Vision & Values

Innovation

Innovation: We are committed to the consideration and implementation of new ideas.

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. Steve Jobs

We must use time creatively. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay. Steve Jobs

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. Bill Gates

You have to think anyway, so why not think big? Donald Trump

I doubt seriously whether a man can think with full wisdom and with deep convictions regarding certain of the basic issues today who has not at least reviewed in his mind the period of the Peloponnesian War and the fall of Athens. George Marshall

It is absolutely necessary... for me to have persons that can carry out my orders, as well as to think for me. George Washington

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. Henry Ford

No problem can be solved until it is reduced to some simple form. The changing of a vague difficulty into a specific, concrete form is a very essential element in thinking. J. P. Morgan

You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own. Mark Victor Hansen

Capital isn't scarce; vision is. Sam Walton

Respect

Respect: We are responsive, compassionate and courteous in all our interactions.

If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. Abraham Lincoln

The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity. Benjamin Franklin

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being. Jackie Robinson

Men are respectable only as they respect. Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is the final test of a gentleman: his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him. William Lyon Phelps

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power. Clint Eastwood

Probably no greater honor can come to any man than the respect of his colleagues. Cary Grant

They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. Mahatma Gandhi

We must build a new world, a far better world - one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected. Harry S. Truman

I grew up to always respect authority and respect those in charge. Charles de Gaulle

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. Albert Einstein

If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law. Winston Churchill

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth. Albert Einstein

I submit that an individual who breaks the law that conscience tells him is unjust and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for law. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Talk to people in their own language. If you do it well, they'll say, 'God, he said exactly what I was thinking.' And when they begin to respect you, they'll follow you to the death. Lee Iacocca

Accountability

Accountability: We are accountable for our behavior and the quality of work performed individually and in teams.

Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. Henry Clay

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right. Winston Churchill

Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. Wyatt Earp

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction. Donald Rumsfeld

The individual is not accountable to society for his actions in so far as these concern the interests of no person but himself. John Stuart Mill

It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable. Moliere

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. Ronald Reagan

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. Benjamin Franklin

Accountability breeds response-ability. Stephen R. Covey

The ancient Romans had a tradition: whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch. Michael Armstrong

I believe in the theory that accountability starts from the captain of the ship. Bob Graham

Using these unnamed sources, if done properly, carefully and fairly, provides more accountability in government. Bob Woodward

Diversity

Diversity: We embrace the value and power of diversity in our community.

The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty. James Madison

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color. Maya Angelou

Of mankind in general, the parts are greater than the whole. Aristotle

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.

We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same. Anne Frank

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. Jimmy Carter

If two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary. Mrs. Billy (Ruth) Graham

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. John F. Kennedy

I take as my guide the hope of a saint: in crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity. George Bush

The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free men. John F. Kennedy

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place. Margaret Mead

It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse races. Mark Twain

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stiffled. I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. Mohandas K. Gandhi

It is well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others. Andrew J. Holmes

America is woven of many strands. I would recognize them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description. Ralph Ellison

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free. Charles Evans Hughes

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. If [people] can learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Nelson Mandela

One man in his time plays many parts. William Shakespeare

Freedom rings whenever opinions clash. Adlai E. Stevenson

I have never wavered from my intention to advance the cause of diversity in new and more effective ways. Jeb Bush

Communication

Communication: We encourage open communication and the sharing of ideas to enhance the decision-making process.

When people talk of the freedom of writing, speaking or thinking I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more. John Adams

I don't mind how much my Ministers talk, so long as they do what I say. Margaret Thatcher

He who speaks without modesty will find it difficult to make his words good. Confucius

An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent. Edmund Burke

Never rise to speak till you have something to say; and when you have said it, cease. John Witherspoon

Management must speak with one voice. When it doesn't management itself becomes a peripheral opponent to the team's mission. Pat Riley

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred. Thomas Jefferson

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best. Andrew Carnegie

In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example - and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved. Rupert Murdoch

The best way to persuade people is with your ears - by listening to them. Dean Rusk

I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you've probably misunderstood what I've said. Alan Greenspan

People say conversation is a lost art; how often I have wished it were. Edward R. Murrow

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen. Ernest Hemingway

Be sincere; be brief; be seated. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind. Rudyard Kipling

If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now. Woodrow Wilson

You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere. Lee Iacocca

Honesty

Honesty: We are truthful, fair and open with our fellow employees and the people we serve.

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. George Washington

With honesty of purpose, balance, a respect for tradition, courage, and, above all, a philosophy of life, any young person who embraces the historical profession will find it rich in rewards and durable in satisfaction. Samuel E. Morison

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson

It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right. Winston Churchill

The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake. Alan Greenspan

Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees. And both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people. Henry Clay

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. Mother Teresa

For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead. Thomas Jefferson

Always do right, you will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain.

What is the quality of your intent? Certain people have a way of saying things that shake us at the core. Even when the words do not seem harsh or offensive, the impact is shattering. What we could be experiencing is the intent behind the words. When we intend to do good, we do. When we intend to do harm, it happens. What each of us must come to realize is that our intent always comes through. We cannot sugarcoat the feelings in our heart of hearts. The emotion is the energy that motivates. We cannot ignore what we really want to create. We should be honest and do it the way we feel it. What we owe to ourselves and everyone around is to examine the reasons of our true intent. My intent will be evident in the results. Thurgood Marshall