Susan Scott > Quotes

“You get what you tolerate.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Our work, our relationships, and our lives succeed or fail one conversation at a time. While no single conversation is guaranteed to transform a company, a relationship, or a life, any single conversation can. Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person. It could be. Participate as if it matters. It does.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Remember that what gets talked about and how it gets talked about determines what will happen. Or won't happen. And that we succeed or fail, gradually then suddenly, one conversation at a time.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“There is something within us that responds deeply to people who level with us.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“As a leader, you get what you tolerate. People do not repeat behavior unless it is rewarded.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Burnout…occurs because we’re trying to solve the same problem over and over.”
― Susan Scott

“Do you view your relationship as something to be endured for the sake of the kids, or because you don’t want to be alone, or because you don’t think you could do better?  Or do you view your relationship, even with its imperfections, as a worthwhile work in progress?  How would your view influence how you interact with your partner, what you do, what you say?  What results would those interactions produce?”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Love: Creating a Love that Lasts---One Conversation at a Time

“I have not yet witnessed a spontaneous recovery from incompetence.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“The first thing the attendees saw when they walked in was a poster with the question “What are our mokitas?”—a Papua New Guinea word for that which everyone knows and no one will speak of: the elephant in the room.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Seeking out people with different views, different perspectives, different ideas is often challenging, because it requires us to set aside judgment and open our minds. But we have to remind ourselves that to get beyond where we are, where I believe most of us are, we would all be be well served to choose our music carefully, to stop talking and listen to one another.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“I want us all to stop thinking only in terms of accomplishments, of task and completion, of beating the competition, of gathering income and merchandise, of winning praise, and instead, live our lives forging the deepest relationships we can with ourselves and with one another. i want us to respond to adversity by deepening our engagement in our lives. It isn't complicated.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“Principle 4: Tackle your toughest challenge today. Burnout doesn’t occur because we’re solving problems; it occurs because we’ve been trying to solve the same problem over and over. The problem named is the problem solved. Identify and then confront the real obstacles in your path. Stay current with the people important to your success and happiness. Travel light, agenda-free.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Our power as individuals is multiplied when we gather together as families, teams, and communities with common goals.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“Once you achieve intimacy and connection, I predict that innovation, partnership, execution and success won't be far behind.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“People feel disrespected when they show up and others don't. The message received is that those who arrive late value their own time more than that of their colleagues.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“If you are open, vulnerable, disclosing, more likely than not it will be reciprocated and walls will come down.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“Has a sense of humor. (Preferably warped.) We know who we are”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“Ask yourself, “How did I get here? How is it that I find myself in a company, a role, a relationship, or a life from which I’ve absented my spirit? How did I lose my way?”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Accountable Authentic Collaborative Courageous Passionate Lifelong learner Welcomes feedback Biased toward action Solution oriented Change agent”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“In Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, written during his year in a one-room cabin with few possessions, is this quote: “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life that is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“The problem named is the problem solved.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“leave this conversation with”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who he is, believe him the first time.” Or her.  What we do is who we are.  When someone says, “That’s not me,” after doing something or saying something hurtful, they are mistaken.  That is them.  That is exactly them or at least a part of them and it may be a part of them that you do not want in your life.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Love: Creating a Love that Lasts---One Conversation at a Time

“Ask yourself . . . What are my goals when I converse with people? What kinds of things do I usually discuss? Are there other topics that would be more important given what’s actually going on? How often do I find myself—just to be polite—saying things I don’t mean? How many meetings have I sat in where I knew the real issues were not being discussed? And what about the conversations in my marriage? What issues are we avoiding? If I were guaranteed honest responses to any three questions, whom would I question and what would I ask? What has been the economical, emotional, and intellectual cost to the company of not identifying and tackling the real issues? What has been the cost to my marriage? What has been the cost to me? When was the last time I said what I really thought and felt? What are the leaders in my organization pretending not to know? What are members of my family pretending not to know? What am I pretending not to know? How certain am I that my team members are deeply committed to the same vision? How certain am I that my life partner is deeply committed to the vision I hold for our future? If nothing changes regarding the outcomes of the conversations within my organization, what are the implications for my own success and career? for my department? for key customers? for the organization’s future? What about my marriage? If nothing changes, what are the implications for us as a couple? for me? What is the conversation I’ve been unable to have with senior executives, with my colleagues, with my direct reports, with my customers, with my life partner, and most important, with myself, with my own aspirations, that, if I were able to have, might make the difference, might change everything? Are”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“The opposite of love isn’t hate.  It’s indifference, lethal neutrality, apathy.  You don’t care. Instead of energy there’s malaise, inertia. Instead of chemistry there’s emptiness. Instead of substance there’s frivolousness. The relationship is all but dead.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Love: Creating a Love that Lasts---One Conversation at a Time

“What is needed now is for leaders to become more open, more flexible, less egoistic and less hypocritical. We must loosen our death grip on whatever we believe to be the truth simply because it is how we want the truth to look. We must be honest with ourselves and invite honesty from others.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“What matters anywhere in your organization, matters everywhere in your organization.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Business Today

“A leader’s job is to get it right for the organization, not to be right.”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time

“The truth will set you free - but first it may thoroughly irritate you.”
― Susan Scott

“Disclosing my real thoughts and feelings is risky. Disclosing what I really think and feel frees up energy and expands possibilities. Most people can’t handle the truth, so it’s better not to say anything. Though I have trouble handling the truth sometimes, I’ll keep telling it and inviting it from others. It’s important that I convince others that my point of view is correct. Exploring multiple points of view will lead to better decisions. I will gain approval and promotions by exchanging my personal identity for my organization’s identity. My personal identity will be expanded as my colleagues and I exchange diverse points of view. Reality can’t be changed. There’s no point in fighting it. Perhaps we can change reality with thoughtful conversations. As an expert, my job is to dispense advice. My job is to involve people in the problems and strategies affecting them. I’ll keep my mouth shut; this is a job for the experts. My point of view is as valid as anyone else’s. I need to ignore what I’m feeling in my gut; just put my head down and do my job. I know what I know, and what I know, I need to act on. Let’s”
― Susan Scott, Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time