As a business owner, it is important to keep your team motivated and inspired. And as much as it’s critical that you position yourself as their leader, there is nothing wrong with drawing on the experience of other business luminaries to shed light on what drives success. With this in mind, we have composed a list of the top ten business quotes for you to reference when you sense your team needs a little inspiration.
- Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. – Steve Jobs – Steve Jobs is arguably this generation’s most important and most recognized entrepreneur. This quote is about being true to yourself and trusting your gut.
- I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan – While Michael Jordan isn’t technically an entrepreneur, this quote speaks to success in general, and specifically how one addresses failure. In order to succeed, you need to fail and ultimately, to learn.
- I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. – Stephen Covey – People are always inclined to make excuses for themselves about why they haven’t been more successful. This quote drives home the notion that we all exert control over our circumstances through the decisions that we make.
- You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Christopher Columbus – As the ultimate adventurer, Christopher Columbus understood that to realize goals, you must take risks.
- It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure. – Bill Gates – Here Bill Gates is reiterating the notion that failure drives success – but he takes it a step further by suggesting that lessons of failure are even more important than the glory of success.
- It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. – Warren Buffett – Reputation is a too often overlooked driver of success. And it is a fragile consideration that warrants more attention than people typically presume.
- One of the huge mistakes people make is that they try to force an interest on themselves. You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you. – Jeff Bezos – Most entrepreneurs understand that passion drives success. Unless you are doing something that you truly love, it is unlikely that you will realize your goals.
- Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration. – Thomas Edison – Work ethic is a huge driver of success. You can be passionate, smart, determined, well connected – but unless you put in the hours and the effort, success will almost certainly be out of reach.
- A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. — Henry Ford – Money can be a very important motivator, but if your business doesn’t have more impact than a financial one, it is not realizing its full potential.
- If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more,you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams – This quote speaks to the fundamental basis of leadership. As a leader, you can drive success in your business. But to the extent that you inspire others, you have achieved another level of leadership.
Keep these business quotes on hand for inspiration as you continue to grow your business and build your team. To learn more about how to take your company to the next level of success, contact Miller Bernstein for your free consultation.
