Quotes About Leadership

The "contempt of cops" by those in their chain of command creates Toxic Boss Blues.

He was the only man I ever saw who ran his own interference.

You can't operate a company by fear, because the way to eliminate fear is to avoid criticism. And the way to avoid criticism is to do nothing.

Gary, if you want to play on this football team, you answer me when I ask you who's your Daddy. Who's your Daddy, Gary? Who's your Daddy?

Wherever smart people work, doors are unlocked.

You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress.

Decision making brings together many of the finest traits of contrarian leadership--thinking gray, thinking free, artful listening, delegating authority while retaining ultimate responsibility,artful procrastination, ignoring sunk costs, taking luck into account, and listening to one's inner voice. Weaving these traits together is an art itself. When it is done well, the result is a thing of beauty and a powerful tool for effective leadership.

the leader should reserve to himself the hiring, compensating, motivating, molding, assessing and firing of his chief lieutenants.

Peter Principle--a brilliant and talented man promoted just one notch over his head.

The problems we confront today, to the extent that they remain political problems, are precisely the same as those confronted in fifth-century Athens, fifteenth-century Florence, or seventeenth-century England.

the ills of the human race would never end until either those who are sincerely and truly lovers of wisdom come into political power, or the rulers of our cities, by the grace of God, learn true philosophy.3

Well," she said, "if I were the enemy commander, and our assault had failed three times, and I wanted to make a fourth, I don't think I'd attack with fewer men. But that's just me." "Shut up, Loiosh." "I beg your pardon?" "Never mind. Private joke.

It is well known…that the military historian is at his best when giving the names of field officers who fell in battle, and at his worst when attempting to explain the reason for the general officer to have made a certain decision at a certain time.

One thing we've learned is that when people, especially politicians, start making decisions based on a reading of their moral compass, facts tend to be among the first casualties.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. —Abraham Lincoln

The Pack is gathering. There can be no culls among us.

Someone coughed nearby, from some huddle of stones, and then spoke. 'So, who are we fighting for again?' Fiddler could not place the voice. Nor the one that replied, 'Everyone.' A long pause, and then, 'No wonder we're losing.

It is one thing to lead by example with half a dozen soldiers at your back. It is wholly another with ten thousand.

I was needed, but I myself did not need. I had followers, but not allies, and only now do I understand the difference. And it is vast.

The Empress expects obedience of her servants, and demands loyalty.' 'Any reasonable ruler would have the expectation and the demand the other way round.

The gods have been kicking us around for a long time. When do we say enough?' 'And in their absence, High Fist, will we manage things any better?' 'No,' Paran said, walking past him 'but at least then we won't have the option of blaming someone else.

The miracle of hindsight is how it transforms great military geniuses of the past into incompetent idiots, and incompetent idiots of the present into great military geniuses. There is the door, and be sure to take all your pompous second-guessing delusions with you…' Emperor Kellanved On the occasion of the conquest of Falari's Grand Council (the Trial of Crust)

Why is it, I wonder, that organizations such as yours are invariably run by pitiful human failures? By small-minded psychotics and perverts. All bullied as children, of course. Or abused by twisted parents – I'm sure you have terrible tales to confess, of your miserable youth. And now the power is in your hands, and oh how the rest of us suffer.

When next you see Anomander, tell him this from me: he chose wisely. Each time, he chose wisely. Tell him, then, that of all whom I ever met, there is but one who has earned my respect, and he is that one.