Talking Proud Archives --- Retired but still good
Leaders serve the people they lead
“Leading is high stress work. There is no way to avoid the constant challenges of being responsible for people, organizations, outcomes, and uncertainties in the environment. Leaders who move up have greater freedom to control their destinies, but also experience increased pressure and seduction.
“Leaders can avoid these pitfalls by devoting themselves to personal development that cultivates their inner compass, or True North. This requires reframing their leadership from being heroes to being servants of the people they lead. This process requires thought and introspection because many people get into leadership roles in response to their ego needs. It enables them to transition from seeking external gratification to finding internal satisfaction by making meaningful contributions through their leadership.”
Bill George
Professor Management Practice
Harvard Business School
June 6, 2011
__________
American society does not understand sacrifice’s of military forces
"Their struggle is your struggle.
“If anyone thinks you can somehow thank them for their service, and not support the cause for which they fight - our country - these people are lying to themselves ... More important, they are slighting our warriors and mocking their commitment to this nation."
Lt. General John F. Kelly, USMC
November 2010
__________
It’s very complex. What?
“So when someone tells you something is too complex for you to understand, the usual reason is that they do not really understand it themselves. Sometimes they know that they do not really understand it; often they do not. For the inquisitive intellectual, few people are as irritating as those whose combination of ignorance and arrogance is so profound that they claim to understand things they do not even know they do not know.”
John Kay,
Financial TimesFebruary 1, 2011
__________
“Two parallel worlds exist on this planet”
“I’ve had a strange sense that two parallel worlds exist on this planet - a stable, progressively growing, developing world and an unstable, disintegrating, chaotic world. The two worlds - the stable and the unstable - are colliding.”
General Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret.)
__________
“We’ve become a nation of a million rules”
”Something’s happened to America, and it isn't good. It's become easier to get into trouble. We've become a nation of a million rules. Not the kind of bottom-up rules that people generate through voluntary associations. Those are fine. I mean imposed, top-down rules formed in the brains of meddling bureaucrats who think they know better than we how to manage our lives. Cross them, and we are in trouble.”
John Stossel
July 14, 2010
__________
“The 545 people responsible for all America’s woes”
“Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes? You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does. One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices – 545 human beings out of the 235 million – are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country ... Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses – provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.”
Charley Reese
September 1985
__________
Wow, and old guy gets a SUV!
Two old guys were chatting. One said to the other: "My 85th birthday was yesterday. The wife gave me an SUV". Other guy responded: “Wow, that's amazing! Imagine, an SUV! What a great gift!" First guy: "Yup ! ..... Socks, Underwear and Viagra!"
__________
The trouble with socialism
"The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people's money."
Margaret Thatcher
Former Prime Minister, Great Britain
__________
“The Constitution, at last”
“Let us return from a regime of arbitrary power to one of self government.”
Charles R. Kesler
Senior Fellow, The Claremont Institute
Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College
May 17, 2010
__________
You must have a passion for freedom and for rights
"For so long, I've lived injustice, and have had to struggle and fight for my freedom and my people's freedom. I think you tend to have more passion for freedom and for rights to exist, for you and for everyone ... With that kind of life, you don't take things for granted, you want to earn every step of your life. You want to work hard, you want to achieve, you want to reach where you have not been before."
Paul Kagame, President, Rwanda
From an interview with Anne Jolis
Wall Street Journal, in London
March 2010
