Best Quotes from The Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn with Page Numbers

Make each day your masterpiece.

Here was my postman, Fred, a gold-plated example of what personalized service looks like.

Excellence and quality should be the goals of every person in any business or profession.

I started using my experiences with Fred as illustrations in speeches and seminars.

His actions made a huge impression on me.

Fred knew it would be illegal to put an unpostmarked letter in the box.

Anyone can be a Fred!

You’ll find yourself living an extraordinary life as well.

I hope I can continue to provide exceptional service.

Fred—and the way he did his job—provides a perfect metaphor for high individual achievement and excellence in the twenty-first century.

Whatever you are, be a good one.—ABRAHAM LINCOLN

At the end of the day, the only question that matters is, What kind of difference did you make?

There are no insignificant or ordinary jobs when they’re performed by significant and extraordinary people.

There is more credit and satisfaction in being a first-rate truck driver than a tenth-rate executive.

Performance determines position in life. That’s because position is based on results rather than intentions.

The quality of the relationship determines the quality of the product or service.

You must continually create value for others, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny.

The trick is to replace money with imagination, to substitute creativity for capital.

Most of us fall short of what we are capable of doing or being.

Every morning you wake up with a clean slate. You can make your business, as well as your life, anything you choose it to be.

There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born.

Ever since I met Fred the Postman, I’ve come to realize that Freds—as well as potential Freds—are everywhere.

The way to move through life joyfully and successfully is by focusing on what you give rather than on what you get.

You don’t do the right thing just because you have to do it. You do it because it is the right thing to do.

If you want a world with more Freds, be a Fred.

Convert your job into one you love, not by doing a different job, but by doing the one you have differently!

It is harder to be miserable, negative, and insincere than it is to be happy, positive, and genuine.

Having the most fun doing your best work is at the top of the list.

If your motive for doing something is to receive thanks or praise, you’ll often be disappointed.

Freds remind us that we can choose the right role models.

"All men matter. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe." —G. K. CHESTERTON

"You change the world of your spouse or kids... A little extra time and attention or a tender moment of affection changes their world that day."

"It is nearly impossible to remain neutral as you journey through each day."

"To make a difference means affecting another person, group, or situation."

"You shouldn’t be asking, 'Did I make a difference today?' Of course you did!"

"Why not 'Practice Acts of the Extraordinary Regularly'?"

"The things you do, both small and large, cumulatively create a lifestyle that becomes apparent to anybody paying the slightest attention."

"Even the least Fred-like person can occasionally—even 'accidentally'—do something outstanding."

"The most important question to ask yourself is, What kind of difference did I make?"

"True difference making can’t be delegated. It’s up to us to take action."

You add value to people when you value them.

SUCCESS IS BUILT ONE RELATIONSHIP AT A TIME.

Freds don’t use people as a means to an end; they use relationships to build a foundation for success.

Remember that the quality of a relationship is related directly to the amount of time invested in it.

The prerequisite for relationship building is trust.

It may be true that interesting people attract attention, but I believe that interested people attract appreciation.

People are flattered when you express an interest in getting to know them better.

If you’re interested in others and make the effort to truly know them by listening to them, you’ll better understand how they feel.

Say what you’ll do, and do what you say.

It takes just about the same amount of time to be a nice guy as it does to be a jerk.

Freds create extra value by doing more than is necessary and exceeding our expectations—most of the time for no extra pay.

The best Freds are true artists at taking ordinary products or job responsibilities and services and making them extraordinary.

Truth telling should be a basic rather than a value-added opportunity.

What I had felt firsthand was the power of personality, what happens when we extend ourselves to others genuinely and enthusiastically.

Freds are good at minimizing or eliminating the waiting their customers and colleagues experience.

One person’s bad stuff isn’t necessarily bad for another person. It’s important to know that the stuff you’re subtracting is better gone.

If you adopt that simple strategy, others will notice. In 1869 H. J. Heinz coined a phrase that describes the goal of every Fred: 'To do the common thing uncommonly well.'

Creating value requires spending money, but Freds know that all it takes is a little imagination.

People love to be entertained. We pay closer attention, learn faster, and are more engaged when we’re entertained.

The worth of those minutes is determined by how you use them.

"While not all change is good, staying the same can’t be all good either."

"You’ve never been a Fred, you say? You’re talking ancient history! That was yesterday. Today you can begin the process of becoming who you want to be."

"The best way to grow your value is to grow yourself."

"Think of personal growth as the modeling clay of your reinvention. The more clay you have, the larger and more detailed a sculpture you can create."

"Having a goal to become more Fred-like in your work won’t motivate you; having a compelling reason—a passion or purpose—to become more Fred-like is what will stir your motivation."

"What are the most important lessons you’ve learned? What did you once deeply desire to accomplish that you never attempted?"

"One extraordinary act a day isn’t overwhelming; it is very doable."

"The goal is ongoing improvement. Reinvention is positive change."

"You just never know who’s watching and listening. Our lives... play out on a stage."

"Passionate people in an organization are different. They do ordinary things extraordinarily well."

People want to work in organizations and for bosses who offer them a change and a chance.

The change is the opportunity to work for an organization that recognizes, rewards, encourages, and values Freds.

If your employees and colleagues don’t go home at the end of the day and rave to family and friends about what a great company they work for, don’t count on word of mouth to bring you a landslide of Fred-like applicants.

Make your area a Fred oasis.

Discovering talent is often nothing more than uncovering it.

When you trust your people with time—the most valuable asset—to reveal their talents, you’ll see just how many Freds there are in your organization.

Everyone has the potential to make the ordinary extraordinary.

What’s the most extraordinary thing he or she has ever done?

I want a team of Freds led by a Fred.

Over time you can build a winning team of Freds.

No man can become rich without himself enriching others.

We don’t get the behavior we hope for, beg for, or demand. We get the behavior we reward.

When you don’t see much meaning in what you do, you won’t bring much value to what you do.

By simply pointing out how the busboy’s behavior affected other people, I had added dignity to his work.

It’s just as important to reward a Fred for good intentions as for stellar outcomes.

Nobody hits a home run every time. (In fact, home-run hitters tend to strike out more than other batters.)

When people feel that their contributions are unappreciated, they will stop trying.

Rewarding others is not that hard to do.

Create an award. Consider a trophy or a plaque or even a small amount of cash.

Sincere praise for trying—written as well as spoken frequently in public and in private—is one of the best rewards.

The brighter you are, the more you have to learn.

If people are taught only ordinary subjects and skills, they’ll only know how to be ordinary.

Every organization in the world today should be teaching employees how to be extraordinary.

Part of the Fred Factor philosophy is having fun.

You could call this chapter 'Providing a Freducation.'

An unexpected benefit of teaching these things is that it will make you a better manager or leader, not to mention a better person.

Your interests focus your awareness.

Nothing inspires people more than an example directly experienced or indirectly learned from a real-life incident.

Don’t wait for a crisis! Perform miracles on a regular basis.

You teach what you know, but you reproduce who you are.

You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.

Isn’t that the essential question the Freds of the world ask, either aloud or silently, of the people they know and serve?

Your example should be down-to-earth and doable.

Don’t wait for the right moment. It will never come.

You can set the pace for extraordinary performance in your organization, but only if you initiate.

Take what life gives you. You might become a positive example not because of your situation, but in spite of it!

Those who do best teach best.

The best payback, as the popular book and movie by the same name say, is to 'pay it forward.'

Isn’t it great knowing you have the ability to show others how to make the ordinary extraordinary?

Fred the Postman has already started a chain reaction, beginning in my life and in the lives of his customers.

I have to feel good about myself each day, and the satisfaction of taking care of people helps me do that.

When you do good, you feel good.

I’m my own worst critic. I’ve been told that I am a perfectionist. But I have a tremendous need to accomplish as much as I can each day.

I don’t think of them as postal customers, but as friends who appreciate me for helping make their lives a little easier.

The impact you have on others is the reward.

It doesn’t take much time to make somebody smile.

For me it is as simple as living the golden rule—treating others as I’d like to be treated.

Look to every day as a new day, and make each day better than the last.

If I feel like I wasted the day, I don’t sleep quite as well at night.

I choose to give people a few less things to worry about.

At the Day of Judgment we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done.

We are most impressed and affected not by what people gain but by what they give; not by what they conquer but by what they contribute.

The most important thing is love of others.

Generosity of spirit reveals itself through action.

It is the commitment to treat a person with dignity and kindness regardless of how you feel about him or her.

The more you care about others—do those things that treat them with dignity, that serve and enrich their lives—the easier it is to like them.

People become more lovable when they are loved.

If you don’t understand the why, you’ll soon tire of the journey.

What makes any act extraordinary is doing it with heart.

What makes any life extraordinary is living it with love.