35 Leadership Quotes From NBC’s 2010 People Of The Year

Leadership is influence.  On Thanksgiving night, NBC’s Matt Lauer interviewed who they determined to be their Five People of the Year.  The following are excerpts from those conversations.

If you read no one else on this list, make sure you check out the comments from everyday people Brandon Fisher and James Jones.  Let the conversation begin.  Do you agree with them and why or why not?

LeBron James

1. “(To get me) They (teams) did what they had to do.”
2. “The word ‘sport’ is very, very emotional.”
3. “If you let one person bother you, you’re going to lose focus on what the task is.”
4. “To be able to raise $3 million to the Boys and Girls Club of America, to have HP provide a 1000 computers to these kids, if I have to take a hit to shine a light on inner-city kids, I’d do it every time.”
5. “I never regret anything I did.”
6. “It doesn’t matter if it’s sports or life in general, race is played everyday…Anytime you’re passionate about something, just think what would have happened if Larry Bird would have left Boston.”
7. “You can’t live your life on someone else’s path.”
8. When asked if he thinks he’s ruined his legacy.  James says “That’s pending.”

For more on James’ decision, click here.

Sharif el-Gamal – The Developer of the proposed Ground Zero mosque.

1. “The extremist committed identity theft.” (slight paraphrase)
2. “There’s going to be a prayer component (at the proposed ‘community center’).”
3. “Not once have I held my faith accountable for the horrific events on 9-11.”
4. “It’s not in my DNA to give up or quit.  The whole world is watching what we’re doing.”

Justin Timberlake

1. “I don’t want to be the guy that had the opportunity and watched it go by.”
2. “I fought tooth and nail to end up in the film.”
3. “A $1 million isn’t cool.  You know what’s cool?  A $1 billion.” – from the movie Social Network.
4. “Anytime you want to put me in the same sentence as Frank Sinatra I’m not going to stop you.”

Brandon Fisher, owner of Center Lock, Inc.  The group that rescued the Chilean miners.

1. “You look at it now and mathematically it shouldn’t have been able to be accomplished.”
2. “The biggest thing we didn’t expect, challenge-wise, was the angle.”
3. “We absolutely all had that fear (not being able to get them out), every second of every day.”
4. “Everytime that you’d think you’re tired….you’d look at the ground and realize 2000 ft below my feet are 33 guys in 90 degree temperatures, humidity, living in a cave, and you’d realize you don’t have it too bad.”
5. “(When rescued) Everyone erupted!  That was the best moment of my life.”
6. “(After the rescue) That was when it was time to let my guard down.”
7. “It was their (Chilean) people.  They organized the entire event.  It wasn’t important for us to stand their in the limelight.”
8. “When that first guy came out of the ground, that was special.”
9. “We don’t feel like heroes.  We’re so glad we were able to go down their and help.  To make a difference.”

James Jones, the father who addressed school bus bullying on September 3rd.

1. “I wasn’t going to put my daughter in harm.  That’s my baby.  That’s my baby.”
2. When asked how the ride to school was that morning, Shakira said “Quiet.”
3. “The support we’ve had for our family is overwhelming.  There’s a lot of good people out of there.  A lot of good people.”
4. “I apologized because I knew it was wrong…I didn’t know what was going to happen.”
5. “She is definitely more confident (about getting a school bus) now than she used to be.”

Kim Kardashian

1. “Even though it’s complete reality, I feel people treat it like it’s a sitcom.”
2. “What they see is what they get and that’s why they gravitate towards us.”
3. “My brand is very personal.  I think my brand has developed because I’m hands-on and people feel like I’m relatable.”
4. “My fans created my brand with me.”
5. “(My fans on Twitter) are like the best focus group.”

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