“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Zigler

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

May 31

'Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.'

- Abraham Lincoln

'It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.'

- Barack Obama

“Many argue; not many converse.” – Louisa May Alcott

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

30 May

When your wife is talking to you about a problem she’s having, just listen and watch out for impatiently giving in to your hyperactive Fix-It gene. [Surprise, surprise: she’s got a Fix-It gene of her own!]

“There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.” – George Bernard Shaw

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

May 30

'When I do good I feel good. When I do bad I feel bad. That is my religion.'

- Abraham Lincoln

'When all is said and done, more gets said than done.'

- Anonymous

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

29 May

When you’re really angry and want to punch someone’s lights out, keep your cool. Arguably it’d be better to siphon off some of that explosive energy with something as simple as exercise. Trust me: anger always looks different after a 5-mile jog. Expel the rage safely with the sweat – that way nobody gets hurt. As they say, “rip the guts out of a problem not out of a person.”

“Empathize with stupidity and you’re halfway to thinking like an idiot.” – Iain Banks

From “Lincoln 365,” by Arnold Kunst

May 29

“The presidential campaign of 1860 that elected Lincoln for the first time ‘completely failed to do what a political campaign is supposed to do – bring the nation to a full awareness and earnest discussion of its most crucial issues and lead to a verdict that would put those issues on the way toward settlement. There had been nothing even resembling an attempt by reasonable men to analyze a baffling problem and see what could be done about it… The election would be a shock which could benefit no one but the extremists on both sides.”

- Bruce Catton

‘Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates. The truth is, nobody really possesses it.’

- Simone Weil

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person,” – Mother Teresa

From “The Human Condition: A User’s Manual,” by Arnold Kunst

28 May

Memorial Day: Lincoln and the Troops, Fourth Installment

The takeaway: there’s no great secret to leadership. The principle is simple even if the execution is apparently so difficult that few “leaders” choose to employ it. Become a servant leader just like Lincoln. His example shows two things: servant leadership is always hard and it never fails. Make sure your gratitude is sincere, make sure you follow through by consistently encouraging/affirming/validating your troops when they become dispondent, just like Lincoln did for his troops.

When you do that for your troops they will go through hell for you – just like his did for Lincoln!