A true leader fosters young people and spurs them on to greater heights.

Rather than judging people as competent or incompetent, it is best to look for each person’s positive qualities. We should discover and praise their inherent strengths and abilities. Whether or not capable people are fostered comes down to the resolve and effort of the people who take responsibility for their growth.

People who cease to grow can’t inspire others. Leadership begins with challenging oneself.

There are always able people; the challenge lies in discovering and fostering them. The irresponsible fail to see them and the self-centered cannot raise them.

Wisdom doesn’t come with position. It arises from one’s sense of responsibility.

Every person, no matter how accomplished, has shortcomings. Conversely, no matter how bad someone’s negative tendencies, that person definitely has strong points. The key is to identify an individual’s strengths and give him or her the opportunity to succeed.

When one takes full responsibility, one’s true greatness will manifest. That is when one’s true strength wells forth.

The onset of decline begins with the loss of the will to challenge oneself. This is true for both people and organizations. One must remain active. Slacken a bit and momentum is lost. It takes a lifetime of unrelenting struggle to build something worthy, but only a moment to destroy it.

A person who cannot genuinely empathize with others can never excel as a leader. So much of what ails society today is the result of too many people in leadership positions who do not or cannot identify with the plight of their fellow men and women. It is in enduring pain and struggles that the earth of our humanity is cultivated. And it is from this earth that a capacity to be genuinely concerned for the welfare of others blossoms.

Fish rots from the head, as the saying goes. Organizations, too, degenerate from the top. Those who assume positions of leadership need to constantly strive to better themselves and to overcome the tendency to become arrogant.