Quotes About Leadership

Another important lesson from the time was that mass self-deception is simply a sedative prescribed by leaders who cannot face reality themselves. And as the Spanish Civil War proved, the first casualty of war is not truth, but its source: the conscience and integrity of the individual.

There he heard that Major Thomas, the commander of B Company, had been killed while single-handedly rushing a German machine gun. 'Very gallant,' observed Partridge, 'but I had long since learned that dead soldiers do not win battles, and my prime duty was to stay alive and preserve the lives of as many others as possible.

Field Marshal Brooke once wrote in his diary: 'It is astonishing how petty and small men can be in connection with questions of command.

Perhaps the German leadership's greatest mistake in the Ardennes offensive was to have misjudged the soldiers of an army they had affected to despise.

This passivity was entirely contrary to the Prussian tradition, which regarded inactivity, waiting for orders and failing to think for yourself as unforgivable in a commander.

The brigade fought to the end with great courage, winning the admiration of the Germans. But the continuing failure of British commanders to counter-attack in force from the west was one of the least impressive examples of generalship in the war.

Not surprisingly, American officers regarded their British counter parts as 'too polite' and lacking a necessary ruthlessness, especially when it came to sacking incompetent commanders. Churchill

Antony Beevor

but the outcome of the battle depended on nerve as much as resources.

The new Queen was adept at fostering loyalty by hopes alone

we must use a firm hand.

Richard looked at the bow-tips that twinkled in the sun, the arrows being slowly notched and pointing down the field at him. He flung his head back and dug the golden spurs of knighthood into his horse's flanks. He galloped straight towards the revel lines and shouted, So now I shall be your leader, as you wished me to!

In summary, then, the myriad ways in which people have used this book and its ideas fall within five broad areas of application: (1) applicant screening and hiring, (2) leadership and team building, (3) conflict resolution, (4) accountability transformation, and (5) personal growth and development.

I saw in myself a leader who was so sure of the brilliance of his own ideas that he couldn't allow brilliance in anyone else's; a leader who felt he was so 'enlightened' that he needed to see workers negatively in order to prove his enlightenment; a leader so driven to be the best that he made sure no one else could be as good as he was.

Even if they do all the 'right' things interpersonally — even if they apply all the latest skills and techniques to their communications and tasks—it won't matter. People ultimately resent them and their tactics. And so they end up failing as leaders — failing because they provoke people to resist them.

The culture of blame that is so prevalent in organizations is replaced with a culture of deep responsibility-taking and accountability.

In this way, a problem that had gone on literally for years was solved nearly overnight when the leaders stopped simply assigning responsibility and began holding themselves strictly accountable. This is now the model in that company for solving every problem encountered.

The most effective leaders lead in this single way: by holding themselves more accountable than all.

A real editor isn't just someone you work with; he's your guide.

It didn't help when Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael made his notorious comment to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee: "The position of women in SNCC is prone.

I am the Vice President of Logistics; he's the CEO of Emotional Support.

better not bring up a lion inside your city, But if you must, then humour all his moods.

Under every rock lurks a politician.

Chorus of women: […] Oh! my good, gallant Lysistrata, and all my friends, be ever like a bundle of nettles; never let you anger slacken; the wind of fortune blown our way.