Tom Rath > Quotes

“You cannot be anything you want to be - but you can be a whole lot more of who you already are.”
― Tom Rath

“If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership

“From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to our shortcomings than to our strengths.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“Wellbeing is about the combination of our love for what we do each day, the quality of our relationships, the security of our finances, the vibrancy of our physical health, and the pride we take in what we have contributed to our communities. Most importantly, it’s about how these five elements interact.”
― Tom Rath, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

“the key to human development is building on who you already are”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership

“Talent (a natural way of thinking, feeling, or behaving) × Investment (time spent practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base) = Strength (the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance)”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“When we're able to put most of our energy into developing our natural talents, extraordinary room for growth exists. So, a revision to the "You-can-be-anything-you-want-to-be" maxim might be more accurate: You cannot be anything you want to be—but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“The most successful people start with dominant talent—and then add skills, knowledge, and practice to the mix. When they do this, the raw talent actually serves as a multiplier.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“Every hour you spend on your rear end ... saps your energy and ruins your health.”
― Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes

“If you want to improve your life and the lives of those around you, you must take action.”
― Tom Rath

“Perhaps the ultimate test of a leader is not what you are able to do in the here and now - but instead what continues to grow long after you're gone”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership

“The lesson here is clear: If you want people to understand that you value their contributions and that they are important, the recognition and praise you provide must have meaning that is specific to each individual.”
― Tom Rath, How Full Is Your Bucket?

“What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths - and can call on the right strength at the right time.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership

“the single biggest threat to our own wellbeing tends to be ourselves”
― Tom Rath, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

“You cannot be anything you want to be — but you can be a lot more of who you already are.”
― Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0

“It appears that the epidemic of active disengagement we see in workplaces every day could be a curable disease…if we can help the people around us develop their strengths.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“Every human being has talents that are just waiting to be uncovered.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“What's more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential for growth, when they invest energy in developing their strenghts instead of correcting their deficiencies.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Finder 2.0

“Eating the right foods provides energy for your workout and improves the quality of your sleep. In turn, a sound night of sleep makes you more likely to eat right the next day. This is why the real magic lies at the intersection between eating, moving, and sleeping. If you can do all three well, it will improve your daily energy and your odds of living a long, healthy life.”
― Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes

“Instead of celebrating what makes each child unique, most parents push their children to "fit in" so that they don't "stick out." This unwittingly stomps out individuality and encourages conformity, despite these parents' good intentions”
― Tom Rath, How Full Is Your Bucket?

“If you focus on people’s weaknesses, they lose confidence.”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

“When we build on our strengths and daily successes — instead of focusing on failures — we simply learn more.”
― Tom Rath, Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

“followers have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the most influential leaders in their lives: trust, compassion, stability, and hope”
― Tom Rath, Strengths Based Leadership

“Across the board, having the opportunity to develop our strengths is more important to our success than our role, our title, or even our pay.”
― Tom Rath

“A mere 20 minutes of moderate activity could significantly improve your mood for the next 12 hours.”
― Tom Rath, Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes

“At its fundamentally flawed core, the aim of almost any learning program is to help us become who we are not.”
― Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0

“Building your talents into real strengths also requires practice and hard work, much like it does to build physical strengths.”
― Tom Rath, StrengthsFinder 2.0

“The pursuit of meaning — not happiness — is what makes life worthwhile.”
― Tom Rath, Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life

“Working toward a shared mission with other people will add a positive charge to each day.”
― Tom Rath, Are You Fully Charged?: The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life