Sucks Getting Old!
The Bible is a great place to find quotable wisdom. One of the things I like about the Bible, is that it tells you to “think on these things.” It does not say, “read this, say to yourself ‘yeah, I like that’ and then forget all about it in your life.” My intention with these quotes is that you read them, remember them, and use them!
1. Teamwork: “Michael, if you can’t pass you can’t play” -Coach Dean Smith during Jordan’s freshman year at UNC. Why I love it: it points out so clearly that even a superstar needs to work as a team player. Their great individual accomplishments mean little if they do not help the entire team succeed.
2. Leadership: “Leadership is not magnetic personality - that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’ - that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations” -Peter F. Drucker. Why I love it: isn’t obvious?
3. Action!: “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do” -Henry Ford. Why I love it: even the most talented people with the best ideas will not accomplish great things if they do not take action.
4. Normal: “The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well” -Joe Ancis. Why I love it: everyone, no matter how polished on the outside, has moments of fear and doubt. Nobody has it all together all of the time. The leaders you look at with admiration, deal with the same things as you.
5. Change: “Sometimes things change Daddy” -Maren Kearns (7 years old.) Why I love it: my daughter said this to me when I commented to her “but I thought you didn’t like her very much.” Her statement is true in the business world. Everything is the way it is until it isn’t. Then it is another way. Be it lazy employees, poor performance - sometimes things change. In many cases, a leader like you can be the catalyst of a positive change!
6. Sincerity: “Always be sincere, even when you don’t mean it” -Irene Peter. Why I love it: this quote reminds me to let things go. Even when I shouldn’t, even when I am right and they are wrong, even when they did it on purpose. Letting things go means that I do it “sincerely.” It does not mean that I let it go only on the outside while I do a really bad job of faking nice.
7. Gossip: “A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way” -John Tudor. Why I love it: people often reinforce gossip with the belief that if there wasn’t at least some truth in it, then it would not be spreading. This quote points out that gossip does not need truth to live. All it needs is a willing transport system. As a leader, you must set the example.
Still wondering about that strange title? “Sucks Getting Old” -Joseph Kearns. When I was 21 years old, we returned to Tucson, AZ for my sister’s wedding. While living there as a child, we visited a place called Old Tucson. I used to spend the whole day there on an old mine ride. During the visit, I returned to Old Tucson and decided to go on this mine ride I so loved as a child. After the ride I told my dad I was disappointed in how boring and predicable the ride was. His response was simply “sucks getting old!” There I was, 21 years old with my entire life ahead of me and I was old.
Why this quote could be important to you - it is easy to allow the people you lead, the people you report to, or the people you serve to beat you down as you go through your career. Many leaders give up on working toward the goals they had as new leaders. They get old. If you know one of these leaders, you can see that getting old as a leader is not much fun for the leader or the people in close proximity. The good news is a leader doesn’t have to get old. Stay focused on accomplishing your goals and constantly set new ones. Getting old as a leader is a choice. Choose to stay young!