Be kind to unkind people--they need it the most
If you insist on perfection, make the first demand on yourself.
If you see someone without a smile,give him one of yours.
It takes 72 muscles to frown :-( and only 14 to smile:-)
When nobody disagrees with you, you can assure
yourself that you are exceptionally brilliant.
--Or else you're the boss!
When Mrs. Ruth Hopkins, a fourth-grade teacher in Brooklyn, New York, looked at her class roster the first day of school, herexcitement & joy of starting a new term was tinged with anxiety.In her class this year she would have Tommy T., the school's mostnotorious "bad boy". His third-grade teacher had constantlycomplained about Tommy to colleagues, the principal & anyoneelse who would listen. He was not just mischievous; he caused serious discipline problems in the class, picked fights with the boys,teased the girls, was fresh to the teacher, & seemed to get worse as he grew older. His only redeeming feature was his ability tolearn rapidly & master the school work easily.
Mrs. Hopkins decided to face the "Tommy problem" immediately. When she greeted her new students, she made little comments to each of them: "Rose, that's a pretty dress you are wearing" "Alicia, I hear you draw beautifully." When she came to Tommy, she looked him straight in the eyes & said "Tommy,I understand you are a natural leader. I'm going to depend on you to help me make this the best class in the fourth grade this year." She reinforced this over the first few days by complimenting Tommy on everything he did & commenting on how this showed what a good student he was. With that reputation to live up to, even a nine-year-old couldn't let her down--& he didn't.
If you want to excel in that difficult leadership role of changing the attitude or behaviour of others, give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.