Quotes About Leadership

But improvisation will only bring you as far as the next crisis, and is never a substitute for thinking several steps ahead and planning to the end.

Instead of wasting time negotiating with every difficult person, work on spreading a spirit of camaraderie and efficiency that becomes self-policing. Streamline the organization, cutting out waste—in staff, in the irrelevant reports on your desk, in pointless meetings.

Power goes to those who end the revolution. Not the one who starts it.

What I fear is not the enemy's strategy but our own mistakes.

Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented persons and one ingrate. Louis XIV, 1638-1715

Power rarely ends up in the hands of those who start a revolution, or even those who further it; power sticks to those who bring it to a conclusion

The great questions of the time will be decided, not by speeches and resolutions of majorities, but by iron and blood.

To be emperor of China was to be alone, surrounded by a pack of enemies—it was the least powerful, least secure position in the realm.

Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

On July 2, 1960, a few weeks before that year's Democratic National Convention, former President Harry Truman publicly stated that John F Kennedy—who had won enough delegates to be chosen his party's candidate for the presidency—was too young and inexperienced for the job.

Do not be lured by the need to be liked: better to be respected, even feared. Victory over your enemies will bring you a more lasting popularity.

The straight trees are cut down, the crooked ones are left standing. Kautilya, Indian philosopher, third century B.C. KEYS

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior.

We happily follow Charismatics because we like to be led, particularly by people who promise adventure or prosperity. We lose ourselves in their cause, become emotionally attached to them, feel more alive by believing in them-we fall in love.

Leaders have always found it useful to have an enemy at their gates in times of trouble, distracting the public from their difficulties. In using your enemies to rally your troops, polarize them as far as possible: they will fight the more fiercely when they feel a little hatred. So exaggerate the differences between you and the enemy—draw the lines clearly.

In the kingdom of God, barking orders at others is not an acceptable way to try to solve problems created by our inadequacies.

WHOSE hour, you should rather say,' replied the Badger. 'Why, Toad's hour! The hour of Toad! I said I would take him in hand as soon as the winter was well over, and I'm going to take him in hand to-day!

Look for wisdom and keep looking until you find it. When you do find it, you will become troubled. When you become troubled, you will be amazed, and you will come to rule the world.

Politics is the activity by which the framework of human life is sustained; it is not life itself.

The secret of politics is to care about success, but not too much.

You have to let her know you're in charge!" "I thought I was!" Typical female. The mare had only let him THINK he was in charge.

There are four common ways of making decisions: command, consult, vote, and consensus.

When we first trained people to deal with ability problems, it all seemed so simple. You ask others for their ideas, you get to hear their best thoughts, and they feel empowered. What could be easier? Who could possibly mess this up? As it turns out, there are several ways to go wrong. Here are the top three things not to do.

we do know one thing for certain: Skilled people Start with Heart. That is, they begin high-risk discussions with the right motives, and they stay focused no matter what happens.