Quotes About Leadership

We need far too many leaders to depend only on the naturals.

There are a number of tasks which are top-management tasks, not because top management is the "top"—that is, because it has the legal authority or the power—but because they are tasks that can be discharged only by people who are capable of seeing the whole business and of making decisions with respect to the whole business.

The aim of strategic planning is action now.

The question to ask is not "What is top management?" The question is "What are the specific things to be done in this business which are of crucial importance to the success and survival of the business and which can be done only by top management?

I've seen more institutions damaged by too much caution than by rashness, though I've seen both.

Hitler as "the only man who can save us

Reich chancellor!

Erich Ebermayer joked that the government "would last until after the next lost war.

Today we will admit that we are your dogs, but you must first write it there, that the other tribes are the fleas on our backs.

There are times when a nation desires a king or a dictator; times of confusion and uncertainty when they go down on their knees to one man and beg him to accept absolute power over them.

when a subject corrects his prelate, he ought to do so in a becoming manner, not with impudence and harshness but with gentleness and respect. . . .

democracy is probably intrinsically the best form of government, not because all men are equal in wisdom and virtue, or because all men are so good and wise that they should be given as much power as possible, but because all men are so foolish and wicked that no one should be given very great power over others.

If the world is going to be regarded as a continual hunting, fishing and fighting expedition," said Dorothy, "— if it is to be regarded in terms of the primitive male activities — then it will go on as it has gone on, with booms, depressions, and wars... It's going to be Caesars and World Wars throughout a long future

Bin Laden was eager to memorialize the 9/11 attacks with another spectacular one. He told his deputies that killing President Barack Obama was a high priority, but he also had General David Petraeus, the then-commander in Afghanistan, in his sights. Bin Laden told his team not to bother with plots against Vice President Joe Biden, whom he considered "totally unprepared" for the post of president.

The Commanding General is well aware that the forecasts are no good. However, he needs them for planning purposes.

To quote Alfred Einstein: 'a follower tells, but a leader shows.

Winston Churchill once said, 'In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.

The head of the Massa," I said, "is my mom.

a follower tells, but a leader shows.

To break the chain of mistrust, someone has to go first. I am happy to make the move.

When a change management fails, leadership change is brought in. A leadership change will always bring in change management

A shared vision is not an idea. It is not even an important idea such as freedom. It is, rather, a force in people's hearts, a force of impressive power. It may be inspired by an idea, but once it goes further—if it is compelling enough to acquire the support of more than one person—then it is no longer an abstraction. It is palpable. People begin to see it as if it exists. Few, if any, forces in human affairs are as powerful as shared vision.

The committed person doesn't play by the rules of the game. He is responsible for the game. If the rules of the game stand in the way of achieving the vision, he will find ways to change the rules.

alignment is the necessary condition before empowering the individual will empower the whole team. Empowering the individual when there is a relatively low level of alignment worsens the chaos and makes managing the team even more difficult: