Author

Don Soderquist

Don Soderquist

1934 — 2016 · economist · United States

54 quotes

How you treat everyone you encounter is the measure of the genuineness of your respect—and the heights you can each as a leader.

Don Soderquist

★ 5,0 ♥ 163

Listen. Listening is one of those dynamics that sounds like the easiest thing in the world to do, but in reality is one of the hardest.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,7 ♥ 88

Humility is a marvelous partner to joy. I hope you will discover the joy of serving others.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 178

Sometimes it takes a decision, an act of the will, a step of faith, to be joyful—and then God can plant something real and abiding in our hearts.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,6 ♥ 123

Go back and correct your mistakes. We all make mistakes. The wise person admits them, corrects them, and doesn’t leave them for others to clean up.

Don Soderquist

★ 5,0 ♥ 234

Take pride in what you do. Remember your name is on every ‘fence’ you build. Do your best in everything, so you can look back on your work with pride.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 109

Do things right the first time. If you don’t have time to do a job once, you certainly don’t have time to do it again.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 141

Do whatever you’re asked to do. No job is too small or menial that it doesn’t need to be done well. And no one is too good for those small jobs.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 44

I’ve come to realize that beliefs and values together determine how a company operates and whether it reaches its full potential.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,6 ♥ 176

Your culture can sow both the seeds of success and failure in your organization.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,7 ♥ 37

In great organizations, a leader’s words and actions model what really matters, and as a result, everyone gets on the same page and pulls together.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 79

Ultimately, optimism is the exercise of faith. It is believing that what is invisible, what seems impossible, or what seems to be too daunting, can actually be.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,6 ♥ 231

I believe that leadership skills are transferable and can be taught.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 181

I hold the simple belief that if you live your life in the right way guided by values, God will take care of the rest. God’s plans will always be better than the ones we come up with ourselves.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,6 ♥ 45

If you want to lead, never forget that the standards for you are set very high. People look up to you. Trust is a precious commodity in all of our relationships. We can’t afford to lose it by compromising on our values. People are watching and counting on us.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,7 ♥ 148

And once trust is broken, it takes a long time to heal—if it ever heals at all. Sadly, during my career, I saw several people—sharp, talented people—lose trust and never regain it.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 250

Trust is the foundation of all life’s relationships. It is an essential ingredient in successful leadership. It is not something we are entitled to, either. You have to earn it.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 42

We as leaders, ought to model integrity every day. It starts with how we handle the dilemmas that may seem small. Your decisions and actions set the tone for the culture and reinforce the expectation of others.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 41

A bottom line principle of business—and life—is, to do what is right, even when no one else is looking. Likewise, we ought to do the right thing even if others around us seem to be backwards.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 78

When people feel good about themselves, then they feel good about others. When people feel good about each other, they can work together as a team, and when people work as a team, they are able to accomplish exceedingly more than anyone could hope to expect.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,6 ♥ 226

People need to feel that someone cares about them; that someone is listening to their ideas. The return on investment of a ‘thank you’ is infinite because it costs nothing—but what matters most to people are time and attention.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,9 ♥ 218

Your attitude affects everyone around you. Attitude is contagious, and a positive attitude can make the difference between a task completed with excellence and one done with shoddy workmanship.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 60

I have seen companies that have shady practices thrive for a period of time. But the success never lasts. Whether it is a scandal or a long-term erosion of customer loyalty, doing business—doing life—without values is short sighted and leads to failure.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,8 ♥ 71

I hope humor is a part of your life, too. It takes a positive attitude and a strong desire to enjoy life to see the humor around us, but having a little laughter sprinkled throughout your day is a great way to live.

Don Soderquist

★ 4,7 ♥ 143

Portrait: Wikimedia Commons