While personal maturity may mean being able to see beyond yourself, leadership maturity means considering others before yourself.

Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.

The experience of pain or loss can be a formidably motivating force.

As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you.

Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.

COMMUNICATION: If I had to pick a first rule of communication-the one practice above all others that opens the door to connecting with others-it would be to look for common ground. Too often people see communication as the process of transmitting massive amounts of information to other people. But that's the wrong picture. Communication is a journey. The more that people have in common, the better the chance that they can take that journey together.

Everything is a tradeoff. Everywhere you leave, you leave some good things. The more successful you are, the harder it is to make tradeoffs. That's why some people become successful and then become flat. Be willing to give up income for potential, for opportunity.