Sigmund Freud

It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement—that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life.

Neem Karoli Baba

There are people who get exactly what they want. You think they’re the lucky ones, but they’re not. The lucky ones are those who do what they are meant to do.

Jonathan Roberts

When I’m assessing a team, I use my “three ‘P’ ” test. The “P”s stand for people, process, and product. If everyone on the team isn’t clear about the product (whatever it is that you’re trying to create) and the process (how you’re going to get where you need to be, who drives what, who is the ultimate decision maker), then there are going to … [ Read more ]

Maxx Barry

The problem with marketing is […] lots of people tend not to believe it. […] Instead, most people tend to place more credibility in the opinions of their friends. Horrible truths like this keep marketers awake at night.

Maxx Barry

Marketing is […] the planet’s largest religion, but the billions who worship it don’t know it.

James Gleick

People today work more than they really need to—for the wrong reason. “It’s their own fault, for treating time as a mere status symbol. And a negative status symbol at that: the less time, the more prestige. The more time you have on your hands, the less important you must be.”

Tom Morris

There are two kinds of dissatisfaction in life: One is what I call the “dissatisfaction of acquisition.” The other is the “dissatisfaction of aspiration.” The dissatisfaction of acquisition centers on the drive to have more things. We live in a competitive culture—a culture of more. And in such a culture, it’s hard to set limits. The dissatisfaction of acquisition is an unhealthy dissatisfaction; it’s caused … [ Read more ]

Tom Morris

The greatest case of mistaken identity in modern society relates to the four marks of public success: money, power, fame, and status. I have no problem with money, power, fame, or status—as long as they’re treated as resources, rather than as goals in themselves. But that’s precisely the problem for most people—and that’s why it’s so hard for people to answer the question “How much … [ Read more ]

Tom Morris

Our lives are made for success—and not just for enjoying it, but for seeking it as well. As a matter of fact, the people who are most likely to enjoy success are those who most enjoy seeking it. Those people are able to find satisfaction in the journey, not just at the end of the road.

Diogenes

He has the most who is most content with the least.

Harriet Rubin

Most people think that they need to know a lot about a subject before they speak about it. The challenge of speaking calls up thoughts that you don’t even know are percolating inside your brain. People are unread books. Speaking forces you to say out loud what you know deep inside.

To think deeply, don’t ask questions. Talk about something that you don’t entirely know—and discover … [ Read more ]

Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.

All around us there is a breakdown of values […] It is not just the […] overpowering greed that pervades our business life. It is the fact that we are not willing to sacrifice for the ethics and values we profess. For an ethic is not an ethic, and a value not a value without some sacrifice to it. Something given up, something not taken, … [ Read more ]

Seth Godin

A lot of folks whom I talk to speak wistfully about what they would do if they were “in charge.” I’ve got news for them: If they’re willing to be in charge, people will put them in charge!

People are fascinated by folks who are willing to carry responsibility. All too often, people add their own burdens to those that their leader must already carry—but, in … [ Read more ]

Seth Godin

Competent people have a predictable, reliable process for solving a particular set of problems. They solve a problem the same way, every time. That’s what makes them reliable. That’s what makes them competent. Competent people are quite proud of the status and success that they get out of being competent. They like being competent. They guard their competence, and they work hard to maintain it. … [ Read more ]

Harriet Rubin

Examples of people who lead in good times and make things better are rare.

Will Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley Finally Get It Right?

After 10 years, eight South by Southwests, two startups, and zero dollars in profit, will Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley ever find his way?

Andrew Mason On How To Deal: From Founder To Ex-Groupon CEO

Groupon’s journey from world’s hottest startup to most polarizing company in tech is delicious, disgraceful, and just plain weird. Inside its precipitous fall–and its audacious bid for redemption.

Seth Godin

Smart organizations ignore the urgent. Smart organizations understand that important issues are the ones to deal with. If you focus on the important stuff, the urgent will take care of itself. A key corollary to this principle is the idea that if you don’t have the time to do it right, there’s no way in the world you’ll find the time to do it over. … [ Read more ]

Marshall Goldsmith

Superstition is merely the confusion of correlation and causality. Any human (in fact, any animal) tends to repeat behavior that is followed by positive reinforcement. The more we achieve, the more reinforcement we get. One of the greatest mistakes of successful leaders is the assumption, “I behave this way, and I achieve results. Therefore, I must achieve results because I behave this way. […] One … [ Read more ]

Ronald Heifetz

Imagine the differences in behavior between leaders who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to follow the leader’s vision” and those who operate with the idea that “leadership means influencing the organization to face its problems and to live into its opportunities.” That second idea—mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges—is what defines the new job of the leader.