A REAL LEADER PERSONIFIES THE CERTITUDE OF THE CREED. HE KINDLES THE VISION OF A BREATHTAKING FUTURE SO AS TO JUSTIFY THE SACRIFICE OF A TRANSITORY PRESENT.
THE BEST LEADERS LEARN HOW TO CHALLENGE THE STRONG AND SAVE THE WEAK FROM DISCOURAGEMENT.
Look For the Gold Not for the Dirt.
At one time Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America. He came to America from his native Scotland when he was a small boy, did a variety of odd jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in the United States. At one time he had forty-three millionaires working for him. In those days a millionaire was a rare person; conservatively speaking, a million dollars in his day would be equivalent to at least twenty million dollars today. A reporter asked Carnegie how he had hired forty-three millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him but had become millionaires as a result.
The reporter’s next question was, “How did you develop these men to become so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?” Carnegie replied that men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn’t go into the mine looking for dirt – one goes in looking for the gold.
That’s exactly the way we leaders need to view those who are entrusted to our care. Don’t look for the flaws, warts, and blemishes. Look for the gold, not for the dirt; the good, not the bad. Look for the positive aspects in each person in your organization. Like everything else, the more good qualities we look for in our people, the more good qualities we are going to find, and when we put all those little talents (specks of gold) together, we will find that we have a real treasure.
So True
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