Leadership inspiration one conversation at a time.

When our children were young, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was a program I could absolutely trust to be thoughtful and fun. Recently I was reminded from two different sources the many leadership lessons we received, as well.

Kudos to PBS who aired "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" and Southern Living Magazine for highlighting the leadership that Fred Rogers stood for and demonstrated. Read on for words of wisdom that inspire, offer perspective, and remind us all of our worthiness and inherent ability to make a difference in the lives of others. In other words, leadership.

On Purpose

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has--or ever will have--something inside that is unique to all time. It's our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression."

On Success

“There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.”

On Connection

“If only you could sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”

“Our world hangs like a magnificent jewel in the vastness of space. Every one of us is a part of that jewel. A facet of that jewel. And in the perspective of infinity, our differences are infinitesimal. We are intimately related. May we never even pretend that we are not.”

On Making a Difference

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’”

“I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said ‘yes,’ when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to somebody else.”

“Whether we're a preschooler or a young teen, a graduating college senior or a retired person, we human beings all want to know that we're acceptable, that our being alive somehow makes a difference in the lives of others.”

“It's our insides that make us who we are, that allow us to dream and wonder and feel for others. That's what's essential. That's what will always make the biggest difference in our world.”

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.”

On "Disabilities"

"Part of the problem with the word disabilities is that it immediately suggests an inability to see or hear or walk or do other things that many of us take for granted. But what of people who can't feel? Or talk about their feelings? Or manage their feelings in constructive ways? What of people who aren't able to form close and strong relationships? And people who cannot find fulfillment in their lives, or those who have lost hope, who live in disappointment and bitterness and find in life no joy, no love? These, it seems to me, are the real disabilities."

On Love

"Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now."

I hope these words have sparked some joy, inspiration, remembering of your true value and purpose in our world.

Additional reading: 20 Gentle Quotations from Mister Rogers, Mental Floss

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