Maricopa Community Colleges

Maricopa Steward

Leadership Corner

The following items were provided by leadersinstitute.com and are offered as Free Leadership Tips

Gaining Cooperation from Others

  1. Acknowledge the importance of other people.
    • The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated. (William James)
  2. Show enthusiasm and energy.
    • Enthusiasm is by far the highest paid quality on earth, probably because it is one of the rarest; yet it is one of the most contagious. (Frank Bettger)
  3. Encourage and facilitate two-way conversation.
    • Education is a kind of continuing dialogue, and a dialogue assumes, in the nature of the case, different points of view. (Robert Hutchins)
  4. Ask other people’s opinions.
    • I have opinions of my own—strong opinions—but I don’t always agree with them. (George Bush)
  5. Ask questions instead of giving orders.
    • Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what you want them to achieve and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. (Gen. George S. Patton)
  6. Show sincere gratitude.
    • God gave you of gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” (William A. Ward)
  7. Give strength-centered compliments.
    • The life of many a person could probably be changed if someone would only make him feel important. (Dale Carnegie)

Resolving Conflicts

  1. Be proactive instead of reactive.
    • Good plans shape good decisions. That’s why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true. (Lester R. Bittel)
  2. Be slow to anger—especially over petty issues.
    • Anger is always more harmful than the insult that caused it. (Chinese proverb)
  3. Instead of telling people they are wrong, point out the mistakes indirectly.
    • A person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. (Samuel Butler)
  4. Look for some type of common ground as soon as possible.
    • A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest piece. (Ludwig Erhard)
  5. If you find that you are in the wrong admit it.
    • It’s easier to eat crow while it is still warm. (Dan Heist)
  6. Admit one of your own poor decisions before pointing out a similar error to others.
    • A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying...that he is wiser today than he was yesterday. (Alexander Pope, from Miscellanies by Jonathan Swift)
  7. Mend fences whenever possible.
    • Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury. (E. H. Chapin)

The Ten Commandments for Conducting Meetings

  1. Thou shalt not meet if the matter can be resolved by other means
  2. Thou shalt make purpose known to those thou summonest
  3. Thou shalt summon only those whose presence is needful
  4. Thou shalt start at the time announced
  5. Thou shalt not run beyond
  6. Thou shalt not wander to other topics
  7. Prepare thy thoughts that the minutes not be wasted
  8. Schedule not in haste for the day is brief
  9. Thou shouldst combine into one those which need not be separated
  10. Fear not to cancel if the need disappears