“I'd read an enormous amount but had spent so much time in my own head that I didn't have extensive social skills. Suddenly I was in this world where I was surrounded by these incredibly polished and wealthy kids who had gone to prep schools, and I felt daunted by them. I don't think people were aware of how full of anxiety I was... For a long time I felt like I was living in a place where I shouldn't have been.” PeopleThinkingWorldLongHas BeensKidsSchoolSocialFeltMy OwnGoneThis WorldAmountSkillsAnxietyLong TimeEnormousWealthyPolishedPrepsSocial Skills Author:Dan Chaon
“Some people can work amid chaos or conversations, and some can't - and while there's no doubt an element of brain wiring to it, there's also the possibility of acquiring skills that improve your focus.” PeopleBrainDoubtFocusPossibilitySkillsConversationElementsChaosNo DoubtWiring Author:Carolyn Hax
“Young people - there's been very little places in positions of authority in law enforcement for young people's skill sets, but the truth is we need them.” PeopleNeedsLittlesLawYoungPositionTruth IsSkillsAuthorityLaw EnforcementEnforcementIn-laws Author:Patricia Arquette
“I have no quarrel with people who lack the skill or temperament to care for small children.” PeopleChildrenCareSkillsTemperamentQuarrelsSmall Child Author:Carolyn Hax
“I am increasingly convinced that people who have power are not necessarily smarter than others. Beyond a certain level of intelligence and level in the hierarchy, everyone is smart. What differentiates people is their political skill and savvy.” PeoplePoliticalCertainLevelsSkillsSmartConvincedSmarterHierarchyDifferentiateSavvy Author:Jeffrey Pfeffer
“The single biggest barrier to effective leadership is, in my view, the leadership industry itself. Instead of telling people the skills and behaviors they need to be effective in getting things done, we tell them almost the opposite - blandishments about how we wish people would be, and how we wish workplaces were. That information is worse than useless as, to the extent people believe it, they often wind up losing their jobs.” PeopleNeedsBelieveDoneWould BeJobsWishViewsInformationWindIndustrySkillsBehaviorLosingOppositesUselessBarriersWorkplaceThings DoneEffective LeadershipGetting Things Done Author:Jeffrey Pfeffer
“Lyndon Johnson (with Abraham Lincoln close behind). Johnson was able to get things done, to read other people, and to adjust his own approach accordingly. One of the reasons he has so fascinated biographer Robert Caro over the years is Johnson's consummate skill in acquiring and using influence.” PeopleYearsReasonDoneAbleBehindsInfluenceSkillsApproachFascinatedJohnsonAbrahamThings DoneBiographers Author:Jeffrey Pfeffer
“It's a skill that people are born with. Either you're a focuser or you're a multitasky person. I am a full-focus person.” PeoplePersonsBornFocusSkills Author:Jodie Foster
“I think part of the bad thing is that skill is emphasized so much that a lot of people, by the time they get to Juilliard, well I think they kind of forget why they got into music in the first place and if they're performers - this is a simplification, but a lot of them are trying to win a competition and play more accurately, or better, or more beautifully, whatever can be measured, than somebody else.” PeopleIfsThinkingTryingFirstsWellsKindPlayWinningForgetSkillsCompetitionBad ThingsPerformersSimplificationJuilliard Author:Tod Machover
“People's shortcomings should be treated with tact; if you expose them crudely, this is attacking weakness with a weakness. When people are stubborn, it requires skill to influence them; if you treat them with anger and spite, this is treating stubbornness with stubbornness.” PeopleIfsShouldInfluenceSkillsWeaknessTreatsTreatedSpiteTaoismStubbornAttackingShortcomingsStubbornnessTact Author:Zicheng Hong
“The best way to create and bring dependent voters in is to bring people that don't have much education and therefore do not have many skills and therefore are not as capable as others of providing for themselves. That's the gold standard in immigration, if you're a Democrat in 2016, 2002, 2000, as long as this current debate has been raging, that's their objective.” PeopleIfsWayLongHas BeensSkillsCapableStandardsGoldDemocratCurrentsRageDebateImmigrationBest WayObjectivesDependentVotersProvidingGold Standard Author:Rush Limbaugh
“It is equally important that we now secure the right deal for Britain - and the next leader must have the skill and credibility to put together the right team to renegotiate our exit from and future relationship with Europe and explain the final terms to the British people.” PeopleImportantTogetherNextTermDealsLeaderTeamSkillsEuropeFinalsBritishSecureBritainCredibilityExitFuture Relationship Author:Nicky Morgan
“Creative people inspire me. Athletes also inspire me to come alive, especially my daughter, a competitive gymnast who works very hard, as much as six hours a day on her gymnastics skills.” PeopleHardHoursCreativeAliveInspireSkillsSixDaughterAthleteMy DaughterGymnasticsCreative PeopleGymnast Author:Nathan East
“We rely more on enthusiasm than actual skill. Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically and people will like it more.” PeopleSkillsEnthusiasmRely Author:Chris Martin
“When I find myself having to share a meal with someone who simply wants to complain about the world, I almost feel myself wanting to crawl out of my skin and just sort of scurry away. But being able to pick up on that stuff and being able to easily identify the people walking towards the light instead of walking towards the darkness, that's a skill I'm very, very glad to see growing in myself.” PeopleWorldWantFeelsLightAbleStuffDarknessGrowingShareWalkingSkillsPicksSkinsComplainingGladMeals Author:Amanda Palmer
“I think in theater it demands that you say the same words every night and make it feel fresh and new. Improv demands that you be operating at the highest level of your creativity intelligence. So these two skills are both very important but I've seen people who are very skilled at one area struggle with the other. Either improvisers feel constrained by having to say the same thing over and over again or people who are really good at doing scripted work feel intimidated and exposed doing improvisation.” PeopleThinkingFeelsTwoImportantNightLevelsCreativityStruggleSkillsDemandHighestAreasTheaterExposedEvery NightImprovisationIntimidated Author:Gillian Jacobs
“Even where the game is today, cats don't really focus on necessarily what it is that you're saying so when people say, "Oh, you can't rap," I play into the joke. That's why I'll challenge anybody; anybody rapping, let's go just because I know what the art form is and even when you see these battle rappers in here, they're so skillful. It's actually a skill.” PeopleKnowsArtPlayTodayFormGamesChallengesFocusBattleSkillsJokesCatRapRapperSkillful Author:Nick Cannon
“My purpose is to help people understand that leadership skills are useful and relevant for pursuing meaningful aspirations in all aspects of life, and that this is a choice, a decision, not a default.” PeopleHelpingPurposeChoicesDecisionSkillsAspectMeaningfulAspirationRelevantDefaultAspects Of LifeLeadership Skills Author:Stewart D. Friedman
“Those negatively affected by globalization, those who are losing their jobs, and losing their skills, people out of training, must be looked after. Governments must establish policies, and governments and companies must actually address that issue, so that those who lose out from globalization can be retrained, recycled, re-established, cared for.” PeopleGovernmentJobsLosesCompanyIssuesPolicySkillsLosingTrainingAddressesAffectedGlobalizationRecycled Author:Christine Lagarde
“It's one of the underappreciated skills required by an innovator - they have to be able to convince lots of people to do things that might not be fully rational (invest in the company, join something that is likely to fail, try a product they've never seen before), and if you can't tell a good story it is just very hard to make that happen.” PeopleIfsTryingHardStoriesMightHappensAbleCompanyFailingProductsSkillsRationalConvinceGood StoryInnovators Author:Scott D. Anthony
“If you think backwards from a big problem, and you talk to all these other people who have skills and who think forward from their skills, it's very easy to form collaborations because everyone is incentivized to work together.” PeopleIfsThinkingProblemBigsTogetherFormEasySkillsWorking TogetherCollaborationBackwardsBig Problems Author:Edward Boyden
“The skill-providers want to have more impact and solve problems; the problem people want new tools to get their problems solved.” PeopleWantProblemSkillsToolsImpactSolveProviders Author:Edward Boyden
“I could name you a dozen superheroes whose powers I'd like to have. But if I could have any power in the world, it would be the power to read or watch a creative work and absorb the technical skill of the people who made it. Because then I could have even more fun writing. That's my core identity.” PeopleIfsWorldWritingMadeWould BeNamesFunWatchesCreativeIdentitySkillsCoreMade ItIf I CouldDozenSuperheroCreative WorkTechnical Skills Author:Kurt Busiek
“Once you feel that you've learned some skills and you know how to make records, the next thing is, "Do we ever get to make one that people will really like?" Because then we'll have something to do.” PeopleKnowsFeelsNextKnow HowRecordsSkills Author:Ry Cooder
“I have argued that we need livelihood insurance, which would protect people against the risk of seeing their skills and expertise no longer needed. Such insurance could be offered by the private sector.” PeopleNeedsSeeingRiskNeededProtectSkillsExpertisePrivate SectorLivelihood Author:Robert J. Shiller
“I am so profoundly aware of my lack of skill to make any material difference. I am not a doctor. I can't influence foreign policy. I can't build schools. I can't chemically engineer the protein paste that helps people with acute malnutrition. But I can talk about it, and so can you.” PeopleI CanHelpingSchoolDifferencesInfluencePolicyMaterialsSkillsDoctorsForeign PolicyEngineersProteinMalnutrition Author:Tom Hiddleston
“There are people who have great skills, who do great things, but don't embody the whole animal that is the fight game like I do.” PeopleWholeFightingGamesAnimalSkillsGreat Things Author:Conor McGregor
“I do have investments, investments in new jobs, investments in education, skill training, and the opportunities for people to get ahead and stay ahead. That's the kind of approach that will work.” PeopleKindJobsOpportunitySkillsApproachTrainingInvestmentNew JobGet AheadInvestment In EducationSkills Training Author:Hillary Clinton
“There is a section of our population in South Africa that you can't expect to get integrated in the economy of its own. These are people without skills and that will include young people who might very well have matric certificates, but don't have the skills to be absorbed in the economy. So we need to target people like those in a special way, in a focused way so that they have the skills and the capacity to participate in the economy. That requires special programmes.” PeopleWayNeedsWellsMightYoungEconomySpecialSkillsCapacitySouthPopulationFocusedTargetSouth AfricaSectionsIntegratedProgrammesCertificates Author:Thabo Mbeki
“To be strategic in life is like any skill whether it's basketball or learning a language, it takes effort and practice and I think most people don't think that it's something that they could just do, you know, naturally.” PeopleThinkingKnowsLife IsLanguageEffortPracticeSkillsBasketballDo You KnowStrategicLife Is LikeLearning Language Author:Robert Greene
“There's spatial intelligence. they're, which end up being, people going into math or music. there's mechanical where you work well with your hands. There's an intelligence with language that would lead someone into writing. So it's not necessarily that you're six years old and you know you're going to be a lawyer Or you're going into tech startups or computers. It's something more elemental than that. It's that this is a skill, a way of thinking that comes naturally to me that I was drawn to and it was very clear in childhood.” PeopleThinkingKnowsWayWritingYearsWellsEndsHandsLanguageClearChildhoodSkillsSixComputerMathLawyerWay Of ThinkingElementalsSix Year OldsSpatial Author:Robert Greene
“I'm taking my skills to different people's homes that have stoves for it.” PeopleDifferentHomeSkillsDifferent PeoplesStoves Author:Snoop Dogg
“Whether I affect one person or an entire family, or even a group of people, I feel like I have resources and education and ability and skills that some people may not be fortunate enough to acquire. But by sharing and inquiring, being a listener, and being interested in the stories of other people and their lives, I can also pull things out and say "What can I do for them? What can I share with them that may alleviate some of their suffering?"” PeopleFeelsMayPersonsI CanEnoughStoriesSufferingAbilityGroupsShareSkillsResourcesFortunateAcquireListenersAlleviateInquiring Author:Chath Piersath
“A lot of people with the purest motivation end up getting completely burned out. And that's because they lack the wisdom and the skill and the inner space.” PeopleEndsMotivationSpaceSkillsBurnedBurned Out Author:Tenzin Palmo
“One of the greatest pleasures I get from my measly professional career is confusing people. "Wait - he beats women and seems like a Nazi, but he has impeccable grammar and keen reasoning skills and sings country music and can, from time to time, say or do something really funny?" It absolutely doesn't compute for them. I enjoy that immensely.” PeopleCountrySeemsWaitingEnjoyPleasureCareersSkillsBeatsReasoningNaziConfusingGrammarImpeccableGreatest PleasuresProfessional Career Author:Jim Goad
“Hillary Clinton said we need to bring back vocational education in high school. We need to support community colleges. We need to make sure that people who are not going to finish college have a job waiting for them and the skills to do the job. These are all - have become fairly standard Democratic policy positions.” PeopleNeedsSaidSchoolJobsWaitingCommunitySupportPolicyPositionCollegeSkillsStandardsHigh SchoolDemocraticClintonCommunity CollegeVocational Education Author:George Packer
“Good people hire people better than themselves. So A players hire A+ players. But others hire below their skills to make themselves look good. So B players hire C players. C players hire D players, etc.” PeopleLooksPlayerSkillsEtcGood People Author:Guy Kawasaki
“I want to invest in community colleges, training programs, and high-quality apprenticeships that help people gain the skills they need for the jobs of the future.” PeopleWantNeedsHelpingJobsCommunityQualityCollegeSkillsTrainingGainsProgramHigh QualityApprenticeshipCommunity CollegeTraining Programs Author:Hillary Clinton
“There are performances in which the people who have the best muscle skills and musical history may be on the stage, but it's not - like a Dead show is not like a usual sit-down performance; the audience does participate.” PeopleMayDoeShowsAudienceStageSkillsPerformancesMusicalMusclesUsual Author:Howard Rheingold
“I feel very strongly about making work pay, about getting people transitioned from welfare to work. Get people skills they need, help they need, so they can get on the ladder of life.” PeopleNeedsFeelsHelpingPaySkillsWelfareVery StrongLaddersNeed HelpPeople Skills Author:Paul Ryan
“You want to teach all kids the skills that are on the better side of human nature: empathy, appreciating how one's behavior is affecting other people, resolving disagreements in ways that do not involve conflict, taking another's perspective, honesty.” PeopleWayWantHumansKidsSidesTeachHuman NatureHonestyPerspectiveSkillsConflictBehaviorEmpathyAppreciateDisagreement Author:Ross W. Greene
“When there's a good fit between skills and expectations, there's what we call compatibility, and we would expect a good outcome. When there's a poor fit between expectations and the capacity of the kid, there is incompatibility, and that's when we see people exhibit challenging behavior.” PeopleKidsChallengesPoorFitSkillsBehaviorExpectationsCapacityOutcomesExhibitsCompatibilityIncompatibility Author:Ross W. Greene
“I always knew I could hold people's attention and make them laugh every 30 or 40 seconds, and I got approval and attention for that, so the behavior was reinforced. Later, that became an important skill on the street corner.” PeopleImportantAttentionLaughingStreetsSkillsBehaviorCornersSecondsApprovalStreet Corners Author:George Carlin
“What's happened is that the digital age has made photography more accessible to people. Everyone is a photographer. But to do it [photography] at a certain level, well, there's a skill to it. Still, it's a good time for photography now.” PeopleWellsMadeStillsAgeCertainLevelsHappenedSkillsPhotographyPhotographerGood TimesDigitalDigital Age Author:Bryan Adams
“I feel like I've got the skills to be at the top, I feel like I've got the mind-state, so basically what I'm saying is there's people all around me, there's artists all around me that are in my zone, but I still feel alone. I feel like I can't relate to them as much as I can related to maybe somebody that was a little bit higher up.” PeopleFeelsMindLittlesStillsI CanStatesArtistBitsHigherSkillsLittle BitRelateRelatedZone Author:SonReal
“[Melinda Gates] is a lot of fun to work with. There's some of the people skills that she's better at and cares about more. It'd be a mistake not to think of her as very numerical and interested in the science. I enjoy, if I get ahead of her, say, understanding the immune system, then we can spend a few hours, where I'm going through how amazing it is and interesting, and how that affects our creating new products, so I've always had a partner.” PeopleIfsThinkingCareFunEnjoyUnderstandingHoursInterestingMistakeProductsSkillsCreatingPartnersGatesImmuneGet AheadImmune SystemNew ProductsPeople Skills Author:Bill Gates
“Kids coming from very difficult economic circumstances in urban areas are in some ways discriminated against in ways that are similar to the way people with intellectual disabilities are discriminated against. People are afraid of them. People sometimes assume that they don't have skills, gifts or abilities to contribute.” PeopleWaySometimesKidsDifficultAbilityEconomicCircumstancesSkillsIntellectualAreasAssumingDisabilityUrbanUrban AreasIntellectual Disability Author:Timothy Shriver
“The radio voice, you're in the studio, there's nobody around, and you're using your personality and enunciation skills to get the message across. At the stadium, there are vendors, there are people, the fans talking to each other. It's very difficult. If you were to speak as a radio disk jockey, no one would ever understand what you're saying.” PeopleIfsSpeakDifficultVoiceTalkingFansPersonalitySkillsMessagesRadioStudiosStadiumsJockeysDiskVendors Author:Charlie Brotman
“I love teaching I think more than anything. It's the opportunity to just teach young people and teach the game. You teach more than basketball. You teach life skills. The teaching part of it is something that I am passionate about. I look forward to every practice. A lot of people say well, I enjoy coaching, but I see myself as more as a teacher.” PeopleThinkingWellsLooksYoungOpportunityGamesEnjoyTeachPracticeTeacherTeachingSkillsBasketballPassionateCoachingLife SkillsLove Teaching Author:Pat Summitt
“A savant, by definition, is somebody who has a disability and, along with that disability, has some remarkable ability. Prodigies and geniuses have the remarkable abilities that the savant shows, but they do not have a disability. So, by definition, a savant includes someone with a disability, and a prodigy or genius are people who have these remarkable skills but they do not have a disability.” PeopleShowsAbilityGeniusSkillsDefinitionsRemarkableDisabilityProdigiesSavants Author:Darold Treffert