks for them. Lead them through the learning curve, so they develop the ability to do it in the future. It may be easier to just do it yourself - but far less rewarding for all involved. How about that, the basics of leadership formed into a nice little 7-L format.
Yet another way to remember these tips, 7-L. So sing them, hum them, read them again - whatever you have to do to tattoo these tips into your brain and into your approach to leadership.
Liquid: Be flexible and always look for the easy way. Water will always look for the easiest way to move. It does not try to prove anything by doing things the hard way. It also adjusts to a change in its environment. If the easy way becomes difficult, it will find the next easiest way to move.
Laugh: Find the humorous side of challenges and especially your mistakes. It is only work - lighten up! As a driven leader, it is easy to get caught up in making things happen. For the sake of performance (and sanity) of you and your staff, take the time to laugh at mistakes - especially your own! Your team will appreciate that you are willing to look human!
Learn: If your knowledge is not growing, it is dieing. There will always be something to learn. Our world changes at such an amazing rate. Learn from mistakes and successes. Learn from books and tapes. Learn from employees and customers. Take learning any and every way you can get it.
Listen: Listen to others and yourself. Okay, you knew this one was coming. Listening has been a crucial part of leadership from level one. However, at level two it was already forgotten and de-valued. If you aren't listening - really listening, you are missing out. Just as important, listen to your gut about important decisions. When the rubber hits the road, there is no honor in doing something you knew in your gut was wrong.
Level-headed: The sky is not falling, even if it is, freaking out won't help. Your team is constantly measuring their response to situations against how you respond. A leader must always remain calm during tough times. Be it an upset customer, a computer virus disabling your system, or bankruptcy, the leader must not melt-down, ever!
Long-term: Look at where you are turning, not the turn itself. When you make a turn in a car, you are well-advised to look where you are going, not where you are. Same goes for leadership. What seems easy now may not be helpful in the long run. A leader is concerned about long-term impacts of today's actions.
Lead: Leading does not mean doing it all. Do not rob your staff of growth opportunities by doing difficult tasks for them. Lead them through the learning curve, so they develop the ability to do it in the future. It may be easier to just do it yourself - but far less rewarding for all involved. How about that, the basics of leadership formed into a nice little 7-L format.
Yet another way to remember these tips, 7-L. So sing them, hum them, read them again - whatever you have to do to tattoo these tips into your brain and into your approach to leadership.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
First Week of School after the June holidays
To my loyal readers who have been waiting for my update. Here it is......
After a long anticipation during the June school holidays, the reopening of school term is finally here. Due to the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, there was no school assembly. Those students who just returned from the epidermic countries were to quarantine themselves and not return to school during the first day till they have completed the 7-days quarantine.
It was a lackluster holiday due to the virus outbreak. As a result, my family had to cancel the overseas trip (to play safe). Everyday was just homework and homework. Also, the tough CCA proposal had to be completed within the holiday as well. Luckily, our officers commended on it that it was well done.
The first day of school was not very interesting. It was mainly about a talk by our form teacher on the H1N1 virus. the talk was not at all interesting. What they said was what we know. Therefore, we find that there was nothing fresh to us. Despite the talk by our teachers, there were still homework for us. It was so unexpected and yet......
The second day of school was worse. It was a total slacking day for us. After our recess, we had Chinese lesson which no one bothers as the teacher always talk nonsense. As a result, no one cares during Chinese lesson. The lesson after the Chinese lesson was Social Studies. The teacher was na complete slacker. He asked us to read the textbook ourselves. It was so boring. The teacher just sit in one corner and we read the book ourselves for the entire 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The third day of school was as boring as Tuesday. There were 7 subjects in one day and my school bag was so heavy that it almost tore. The lessons were also not interesting at all. That day, a lot of my classmates wanted school to close for a week as no one wants to attend boring lessons daily.
The fourth day of school, however, was different. We got to disect a heart, not a human heart but a sheep heart. Wow!!! The smell of blood was so smelly that some of us decided to hold our breath while trying to locate the different parts of the heart such as the aorta, biscupid valve, triscupid valve, etc. Everyone enjoyed ourselves because no one had ever touched a real heart before.The last day of the week was as bad as the second day. Though mathematics was my best subject, I detest the day to the core due to the Physics lesson. The monotonous lesson almost drove me to sleep. What's more, the teacher made Thermal Physics, which I liked, into something boring.
This week was so boring for me. I hope that for the next week, the teachers will come up with something interesting to teach us.
After a long anticipation during the June school holidays, the reopening of school term is finally here. Due to the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, there was no school assembly. Those students who just returned from the epidermic countries were to quarantine themselves and not return to school during the first day till they have completed the 7-days quarantine.
It was a lackluster holiday due to the virus outbreak. As a result, my family had to cancel the overseas trip (to play safe). Everyday was just homework and homework. Also, the tough CCA proposal had to be completed within the holiday as well. Luckily, our officers commended on it that it was well done.
The first day of school was not very interesting. It was mainly about a talk by our form teacher on the H1N1 virus. the talk was not at all interesting. What they said was what we know. Therefore, we find that there was nothing fresh to us. Despite the talk by our teachers, there were still homework for us. It was so unexpected and yet......
The second day of school was worse. It was a total slacking day for us. After our recess, we had Chinese lesson which no one bothers as the teacher always talk nonsense. As a result, no one cares during Chinese lesson. The lesson after the Chinese lesson was Social Studies. The teacher was na complete slacker. He asked us to read the textbook ourselves. It was so boring. The teacher just sit in one corner and we read the book ourselves for the entire 1 hour and 10 minutes.
The third day of school was as boring as Tuesday. There were 7 subjects in one day and my school bag was so heavy that it almost tore. The lessons were also not interesting at all. That day, a lot of my classmates wanted school to close for a week as no one wants to attend boring lessons daily.
The fourth day of school, however, was different. We got to disect a heart, not a human heart but a sheep heart. Wow!!! The smell of blood was so smelly that some of us decided to hold our breath while trying to locate the different parts of the heart such as the aorta, biscupid valve, triscupid valve, etc. Everyone enjoyed ourselves because no one had ever touched a real heart before.The last day of the week was as bad as the second day. Though mathematics was my best subject, I detest the day to the core due to the Physics lesson. The monotonous lesson almost drove me to sleep. What's more, the teacher made Thermal Physics, which I liked, into something boring.
This week was so boring for me. I hope that for the next week, the teachers will come up with something interesting to teach us.
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