Quotes from Donald T. Phillips

When you are in deep distress and cannot restrain some expression of it, sit down and write out a harsh letter venting your anger. But don't send it.

It is the leader's role to lift followers out of their everyday selves up to a higher level of awareness, motivation, and commitment.

If subordinates, or people in general, know that they genuinely have easy access to their leader, they'll tend to view the leader in a more positive, trustworthy light.

Ultimately, a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus. I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity.

articulate and define what has previously remained implicit or unsaid;

The best leaders never stop learning.

The future of America is bound up in the present crisis. If America is to remain a first-class nation, it cannot have a second-class citizenship.

Nothing could be more tragic than for men to live in these revolutionary times and fail to achieve the new attitudes and the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands.

Messages are more often "heard" when the communicator is honest, sincere, and succinct. In other words, say what you mean, and mean what you say.

Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder," he said. "Through violence you may murder a liar but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.

Teams bring together a broader mix of skills that exceed those of any single individual. 2. Teams jointly develop and strive toward clear goals. 3. Teams can adjust with greater speed and effectiveness. 4. Trust and confidence are more easily built in teams.

Leadership never ascends from the pew to the pulpit, but invariably descends from the pulpit to the pew.

Creative power can pull down mountains of evil and level hilltops of injustice.

I catch the idea by two senses. But when I read aloud I hear what is read and I see it, and hence two senses get it and I remember it better, if I do not understand it better.

There comes a time when one must take the position that it is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because his conscience tells him it is right.

The greatest channel to peace" he said, "[involves] talking about problems…. For as long as we have men, we are going to have differences. And it seems to me we can disagree without being disagreeable.

The marches in Albany concentrated on city hall where they had little leverage and no votes. "All of our marches in Albany," said Martin, "were to the city hall trying to make them negotiate, where if we had centered our protests at the businesses in the city, [we could have] made the merchants negotiate. And if you can pull them around, you pull the political power structure because the political power structure listens to the economic power structure.

Freedom is never voluntarily granted by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed

Press on and keep pressing. If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk—CRAWL.

Partly as a result of the president's inaction, by 1956 nearly every southern state had enacted legislation that declared the Brown ruling null and void.

It is your duty to advance the aims of the organization and also to help those who serve it. If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens you can never regain their respect and esteem

James MacGregor Burns wrote that "the Leader's fundamental act is to induce people to be aware or conscious of what they feel – to feel their true needs so strongly, to define their values so meaningfully, that they can be moved to purposeful action.

The only way you can motivate people is to communicate with them." Effective communication also shapes values for people by "not only bringing company philosophy to life . . . ," as Peters and Austin put it, but also "helps newcomers understand how shared values affect individual performance.

Invariably an organization takes on the personality of its top leader, providing that individual is in touch with the members of the organization. If the leader is petty, the subordinates will be petty. But if the leader is encouraging, optimistic, and courteous, then the vast majority of the workers in the organization will be as well.