Leader Quotes - Page 114

Silence - not dissent - is the one answer that leaders should refuse to accept.

For example: (1) As if governed by Newton's First Law of Motion, an institution will resist any change in its current direction; (2) Just as work expands to fill available time, corporate projects or acquisitions will materialize to soak up available funds; (3) Any business craving of the leader, however foolish, will be quickly supported by detailed rate-of-return and strategic studies prepared by his troops; and (4) The behavior of peer companies, whether they are expanding, acquiring, setting executive compensation or whatever, will be mindlessly imitated.

All poets adore explosions, thunderstorms, tornadoes, conflagrations, ruins, scenes of spectacular carnage. The poetic imagination is not at all a desirable quality in a statesman.

An honorable man would never abandon his friend in time of need, especially if they were in a foreign country. Why? For fear of acting like a coward or of being boorish. I repeat, I admire the fact that, those persons have, through human respect, more courage than Christians and priests have, through charity or through their good intentions.

Leadership is not just one quality, but rather a blend of many qualities; and while no one individual possesses all of the needed talents that go into leadership, each man can develop a combination to make him a leader.

I had a sense of what leadership meant and what it could do for you. So am I surprised that I am sitting up here on the 62nd floor of Rockefeller Plaza? No.

A tough manager will have realistic quotas for his employees that he keeps to himself and aggressively stretch quotas, anywhere from ten percent higher to a lot more, which he imposes on his staff. If his people miss the stretch numbers but exceed the realistic goals, he's happy. If he's a superb manager, he knows how far they can stretch without breaking.

I always believe leaders are readers, so you've got to read 30 minutes a day of something that's going to inspire you.

I needed to do my current job well, keep preparing, and wait on God's timing. I needed to trust His leadership rather than try to force an outcome I wanted.

Winning would create greater potential for change than talk alone.

From the beginning, there have been some religious leaders who greeted the funding of faith-based social services by government with ambivalence.

If the person you delegated to does the job twice as well as you would have done it, consider yourself a leader.

Leadership is about tapping the wellsprings of human motivation - and about fundamental relations with one's fellows.

Organizations exist to serve. Period. Leaders live to serve. Period.

The political mirage of something for nothing, from leaders who 'care,' has ruined many a nation.

Change your leaders, not your light bulbs.

Of all your troubles, great and small, the greatest are the ones that don't happen at all.

Your country needs religious leaders and religious politicians

We are now spending half a trillion dollars on foreign oil, importing 62 percent of the oil we use, and we haven't had the leadership in D.C. to do anything about it. We've got to move to other sources of energy. But we've gotten way behind, and will continue to pay the fiddler. It's not a good future.

Careful, intelligent listening is a crucial step on the road to organizational success.

Some great people are leaders and others are more lucky, in the right place at the right time. I'd put myself in the latter category. But I'd never call myself a normal designer of anything.

I tell young entrepreneurs to use the leader in their industry as a benchmark as they work to create their own brand. Dont look at what your competition is doing - if you emulate the leader in your industry, you will achieve a higher level of engagement with consumers and make their buying experience richer.

Do you want to sell sugar water all your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?

One could imagine such technology outsmarting financial markets, out-inventing human researchers, out-manipulating human leaders, and developing weapons we cannot even understand.

Involve people in the problem and work out the solution together.