Marshall Goldsmith

“When you say, 'I'm sorry,' you turn people into your allies, even your partners.”

“If the CEO is not going to give you a fair chance, you're probably not going to win.”

“A leader who is self-aware enough to know that he or she is not adept at everything is one who has taken the first step toward being a great leader.”

“When we prolong negative behavior - the kind that hurts the people we love or the kind that hurts us in some way - we are leading a changeless life in the most hazardous manner. We are willfully choosing to be miserable and making others miserable, too.”

“When we stop thinking about ourselves, when we stop being so devoted to 'me,' we can start behaving in a way that actually benefits others!”

“Americans get fatter and fatter and buy more and more diet books, but you don't lose weight by buying diet books - you go on a diet. It's easy to read a diet book, but it's hard to go on a diet.”

“An excuse is the handy explanation we offer when we disappoint other people.”

“Once you get a reputation for emotional volatility, it can take years of model behavior to change how others see you.”

“Active questions are the alternative to passive questions. There is a huge difference between, 'Do you have clear goals?' and 'Did you do your best to set clear goals for yourself?' The former is trying to determine the employee's state of mind; the latter challenges the employee to describe or defend a course of action.”

“As I've gotten older, I've gotten simpler - my level of aspiration has actually gone down and down. But my level of impact has gone up and up.”

“Gratitude is not a limited resource, nor is it costly. It is abundant as air. We breathe it in but forget to exhale.”

“If we really want to make change, we have to make peace with the fact that we cannot self-exempt every time the calendar offers us a more attractive alternative.”

“It's not appropriate to pass judgment when we specifically ask people to voice their opinions... even if you ask a question and agree with the answer.”

“Understanding the past is perfectly admissible if your issue is accepting the past. But if your issue is changing the future, understanding will not take you there.”

“The only thing I don't think people don't understand about good leaders is that they're both good and lucky. A lot of it is timing.”

“To me, the #1 key to success is 'creating lasting positive change in yourself and others.' That is what is most rare, most difficult, and most valuable about leading people.”

“If we can sacrifice something comfortable, that we're 'too good at,' that might even be holding us back, we'll have more room to grow into the person we want to be.”

“One of the greatest mistakes of successful people is the assumption, 'I behave this way, and I achieve results. Therefore, I must be achieving results because I behave this way.' This belief is sometimes true, but not across the board.”

“I have a lot of deficiencies, but gratitude is not one of them.”

“In our world, we have this huge focus on vicarious living - politicians, movie stars, athletes, coaches, all these people. What our research has shown very clearly is that people who are really happier and have more meaningful lives are people that focus on living their own lives.”