Motivational business quotes are rife. With every day that passes, someone on LinkedIn, Facebook or Google+ will rail off a series of profound and eloquent sound bites intended to inspire and uplift their colleagues - or impress their friends and managers!
Many of these quotes are skimmed over with a lazy and all-too apathetic nod or smile of agreement – and who can blame the reader? At 9 am on a Monday morning, it's difficult to take on board the full scope of meaning behind a potentially complex and sagely phrase.
However, there are certain phrases that may have a profound and poignant impact on our sub-conscious. They can help us express ideas we didn’t even realise we had or give us a new perspective that helps us to make progress. Similarly, using quotations from some of your clients and customers can also have its benefits. Companies such as McCarthy and Stone, for example, display quotations on their website that do not necessarily relate to how good their service is, but rather to life and business in general.
Here we look at a few of them and provide you with a handy list of motivational quotes that actually help!
1. Modern traditionalism
The Financial Times describes the policy of including motivational business quotes in emails, statuses and profiles as "a modern manifestation of a long tradition". This collaboration between old and new is something which all businesses can learn from so, while it’s not strictly a motivational quote in itself, it certainly has all the benefits of one!
2. Life happens
Quotations don’t have to be business-related to help companies. One of the finest and gut-wrenchingly impactful quotations of all time is John Lennon's, "life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans." This is something that will instil guilt and energetic productivity in equal measure. John Lennon is hardly a CEO's figurehead or the capitalist's pin-up boy but the implications of his quote to businesses is profound. If you put off something today, it may never happen.
3. Time to train
Peter Shultz's "hire character, train skill" quote is another example of the business mantras which can really help. It's short, sweet and actually carries a message that can be adopted into business practice day-to-day.
The message is that your staff are essentially what you make of them, and this is something you may want to echo elsewhere in your business operations.
4. Reaching the finish line
Business Insider also favours the motivational corporate quote and provides one of its own to kick off its countdown of the most successful sayings by stating, "when starting your own company, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon".
It’s important for business owners to always focus on the bigger picture as well as the smaller details, and this quote really emphasises that idea.
5. Listen up!
Finally, our motivational quote to end all others is this offering from John Doe in Se7en:
"Wanting people to listen, you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."
The idea here is that businesses can’t afford to rest on their laurels – no matter what their previous success levels. You need to continue to strive to improve and that means getting your message distributed as far and wide as possible. Go online, tap into social media and don’t afraid to be loud and proud!
