Leadership Shorts: Zig Ziglar

One of my favorite speakers and authors over the years has been Zig Ziglar. I have had the privilege to hear him speak on numerous occasions over the years. Nearly twenty years ago I had the great opportunity to be a member of his Sunday School class for several years at First Baptist Church Dallas, TX. He is also a wonderful student and teacher of the Bible.

He is an author of numerous books includingSee You at the Top: 25th Anniversary Edition.  My favorite two books of his are the autobiography, Zig: The Autobiography of Zig Ziglar
and  Courtship After Marriage: Romance Can Last a Lifetime The autobiography tells the wonderful story of his life and what he overcame to get where he is today. There are some great lessons about life, family, faith and perseverance. Courtship provides some great lessons on having a great marriage for a lifetime.

I have learned a lot from him over the years and here are some of my favorite quotes.

Look back in forgiveness, forward in hope, down in compassion, and up with gratitude.

• Some people find fault like there is a reward for it.
• If you will pump long enough, hard enough, and enthusiastically enough, sooner or later the effort will bring forth the reward.
• We cannot build our lives around what might happen tomorrow.
• Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission.

One of the greatest disasters of our time is our universal acceptance of the word "tolerance" as a great virtue.

• Inspect to make sure you get what you expect.
• The height of man's success is determined by the depth of his belief.
• When we do more than we are paid for, eventually we will be paid more for what we do.
• What you do off the job is the determining factor in how far you will go on the job.

 Possibly the greatest waste in life is the gap between what you are and what you could become.

• The way you see life will largely determine what you will get out of it.
• The next time you encounter a difficult obstacle or problem, you should smile and say, "Here's my chance to grow."
• "Success is not a destination, it's a journey - it's the direction in which you are traveling."

If you found any of these inspirational pick up one of his many books and follow his son on twitter  @tomziglar to see more of Zig's wisdom and insight into great leadership.