Clergyman's

“A potential danger of being a leader is that we can begin to think that we have all of the answers. After all, we have achieved an important position, we think, and we’re above taking advice and doing those so-called little jobs. I have seen too many leaders develop a large ego. Well, large egos frequently lead to arrogance, and when people become arrogant, their judgment can be impaired. Impaired judgment usually leads to failure.
- Don Soderquist

“A potential danger of being a leader is that we can begin to think that we have all of the answers. After all, we have achieved an important position, we think, and we’re above taking advice and doing those so-called little jobs. I have seen too many leaders develop a large ego. Well, large egos frequently lead to arrogance, and when people become arrogant, their judgment can be impaired. Impaired judgment usually leads to failure.
- Don Soderquist

“Complacency is the mortal enemy of growth and continued success. It is easy to take success for granted and presume that because we have been successful in the past, success will continue to be our friend in the future.  Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is that you have to work harder the more successful you become—your competitors have learned from your success and are all out to beat you.
- Don Soderquist

“Vision is the beginning point of any great endeavor.  Vision is a picture of how we would like tomorrow to look—or, put another way, how we would like ourselves to look tomorrow. Every good leadership book identifies vision as an essential characteristic of a leader, and every good leader has learned his or her responsibility to create and communicate a vision.  But the danger is that talk of a vision has become so prevalent—maybe even so commonplace—that many leaders take the process and discipline out of vision-casting for granted.
- Don Soderquist

“It is vital for a leader to carefully dialogue with people to set goals that stretch them and grow the organization. He or she can push—but the goals must also be achievable and supported with adequate resources. The worst thing a leader can do if people react negatively to an unrealistic goal is ignore their concerns simply tell them to ‘do whatever it takes.’ What too often happens is that the people take the leader at face value and begin cutting corners, which may in turn lead to stretching or reshaping the truth, to that point that good people make bad and possibly illegal or unethical choices.
- Don Soderquist

“In great organizations, a leader’s words and actions model what really matters, and as a result, everyone gets on the same page and pulls together.
- Don Soderquist

“How you treat everyone you encounter is the measure of the genuineness of your respect—and the heights you can each as a leader.
- Don Soderquist

“A leader must keep his or her eye on the core customers and core business. I have seen many executives focus so much on new growth that they let the core business slip away.
- Don Soderquist

“I hold the simple belief that if you live your life in the right way guided by values, God will take care of the rest. God’s plans will always be better than the ones we come up with ourselves.
- Don Soderquist

“High expectations are a powerful driving force, helping you become better than you already are. Sometimes you need to go one step further and step out on faith, even when you don’t have history or research to predict success. As the biblical writer said: ‘Now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see’ . Yes, past performance is the greatest predictor of future performance—but if we lived by that credo alone, no one would do anything bold and new. Sometimes we need good, old-fashioned faith.
- Don Soderquist