On goodwill and great leadership; Legacy principles that have worked for others raise the question: what do you stand for?

• Author: Martel, Myles
• Position: ENDNOTE

MY NEW BOOK, Leadership Legacies, has its roots in a meeting I had with Ronald Reagan 25 years ago. He and I were having a private lunch on the patio of the estate where he and his wife, Nancy, were living outside Middleburg, Va., an impressive property overlooking a captivating vista of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was there to serve as his personal debate adviser, a role I had assumed following his presidential nomination in 1980.

During our discussion, Reagan, in his inimitably casual, convincing style, stressed how important it was for a leader to be clear to his followers about what he stood for, including how important it was for a leader to reinforce his leadership principles. That insight, exemplified throughout Reagan's public life, has become a core leadership lesson I have given to hundreds of CEOs and other leaders in business and government during my 25 years as a leadership communication adviser.

The quotations, which constitute the lion's share of the book, have been collected by me for over 30 years. (The following quotations are from the chapter entitled "Goodwill.") The book, in effect, is a collection of leadership legacies of prominent figures in business, government, the military, the arts, athletics, religion, and academia--all aimed to help leaders better understand and articulate their leadership philosophies and the principles that underpin them.

John F. Kennedy: I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.

Abigail Adams: If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind, whom should we serve?

Cicero: Do not hold the delusion that your advancement is accomplished by crushing others.

Stephen Covey: Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel: When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.

John C. Maxwell: People don't care how much you know--until they know how much you care.

Golda...