With leadership the question at the beginning of the day is, 'how far can we take this...how big can we grow it...and how fast can we get there?'

Shareholder value is the result of you doing a great job, watching your share price go up, your shareholders win, and dividends increasing. What happens when you have increasing shareholder value? You're delivering better employees to their communities and they can give back. Communities are winning because employees are involved in mentoring and all these other things. Customers are winning because you're providing them new products.

Set stretch goals. Don't ever settle for mediocrity. The key to stretch is to reach for more than you think is possible. Don't sell yourself short by thinking that you'll fail.

Take time to get to know people. Understand where they are coming from, what is important to them. Make sure they are with you.

Trying to get people to face reality and see the world the way it really is is an absolutely critical aspect of leadership, in my view.

It is better to act too quickly than it is to wait too long.

Nothing of any importance has ever been accomplished by a pessimist.