Useful One-liners.

Useful One-liners.One of the assignments I consistently apply in the Business & Managementclasses I teach at a Southern California university is for each student toread a book that relates to the course topic, and present this book by theend of the semester.Recently, my students shared a total of 20 books with each other, and Ithought it would be interesting to formulate the most imperative message ofeach book. For this purpose, my students and I engaged in a brief exerciseafter each presentation day, in order to list the one-liners for the bookspresented on that day.The reason for sharing this information here is that the formulatedone-liners, although not necessarily new or groundbreaking, may entail animportant encouragement to the reader in his or her efforts to be the bestpossible leader at work, or in personal life.Presented below are the formulated one-liners:� If you want your organization to make quantum leaps in progress, youshould establish focused teams toward well-defined goals, and cultivate thespirit in these teams to the max! (Book: The Quantum Leap Strategy)� When confronted with a problem: don't get paranoid, but analyze the gistof it, and tackle it systematically. Problems are the forebears of change,and change is inevitable, remember? (Book: Zap the Gaps)� Although education is important in today's society, it is not a guaranteefor accumulating wealth: the most prosperous people are the ones that madeit without a college degree. (Book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad)� Listen carefully to other people when they need your advice, but nevertake the monkey of their back. Don't make their problem your problem, andtherefore, beware of using the term "we" when discussing an issue withanyone, especially your subordinates. (Book: The One-Minute Manager Meetsthe Monkey)� Make sure that there is an appropriate balance between your work and yourpersonal life. Success is great, but it can kill you if you let it. (Book:The One-Minute Manager Balances Work and Life)� The wealthier people are, the more normal they act. Never estimate anyoneon basis of their looks: the average millionaire doesn't spend more than 100dollars on his watch and less than 75 dollars on his shoes! (Book: TheMillionaire Next Door)� Even the dullest workplace can be transformed into a vibrant, productiveenvironment, if you care to teach your co-workers that it's up to them todecide whether they want to make their work-experience worthwhile or not.This insight is based on the wisdom that you may not be able to change whathappens to you, but you do have the ability to determine your attitudetowards it. (Book: Fish!)� Live your life in every area with the best intentions toward yourself andthe ones you're dealing with. A proactive approach, togetherness,understanding, vision, synergy, and a good balance between all youractivities, should make you a well-adjusted, appreciated, and happierperson. (Book: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People)� Don't let your entrepreneurial spirit get killed by the emergence of abusiness giant in your vicinity. You can always be smarter, faster, wiser,and more appreciated than a slow changing, and often less popular businessbully. (Book: The Nastiest Retailer of All)� Success is the one thing you work for after having defined it yourself.Obtaining it will depend on your own input, the choices you make, and thedegree to which you want to stretch yourself. (Book: Success is Not anaccident)� The most useful advise for accomplishing your goals is, to formulate themwell, and then develop a detailed plan on how to get there. Organization isthe key to reaching any target, no matter how prestigious. (Book: GettingThings Done)� Don't ever take anything for granted, no matter how safe and secure it mayseem. The day that you will have to reapply your flexibility and adaptationto change may be nearer than you think! (Book: Who Moved My Cheese?)� Make sure your negotiation strategies are in order: plan well onachievable goals; establish trustworthy relationships with partners; confirmthat every party feels like a winner; and maintain the good relationshipsafter the negotiation. You never know when this relationship may becomeuseful to you again! (Book: The Win-Win Negotiator)� Efficiency in performance is an inevitable part of success. Therefore,always make sure that all stakeholders are happy: keep an eye on the levelof employee involvement, customer satisfaction, product- or service quality,organizational growth, return on investments, and competitive advantage.(Book: Six Sigma for Managers)� Discover what your customers want, and then: deliver it continuously, plus1%! (Book: Raving Fans)� Rise above the shallowness of merely collecting material wealth. Life hasmuch more to it than physical status symbols. Remember: "The best things inlife aren't things after all." (Book: Affluenza)� Find your sources for encouragement in everything around you, and applythem toward yourself and the ones you live and work with. Good leadership isabout hard work, cooperation, cheering each other on, and allowing others tolead as well. (Book: Gung Ho!)� There is a time for everything: don't exaggerate it, but don't play itdown either. A good manager has an eye for his or her co-workers'performance, and gives praise and reprimands in equal time, but most of all:he or she teaches others to become their own manager. (Book: the One-MinuteManager)� Success entails trying to be exclusive in your efforts, and never givingup. "It's always better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation"(Book: First Break All the Rules)� There is no pre-fabricated pill available for good leadership. It alldepends on knowing how to work with people; giving them enough belief inthemselves, assuring them that they can if they want to, and then: givingthem the opportunity to prove it! (Book: The Leadership Pill)Joan Marques, Burbank, December 4, 2003---------------------------------------------------About the Author:Joan Marques, holds an MBA, is a doctoral candidate in OrganizationalLeadership, and a university instructor in Business and Management inBurbank, California. You may visit her web site at www.joanmarques.comJoan's manual "Feel Good About Yourself," a six part series to get you overthe bumps in life and onto success, can be purchased and downloaded at:http://www.non-books.com/FeelGoodSeries.html-----------------------------------------------------