Bill Hybels quotes: on leadership, motivation, productivity and a life well-lived.
“The question isn’t, ‘What do I want to get done in the next 30 days?’ but, ‘Who do I want to become in this next season of my life?'”
“When we fritter away our one and only life doing things that don’t really matter, we sacrifice the things that do matter.”
“You can live and lead small, live and lead safe, live and lead selfishly, or you can pursue a grander vision.”
“Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.”
“It’s one thing to see a vision; it’s another thing to be seized by a vision.”
“You can never underestimate the amount of energy and frequency you must give to vision casting. You can never underestimate it.”
“Visionary people face the same problems everyone else faces; but rather than get paralyzed by their problems, visionaries immediately commit themselves to finding a solution.”
“Vision is the most powerful weapon in the leader’s arsenal.”
“The grander the vision, the greater the price tag.”
“If a goal is really important to me, I discipline myself in order to achieve it.”
“One of the greatest predictors of success is grit. Grit is the passion and perseverance over the long haul. Gritty people play hurt. Gritty people don’t quit, ever. Gritty people believe they can overcome whatever obstacle stands in their way. Those will ample amounts of it will achieve more than those without it regardless of intellect.”
“Grit grows every time you prove to yourself you can overcome an obstacle. You must assign yourself very difficult tasks and will yourself to achieving them.”
“If you don’t change your schedule, you’ll be the same person you’ve always been.”
“Character is not what we have done, but rather who we are.”
“We are incurable learners.”
“The only way to motivate people is to live a motivated life in front of them.”
“Be strong and courageous.”
“Courageous people are ordinary people like you and me who began at some point to face their fears rather than run from them.”
“Destructive fear must be stopped in its tracks or it will undermine your life.”
“Build something with enduring value.”
“The real deal is always going to win in the end.”
“Develop your reflective will and gain better insight before you say or do something.”
“Every time you break through a quitting point, you prove to yourself that quitting points are not as solid as some people think they are. Every time you break through one, a victory is gained in heaven and in your life. Endurance has grown stronger in your spirit. The next time, even if the mountain is higher, you will have more endurance to help you climb it.”
“Your energy and the ability to energize others is more valuable than your time.”
“Coaching is the most important servant (leadership) element in helping people accomplish their goals.”
“Lead by example.”
“Nothing that matters in this world happens unless leaders lead it.”
“It takes a great deal of courage to follow another person’s lead.”
“Effective leaders do not fear passion. They welcome it.”
“Leadership is not for the faint of heart.”
“Leadership matters in every industry. It matters in life and it certainly matters in death.”
“You are the most difficult person you will ever lead.”
“You’re a leader. It’s your job to keep your passion hot. Do whatever you have to do, read whatever you have to read, go wherever you have to go to stay fired up. And don’t apologize to anybody.”
“Every single decision you make as a leader has an effect on the spirit of those you lead.”
“To be developed as a leader, failure must be allowed. Failure only helps us improve.”
“People won’t give their best unless their leader challenges them to do so.”
“A leader’s most valuable asset is not their time but their energy and ability to energize others.”
“One of the greatest joys of leadership is assembling and knitting together teams of fantastic people.”
“If you’re a serious minded leader, you will read. You will read all you can. You will read when you feel like it, and you will read when you don’t. You will do whatever you have to do to increase your leadership input, because you know as well as I do that it will make you better.”
“Resourceful people are quick learners. They are endlessly curious about how things work. The Wright brothers studied birds for years. Resourceful people figure it out.”
“So much of your success in the coming years is dependent on your resourcefulness. The primary way to discover resourcefulness is to put yourself in positions that are confusing and being forced to figure it out.”
“Self awareness allows you to self-correct.”
“Self-awareness is a very big deal. Knowing how your past is messing with the decisions you are making today is crucial information. Growing in self-awareness demands feedback from others. Honest feedback. Everybody will win when you grow in self-awareness.”
“Humility enables us to learn from each other.”
“My selection process is based on ‘three Cs:’ first character, then competence and finally chemistry with me and with the rest of the team. Character. Competence. Chemistry.”
“Personally, I’ve never understood inactivity. Why a person would sit when he could soar, be a spectator when he could play, or atrophy when he could develop… is beyond me!”
“Most people feel best about themselves when they have given their very best.”
“Dignity does not float down from heaven. It cannot be purchased nor manufactured. It is a reward reserved for those who labor with diligence.”
“Our minds, like the needle in that compass, can focus on a variety of subjects throughout the day. But in the end, when they’re left alone to settle, they’ll focus on the objects of our greatest affection.”
“Not only do you not do your best work in the ‘dangerously over-challenged’ range, but if you stay in this range for very long, something in your life will break. I don’t care how resilient you are, how much energy you naturally possess, or how much mental toughness you think you have; something will break. You will not be exempt from this law. Your health, marriage, connection with your kids, relationship with God, emotional well-being—something is going to crack.”
“A runaway calendar will keep you from simplifying your life. It holds you hostage to tangible things—meetings, appointments, and projects—without giving proper priority to the intangibles: who you are becoming, your relationships with family and friends, your connectedness to God. Without conscious intervention, this pattern of chronically over-scheduling ensures that the priorities you care about most will take a backseat to the urgent priorities of others every time.”
“Simplified living is about more than doing less. It’s walking away from innumerable lesser opportunities in favor of the few to which we’ve been called and for which we’ve been created.”
“Worry a little less about the darkness, and spend a little more time thinking about what you can do to leverage the light that you’ve been given.”
“It has demanded more of me than I thought I had in me to give. But pursuing my passion and using my spiritual gifts in my sweet spot is tremendously simplifying. I have clarity. There’s no confusion, no ‘what if’ questions that haunt me.”
“Please don’t go to your grave without tasting a life that is truly life.”
“Savor every day you have the privilege to lead.”
“Life is too short and the world too compassion-starved for you to keep subsisting in situations that drag you down and curtail your potential to help advance. There’s just too much at stake.”
“Live each day with an open ear toward heaven, eager to respond to any whisper from God.”
