John C. Maxwell Quotes

As a mayor, my instinct is to really think about how to get something done and not to make the promise unless you have some view of the pathway. You don't have to have it all figured out, but you have to have a pathway there.

The how will show up after the commitment to the what.

I learned how to order my thoughts, and most important, learned how to develop a plan. I discovered the power of a plan. If you can plan it out, and it seems logical to you, you can do it. And that was the secret to success.

No decision has been made unless carrying it out in specific steps has become someone's work assignment and responsibility.

Execution gets divided into two key questions: 1) can you figure out what to do and 2) can you get it done.

What gets left out is the narrative between the bullets, which would tell us who's going to do what and how we're going to achieve the generic goals on the list.

It is not always what we know or analyzed before we make a decision that makes it a great decision. It is what we do after we make the decision to implement and execute it that makes it a good decision.

It is easy to say that something should be done. However to say what, when and how is more difficult.

Vision without execution is hallucination.

Vision without execution is delusion.

Leaders tend to focus on 'what to do,' but the real issue is more often 'how to do it.'

The majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to decisions.

People who are great at making decisions in the face of uncertainty have great judgment.

Executives do many things in addition to making decisions. But only executives make decisions. The first managerial skill is, therefore, the making of effective decisions.

Leaders make things happen. Leaders will take a situation and try and figure out what is it that we're trying to do, what is the problem, what kind of priorities and resources do we need, what kind of people do I need to bring to bear on this problem, what kind of plans do we need to succeed.

A brilliant idea without action is like Mark McGwire playing baseball without a bat.

It's one thing to make a choice. It's another to put that choice into practice.

People want guidance, not rhetoric. They need to know what the plan of action is, and how it will be implemented. They want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and authority to act on it.

Unless a decision has degenerated into work, it is not a decision; it is at best a good intention.

The 1st question the effective decision-maker asks is: 'Is this a generic situation or an exception?'

The most important question of the 21st century is not what or how much, it is 'How?' How do you propose to turn your good ideas into positive changes in other people's lives? You must be the 'how generation.'

Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent.

You always, I think, debate with yourself about whether or not you made the right decision. And you have to then give the person that you’re working for - in my instance, the president - your best judgment based on your understanding of the facts, but also the calculus you use to make a determination about what’s the best way to go forward.

Ideation without execution is delusion

Hannah: What's your plan? Claire: Go get him Hannah: Honey, that is not a plan. That's what we in the military call an objective.