Quotes

Quotes by  Johan Reinhoudt

• It is a great illusion at this time you are free to think whatever you want – just give it a try. You will not succeed – based upon your (limited) beliefs.
• Beliefs put a restriction on thinking and therefore on performance. This applies in business and in sales too. You do not believe this? Exactly – this is what I just meant to say.
• Like it, or not; a person in the ‘wrong seat’ is a value destroyer in your organisation. Be accountable and ethical – take appropriate action.
• Team meetings may serve a (communication) purpose. However, beware of “we” and “they” accountability distribution-it does not work.
• Value business friendships. The true value may not lie in what is being shared per se, but in what you have contributed by being you.
• For diet advice it is probably not recommended to visit a pastry bakery – Do you know where to go for trusted executive coaching services? (+31) (0)23 576 7581
• If the organisation does not perform – go back to the fundamentals. No flashy, or advanced techniques will work when the basics are not mastered first.
• And then for every one who still believes people are linear beings – last time they pushed you – did you fall?
• Today, in many organisations significant unlearning has to precede learning and organisational development. If not, there is unsustainable growth of the old and adaptation is a utopia.
• Organisations with a purpose have dedicated leaders with a purpose – deliver products with a purpose, to a purposeful market.
• There is no sustainable revenue growth without people growth.
• Is not moving forward most about what to stop?
• Focus not on how others and ‘the world’ are wrong – focus on what you can do right, first to improve yourself, next to improve the world.
• Marketing Next Century – Prove what has already been proven and do this over and over again. People love to hear what they already know!
• Life is not being meant to live like an MP3 player, either in ‘playback’, or in ‘record’ mode. Use the ‘play’ mode often and the moment of ‘fast forward’ will arrive at the right time.
• Dreams and Goals can be magnets. Your polarisation determines its attraction and therefore its effectiveness.
• It is not about the view from the top, but it is about the people you bring along with you.
• Be clear in your purpose and defenceless in your being.
• Without clear vision, you cannot take people to places where you and they have not been before.
• Trace the stars in your own life and create a Universe.
• If you have a business – every thing looks like people. No, in fact it is all about people.
• A collaborative partnership is like cooking together with some one else. At the end you want to serve desired value which is aesthetic and tasteful and is filled with authenticity and integrity.
• The most common way for leaders to fail is by thinking they have power over people.
• Leadership need to be exercised and practiced like any thing else we want to master – take leadership where ever you go.
• If you’ve never started ‘it’ – How can ‘it’ ever become a win?
• What if you had a dry erase board for the beliefs you have – and you could simply wipe them out? – You would wipe out those meaningless events you gave a meaning, all those that are now determining what you do and feel? How could your outlook on life change?
• Leaders looking for followers are mostly lost.
• Although something may be perfectly legal – it may not pass the ‘ethics acid test’; can your family comfortably and with pride read about it at the front page of a major newspaper and/or the internet? Can they?
• Leading implies doing what others do not do. Be aware of what others do, just do not follow them. Inspired leadership goes where no one has gone before.
• People are smart – they can see when you tell them something you do not really mean – be authentic, genuine and sincere. Not sometimes, ALL the time.
• What if the leadership team is not smarter than the rest of the organisation? Can we show this? Is it safe to ask for input?
• Spring cleaning is like visiting the dentist to most people – they procrastinate and ultimately when they do decide to make ‘a visit’ – they hope nothing is found, so no activity is required and no pain is to be endured.
• Innovation is not directly linked to the level of spending – it is mostly a question of accepting ideas from every where, rightly funnelled and embedded in a healthy led feedback environment.
• Describing your goals as a leader is usually easy – where it breaks down is to take these goals and break them down all the way to the front-line employees. Are your goals animated – do they inspire your people?
• What if? A truly valuable question. What if we do not put a higher emphasis on hiring people who have an innate ability and want to do a certain job? What if hit-and-miss casualty hiring can be a thing of the past?
• How many times have you experienced decisions taken in the leadership team were non-applicable to the ‘real world’? – Effective leaders work consciously on transparency and connectivity with their people and the market.
• Often leaders are ‘bored’ dealing with people issues – a clear sign of misalignment with the main leadership purpose – development of the organisation through others.
• When leaders seek miracles as solutions – the solution often does not include personal involvement of the leader, it is the magic of others who need to deal with the issue. Leadership requires appropriate personal involvement – do not – be out there, but do not be a road block either.
• A lot of leaders like to call themselves macro managers – a term seemingly implying they do not deal with the organisation – they ‘lead’.
• When all else fails – Kindness still prevails.
• Innovation is change driven by creativity – Capturing the essence of this makes all the (leadership) difference.
• Make quality a desired constant by all- Not occasionally and certainly not just by those in the Quality department alone. When Quality is in the Quality department, you do have a real Quality management challenge putting your organisation at significant risk.
• The greatest craving your people have, are hearing their names, followed by an appreciation.
• To many, “developing leaders” is an oxymoron- Is it really? The moment one stops learning and unlearning, growth disappears.
• What is the other person thinking, feeling, needing and wanting? Ponder upon this before starting your next dialogue.
• Leaders may be perceived as being bold, when starting to simplify matters- This is a far cry from being simple minded.
• Leaders have a quest for simplicity- A clear and unbiased acceptance of the current state is a good start for improvement.
• Effective leaders are shy of unnecessary complexity- They are well aware upon further research, this usually turns into masking an absence of understanding and an unwillingness for action.
• Effective leaders practice presenting effectively – They do not provide reading lessons – Use one key word-one image/slide.
• The cost of a mis-hire is staggering to a business. It is particularly tragic because it can be mostly prevented by a correct definition of the unique business contribution requested to be made by the new hire and as hiring manager, to have a thorough dialogue about this with the candidate. Mis-hires are often labeled culture-misfits later on, when in fact the new hire was never ‘in’ for making the business contributions required in the first place. Hiring is an ethical process – make sure you do all you can to prevent mis-hires. This is good for your business and for every one involved.
• Be sure to define the business contributions a new hire needs to make, before you label the next ‘mis-hire’ again a culture misfit.
• Effective #Leaders know one cannot talk about what you do not want, and have this not materialise as an outcome.
• Leadership done to people has no positive influencing value. This type of ‘control’ is inhibiting and blocks creativity.
• When leaders create success through influence, they are disciplined with control.
• Tenure does not equal performance – be consistent, objective and clear about targets/output and how and when you will measure them.
• As a leader, your communication and behaviour are important reminders to the organisation of what matters most.
• Lead enthusiasm by being enthusiastic. Genuine enthusiasm for a positive and ethical cause, your whole organisation’s vision, is ‘viral’. It is contagious, because it is truthful and with positive intent.
• As a CEO being healthily engaged in the business and organisational activities, does not include micro-management. There’s a world of difference.
• Save money and prevent personal misery by avoiding your next hire to be a ‘mishire’. Make it obligatory to clearly define how the company will benefit from having the candidate in the job? Often a role’s specific business contribution is not well defined by the hiring manager. Differentiate from the competition.
• Hiring is an ethical venture – a “joint-venture”, where two parties mutually assess their willingness to ‘do business’ and to invest “resources”.
• When you are adaptable as a leader, you will meet adaptability in the organization – Doing it first and then “talking the walk”.
• Copying the ‘neighbor’ is probably best limited to honesty, ethics, adherence to laws and regulations and putting people first – Most any thing else won’t work in like fashion in your organisation- Be relevant and specific.
• An airport, a meeting room, a hotel in another country-continent is not like having worked and lived there – Do not confuse having global corporate coverage with having global experience.
• Micromanagement has no place in a healthy business – The ‘busyness’ these ‘managers’ present has nothing to do with a good business practices. Those who want you to believe for micromanagement to be ‘good’ for business, either have never truly worked for a micromanager, have never stayed long enough to see the devastation caused, or are part of the same ‘club’.
• To give to those who do not deserve is not just irresponsible, it is downright abusive – Performance management ought to be understandable, direct, continuous and sans subjectivity and popularity measures.
• Bad leadership – isn’t this an oxymoron?
• When Human Resources is all about unleashing the power of people, it may well become both an operational and strategic asset to the organisation.
• Next time you consider working on one of your team members’ weaknesses – think again. Consider building up their strengths through targeted development.
• Training people needs to be adapted to the ‘hard wiring’ of the individual – not necessarily the behavior shown – people can adapt to the organizational environment, but can never leave their innate ‘hard wiring’.
• Why not starting the day with a BIG THANK YOU – Thanking every one for the experiences together, the growth, the successes, but of course also for these richly ‘rewarding’ experiments, prototypes and try-outs.
• An outward focused leadership creates an environment categorized by openness – one of the fundamental characteristics of a successful operating organisation.
• Openness does not imply “communicating everything and all” with every one. This sad leadership misinterpretation creates much hardship and burden for those at the receiving end, without ever being truly asked to discuss and/or to provide an opinion.
• People ‘comfortable’ in their role may ask what ‘shift’ can be created to remain adaptable and current? Stasis is void of development and leads to unhealthy situations.
• Is not one of the illusions of authoritative behavior one of having authority at all?
• To start ‘wowing’ your employees, you have to stop ‘wowing’ yourself.
• When a leader starts talking like the all knowing ‘expert’ – he/she lost one of their most important tools to lead – humility.
• Effective business leaders know the outward focus on developing others is not just serving others – by doing this, they continue to develop personally too.
• An unkept promise erodes organizational trust and destroys a leader’s self-esteem.
• Too many ineffective meetings not only waste time and energy – they destroy talent and become a serious retention issue.
• Leaders who see continuous improvement holistically, never exclude themselves.
• Leaders who increase self-awareness, increase choice.
• Effective leaders maximize economic value creation by designing a clear and executable strategy.
• Interestingly leadership development is first and foremost learning about and developing ourselves, then others.
• There’s value in the courtesy of a reply – even in today’s communication. Try it.
• Often ‘solutions’ are discussed over and over, but never started. Why not start ‘it’ and see if it may become a win?
• When “To Do” becomes “Enable To” it takes on a whole different meaning.
• Effective leaders ensure that an ‘open door policy’ is used constructively and is not an avenue for freely receiving other people’s gossip. Ineffective ‘open door’ usage destroys leadership and team morale.
• Here’s a wonderful leadership exercise to get clearer on what you ‘think’ – sit down with a blank sheet of paper- 10” – no distraction – list all your thoughts without judgement. Evaluate your list. Surprises? Next time, think again before stating to others that “you know what you’re thinking”.
• Change is not the opposite of boredom – When as a leader you claim to have a “love for change”, make sure that this drive for ‘breaking boredom by force’ is not considered the threat every one is experiencing due  to an ongoing strategic transformation.
• I never had an employee complain they were ‘over-communicated with’. Assume the employee is there to help and assist-not to undermine.
• The one thing people like the most, is hearing their own name. Use people’s name when addressing them, it bridges and supports your communication.
• The most important aspect of strategy execution? Spelling out in clear language what the strategy is. Simple?
• Acknowledge what you do – make changes – do what you say you’re going to do – act. Persevere.
• Leadership implies an all encompassing accountability – it implies all.
• Make sure you define the ‘box’, when asking people to think outside the box – common understanding is key to success.
• Conferences about innovation rarely include topics on “the human resources” behind innovation. Why is the most instrumental of all left out?
• Spending money wisely seems like a no-brainer these days. However, have you asked your people lately “why” they spend, “what” they spend?
• Innovation is a resource – not a process. When people are considered processes – all becomes counter-intuitive.
• Although some leaders may have a great attitude to become a leader, organizations do need competence to progress.
• When leadership provides good performance evaluations against a backdrop of performance issues, it is not just destroying people, but business too.
• According to a Gallup Poll -16 percent of the workforce is actively disengaged – How do you manage actively disengaged workers?
• Hold ‘skip-level’ conversations by exception and for specific purposes only. Include stressing who’s the team leader in charge and provide support openly.
• Making the people in your organisation your first priority will make your customers say: “WOW”.
• Ensure your advice on how to operate globally is “sourced” well. It is clearly a ‘stretch’ for those who have never lived and worked in other countries/cultures to do so.
• Actively monitor and participate while your company changes – your people and culture change too.
• Replace “I try” and “I will” by “I can” and “I am”. It is about doing – Try it, and feel the difference and experience the results.
• If you’re afraid to fall down – chances are you may want to avoid climbing. Enhance self-awareness and deal with your fears.
• Bad recruitment manners have long term consequences. As a leader, are you fully aware of what’s happening in your company?
• Take action and stop the e-mail ‘hamster wheel’. Promote communication between people – be the example.
• Listen to hear, and accept what is being said, to understand. The ‘silent messages’ may improve your relationships and your success.
• Fear is not a motivator and doesn’t drive performance. Overcome your own fears – refrain from spreading it around.
• When your personal beliefs are ‘shattered’ by some innovative ‘outside’ thinking, share with the team – do not hide.
• Bad behaviour is.. “bad” and profit destructive. Model good behaviour and do not tolerate bad behaviour in the organisation.
• Do what is “just” and not what is favorable. Eliminate subjectivity from promotions – every one will thank you for it.
• In leading, also focus on what people say. Sooner, or later communication reflects behaviour.
• Leadership is not Management — the two are radically different.
• Theory has its place. Just don’t forget to be practical when leading an enterprise. People understand behaviour so much better.
• You really cannot decide without having good people around you. It is not the ‘technical decision’ that counts – but its results.
• Laughter is the most contagious of all emotions. Remember this next time when you’re ‘stuck’ in a leadership team meeting.
• The greatest dangers for a leader employing shuttled diplomacy are the loss of trust and the destruction of functioning working relationships with the parties involved. Avoid being accused of manipulation and work with hybrid models.
• Listen well. The least words you use in a communication, the more powerful they will be.
• In #leadership use “intent statements” when you mean them as commitments, and only when you will follow through.
• How ‘easy’ it is to continue – Stop for a moment and make an after action review. Continuous learning is ‘doing’.
• Remove policies which are part of ’empire building’ – organisational existence is justified by output, not by paper.
• An ‘open door policy’ with a closed mind is destroying trust, team spirit and performance.
• A people-centric organization is driven by Communication, Relationships, Creativity and Growth. Envision what is possible!
• Enabling human potential through counseling, coaching, or mentoring is providing reflective choices – this is not the same as telling some one what to do.
• Do you have ‘sacred cows’ in the organisation? Reflect upon this and ask around. You will be amazed about what people know.
• What leaders fear, they attract in their organization. Introspection and personal change is required to make organizational change.
• Your business model cannot be “cutting cost”, “cutting personnel”, or “cutting travel”. What is, or may be driving growth in your organisation?

Quotes by others