Do not be quick to condemn others for their actions.

The only time it is acceptable to be judgmental is when it is part of your job - such as when you are a police officer, judge, prosecutor, etc. Always keep in mind that all of us has things that we have done in the past that we are not very proud of. Avoid being vocal and judgmental about other people’s actions because your actions – known or unknown -may be just as bad.

A leader needs to begin with a plan and then has to be able to articulate that plan with enough passion and enthusiasm that others will commit to it. Make sure that when you are in a leadership position that you put together a definitive, well thought-out course of action. Understand however that coming up with the plan is only the first part. The harder part is getting people to commit to it. Motivating people has its challenges and you get better at it the more you have to do it. Sometimes you can learn by watching how others get their message across and then trying to emulate them. But in reality the best teacher is experience itself. Therefore seek out situations early in your life where you need to show leadership and motivation skills. Your leadership abilities will improve the more you use them.

No matter how good a coach, mentor, supervisor or friend you are, if you have a person around you who is unethical or who lies or cheats, get rid of them. No matter what you do you will not be able to effectively manage or work with them. At some point in time they will reflect badly on you.

There will be times in life when challenges will seem too difficult to handle and that you cannot make it. These could be challenges faced at college, or with your job, or in your marriage, or with your kids. Hopefully during those tough times you will have a loved one nearby to help and support you. However sometimes they may not be able to be there because of geographical, emotional, or financial reasons. Those are times when you need someone else to lean on. Keep in mind Psalm 55:22 during those times.

There will be times when you must be prepared to make changes in order to preserve something that is important to you. Your marriage and your health are the types of things that are worthy of your making changes in order to ensure that they are a success. If addictions such as alcohol, drugs, gambling, or too much golf cause difficulties in your marriage, take whatever action is necessary to make it right. If your quick temper causes you to be overlooked for job promotions, control it. If your roommate’s all night partying causes you to do poorly in school, make changes to the living arrangements.

Regardless of what needs to be done, look to yourself to make whatever changes are necessary, don’t rely on others to make the change for you.

When you are a leader in an organization that has more than two or three layers of personnel, you must be fanatical about communicating your message – whether that message pertains to the quality of your product, to the work ethic you expect, to the moral guidelines you want followed, or to the key success factors necessary for your organization to be successful. The reason you need to be fanatical is the “dilution factor”. The more layers there are in the organization, the more diluted your message gets by the time it reaches the bottom layer.  As your message is relayed by other people to each of the lower levels of the organization, it will lose more and more of its intensity.

The definition of a fanatic is “a person whose strong admiration for something is considered to be extreme or unreasonable”. In order to make sure that your message is received and understood by even the most junior person in your organization you need to be a fanatic – in other words be “extremely unreasonable”.

Challenge yourself to find the positive side to a negative situation. If you look at the situation closely enough, you should be able to find something positive about it. If you can take away something positive from it, then you’ve turned a bad thing into something good.

In this case, war means working a room. The ability to effectively circulate in a room full of people will help you make new friends and broaden your network. The more people you know, the more opportunities you will be presented with.

To be effective at war, think of yourself as the host rather than as a guest. The host is always concerned with the comfort of others. Do not go overboard – you don’t want to upset the actual host – but nevertheless adopt the mindset that you will be gracious to everyone and try to convey the impression that you care about their well being.

Understand that it is your loved ones who will support you and care for you without any qualifications. Money can hire doctors, nurses, or attendants to look after you but they only look after your physical body. Loved ones look after more.

Given this reality, it makes perfect sense to spend more time nurturing your loved ones than nurturing your bank account. Keep in mind the saying that no one on their deathbed has ever said that they wished they had spent more time at the office.

Whatever you choose to do in life, don’t forget the importance of family.

Big talkers rarely perform up to their boasts. It might be because they spend so much time talking that they don’t have time to perform, or it could be because big talkers are often insecure people and when the pressure is on they can’t do the job. Remember that actions speak louder than words.

Strive to exceed the expectations of your boss, Professor, or friend. If you do, you will be well-liked and highly regarded.