A leader’s courage is not for himself or herself; it’s for the people who are depending on him to lead. – Tim Marks

Tim Marks’s taught thousands this lesson  --long term leadership’s depends on solid character. Marks reminded the standing-room-only crowd of business professionals that solid character often has roots in difficult childhoods and provided examples in the lives of greats such as Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill.

Marks explained, “Here is one, Ronald Regan. Reagan didn’t become the man that he was when he was president or the years after he was president and the years he was before president over night. Ronald Regan actually started out in a different political party. When he couldn’t agree with the party’s behavior and agenda, he knew he had to leave. Reagan’s his character was forged over years of struggle.

“So many of us have probably had rough childhoods. If you haven’t had a rough childhood, then you are the minority. I know I could tell you on one hand the people teaching here that probably would say, ‘I had a great childhood.’ People that would say, ‘My parents they loved me and encouraged me. They were at all my football games. I never saw my dad get drunk....’

You have to be the same person all the time and none of us is perfect. – Tim Marks

“Character is leadership in motion and leadership is character in motion,” stated Tim Marks during his recent coliseum-sized leadership development class. “If you don’t get the character part of it right, everything else will crumble and fall apart in your job, family life, your spiritual life, your church, whatever you want to achieve. Wherever areas of life you want to grow in; if you don’t have the character down then you’re going to have problems,” Marks told thousands of busy note takers.

Tim Marks Favorite Character Quotes

"He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he who loses courage loses all." – Miguel de Cervantes

“The time is always right to do what’s right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Successful people take the future into consideration in daily decisions. – Chuck Goetschel

Chuck Goetschel began his leadership lesson to thousands of independent business owners by sharing insights gained from sociologist and respected conservative thinker, Dr. Edward C. Banfield and renowned business consultant, Peter Drucker. “Let me take you back to 1970,” said Goetschel, ”there was sociologist by the name of Dr. Edward Banfield.” He was a Harvard University professor and author of Unheavenly City, published in 1970. In this book Goetschel continued, “He described a profound study and success and priority setting. What he was doing was trying to determine what it was that made certain people so successful.

“When the research began, Dr. Banfield expected to find clear links between financial independence and things like how you’re raised, education, socio-economic benefits, family contacts and other concrete things. It was really interesting because what he said the answer as to why someone people always seem to be more successful than the other people boiled down to one thing. He said that answer was what he called ‘long time perspective.’

Daily, dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive. - Larry VanBuskirk

Larry VanBuskirk recently compared the leadership calling to ‘serve and protect’ to an intrepid sheep-dog, working for the Shepard to protect and direct the flock.

Larry VanBuskirk greeted the enthusiastic crowd of business people with, “Welcome to sheep-dog school!” VanBuskirk continued, “If you want to be a sheep dog and walk the warrior’s path, you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.”

“This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog isn’t a yes or no dichotomy. It’s a matter of degrees. It’s a continuum. On one end is the head-in-the-sand sheep and on the other hand is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end of the spectrum or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between.

(Audio excerpt Learning from Larry VanBuskirk. Click here.)