People buy pads all the time, because they want to write stuff down. We're never going to get away from paper, ever. People like writing; that's why more people are writing more real thank-you notes now - not just to stand out, but because there's something about pen to paper, about holding something cool in your hands.

Marcus Buckingham

Categorized in : Cool People Hands Time

Leaders are fascinated by future. You are a leader if and only if, you are restless for change, impatient for progress and deeply dissatisfied with status quo. Because in your head, you can see a better future. The friction between 'what is' and 'what could be' burns you, stirs you up, propels you. This is leadership.

Marcus Buckingham

change leadership inspirational

You grow most in your areas of greatest strength. You will improve the most, be the

Marcus Buckingham

strong monday inspirational

Strengths are not activities you're good at, they're activities that strengthen you. A strength is an activity that before you're doing it you look forward to doing it; while you're doing it, time goes by quickly and you can concentrate; after you've done it, it seems to fulfill a need of yours.

Marcus Buckingham

done looks needs

A note of caution: We can never achieve goals that envy sets for us. Looking at your friends and wishing you had what they had is a waste of precious energy. Because we are all unique, what makes another happy may do the opposite for you. That's why advice is nice but often disappointing when heeded.

Marcus Buckingham

disappointment happy happiness

Focusing on strengths is the surest way to greater job satisfaction, team performance and organizational excellence.

Marcus Buckingham

focus team jobs

The Four Keys of Great Managers: When selecting someone, they select for talent ... not simply experience, intelligence or determination. When setting expectations, they define the right outcomes ... not the right steps. When motivating someone, they focus on strengths ... not on weaknesses. and When developing someone, they help him find the right fit ... not simply the next rung on the ladder.

Marcus Buckingham

keys determination expectations

The difference between a pebble and a mountain lies in whom you ask to move it.

Marcus Buckingham

inspiring lying moving

Innovation and best practices can be sown throughout an organization - but only when they fall on fertile ground.

Marcus Buckingham

best-practices organization fall

Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield. The time you spend with your best is, quite simply, your most productive time.

Marcus Buckingham

boss yield attention

People leave managers, not companies

Marcus Buckingham

managers company people

Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in.

Marcus Buckingham

waste trying culture

The secret to living a strong life is right in front of you, calling to you every day. It can be found in your emotional reaction to specific moments in your life.

Marcus Buckingham

emotional strong secret

Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we're taking on too much, but because we're taking on too little of what really strengthens us.

Marcus Buckingham

stress too-much littles

Clarity is the answer to anxiety. Effective leaders are clear.

Marcus Buckingham

anxiety leader answers

As a general rule, people tend to do best what they enjoy doing most.

Marcus Buckingham

enjoy people

It remains true that great managers recognize individualities and focus on developing strengths rather than weaknesses. Great leaders, in sharp contrast, recognize what is (or could be) shared in common - a vision, a dream, a mission, whatever - and inspire others to join them in the given enterprise.

Marcus Buckingham

focus leader dream

The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor.

Marcus Buckingham

leader class long

You can find energizing moments in each aspect of your life, but to do so you must learn how to catch them, hold on to them, to feel the pull of their weight and allow yourself to follow where they lead.

Marcus Buckingham

energizing moments weight

The best strategy for building a competitive organization is to help individuals become more of who they are.

Marcus Buckingham

strategy organization helping

The opposite of a leader isn't a follower. The opposite of a leader is a pessimist.

Marcus Buckingham

followers leader opposites