• What did you do next?

    One day a field marshal requested an audience with Napoleon, and Napoleon knew what was coming. But as every good leader must, Napoleon agreed to hear him out. The field marshal brought…

  • “Never give up!”

    Sir Winston Churchill took three years getting through eighth grade because he had trouble learning English. It seems ironic that years later Oxford University asked him to address its commencement exercises. He…

  • The house we build

    An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the job and live a more leisurely life with his wife, enjoying his extended family. He…

  • Profiting from creativity

    The 3M Company encourages creativity from its employees. The company allows its researchers to spend 15 per cent of their time on any project that interests them. This approach has brought fantastic…

  • A 10-cent idea

    Here is an interesting anecdote about an entrepreneur who built his fortunes by boldly pursuing an innovative idea. When young FW Woolworth was a store clerk, he tried to convince his boss…

  • Time to think

    Henry Ford hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. He said, “Find the non-productive people. Tell me who they are, and I will fire them!” The expert made the rounds…

  • You’ll get exactly what you expect

    I remember a young lady who went to work for a company immediately after graduating from college. She seemed extremely talented but unbelievably timid. She was assigned to a division-level marketing department…

  • A teacher’s influence

    A woman attended her 20-year high school reunion. There she encountered her freshman year art teacher. She told him that she decided to go to college as a result of his inspiration,…

  • The farmer’s horse

    There is a story of a farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, the neighbours gathered to commiserate with him since this was such bad luck. He said, “May be.” The next…