Welcome to the Deploy Yourself Newsletter, where I gently provoke you to show you your own power. This newsletter is an invitation to your leadership. You can also read this issue online.
Hey,
7 Deep & Provocative Quotes to Uplevel your Leadership
I love collecting one-liners and quotes to provoke my own thinking as I learn to be a better leader.
Here are 7 deep and provocative quotes from my collection that force me to stop and reflect to understand their depth.
In the last few weeks, I have kept these on different post-its on my desk, and I continue to get insights from them daily.
They are:
- “Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.” ― Parker J. Palmer
- “If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” ― Rumi
- “We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” ― Earl Nightingale
- “Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” – Warren Buffet
- “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.” – Mexican proverb
- “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
- “Physics isn’t the most important thing. Love is.” ― Richard P. Feynman
Which one of the above stand out for you?
What do they provoke in you?
Reply back and share your reflections or your own favorite quote. I read and respond to every reply.
Fascinating Articles & Stories
One
Deepali Singh – “If a woman can give birth to a baby, then what else could be more challenging?”
I interviewed my first boss and serial entrepreneur Deepali Singh on the Choosing Leadership podcast. Deepali shares about being a risk taker and putting her heart and soul into everything she has done.
We also spoke about the challenges of being a female leader, and how to deal with stereotypes and gender biases at work. We also reflected on the time when we worked together, the positive influence she has had on me, and how leadership is about continuously evolving and growing.
Listen to the entire episode.
Two
Timothy Golden – “Learn the job of the human above me and teach my job to the human below me”
I interviewed Tim Golden, CEO at compliancerisk.io and CTO of Vital Tech Services on the Choosing Leadership podcast. We talked about:
- When dealing with humans cuz you can’t program them like you can program computers. Um, I really needed to learn some effective communication techniques.
- I needed to learn compromise not always being right. In fact, one of the hardest lessons I had to learn was that, you know, there are way, there are people way smarter than me in some of these disciplines and I used that as a way for me to grow.
- I have a core group of people that speak the truth and love to me and tell me where, you know, where I’m doing wrong, where I could improve, and I take their advice to heart and I try to make those changes along the way
- one of the things I picked up on was initiative, right? Taking the initiative on oneself to not only better yourself, but better the person next to you,
Listen to the entire episode.
Three
Curated resources for your leadership
Here are my best finds from all over the internet for your leadership. Make yourself tea/coffee as you read, listen and learn.
Pro-tip – Listen and read the below about YOU – not about the author. (reply back and ask if you do not understand what that means)
- The Making of a Corporate Athlete – An HBR Article
- The Flipside of Bias for Action
- Seneca on the Importance of Rest and Relaxation
That’s it for now. If you have any questions or feedback, or if you are new and want to introduce yourself, hit reply. I read and respond to every reply. All the best,
Sumit
P.S. – I am looking to interview more inspirational leaders on my podcast. If you know anyone I should interview, reply back with their name.
(Twitter) @SumitGupta
(LinkedIn) Connect