Quotes About Leadership

Skilled people Start with Heart. That is, they begin high-risk discussions with the right motives, and they stay focused no matter what happens.

In the worst companies, poor performers are first ignored and then transferred. In good companies, bosses eventually deal with problems. In the best companies, everyone holds everyone else accountable—regardless of level or position. The path to high productivity passes not through a static system, but through face-to-face conversations.

I think some people who lead special lives, have somehow made this weird jump that they're better because of it. When you see that, its ugly. Being humble is pretty sexy. Being humble is a pretty great quality. Living in humility is a good way to live.

A stubborn ass needs a stubborn driver

The messenger who came with the news, he said that when they brought the boys back to camp, Ahmad Shah Massoud personally oversaw the burial. He said a prayer for them at the gravesite. That's the kind of brave young men your brothers were, Laila, that Commander Massoud himself, the Lion of Panjshir, God bless him, would oversee their burial.

Freedom is for the educated people who fought for it. We were slaves of the English, now we will be slaves of the educated Indians—or the Pakistanis.

This is a witchocracy, not a democracy. Clear?

She's not much of a team player, more of a team yeller.

The former world leader snarled at me when he found his balance. My face went cold, and I wondered if I'd fare better in the circle with Al.

Power doesn't corrupt. Power brings what we are to the top, is all," I said, thinking of all the ugly I had fought against. "Be it good or bad.

You want some advice?" he asked. "No." "Good. Listen anyway. Looks to me like you've become the leader here. Accept it. Know it comes with a price. People will be doing things for you. Don't be selfish. Let them.

Men," she said, rolling her eyes as she sat before her screen again. "Don't they realize that if we wanted to rule the world, we could?

Orange blossom honey is the boss

It was not power that corrupted people, but fools who corrupted power.

The one who tells the stories rules the world.

They talked and talked and talked. Twenty-four biomes, ten thousand conversations. Talk talk talk. As they talked, it began to come clear to them that they had no very effective method of governance, when it came to making decisions as a group. Had humans ever had such a thing, they asked themselves, since leaving the savannah? Since congregating in cities? They could not be sure. The histories suggested maybe not.

The urge to excel and the urge to lead aren't the same. Sometimes I think they may be opposites.

But just as nature abhors a vacuum, people abhor anarchy.

It was Trotsky who said the party is always trying to keep up with the masses. Strategy comes from below and tactics from above, not the reverse...

I guess if you were going to do something so stupid as to be president, you would want to go for something big." "I think so. The temptation is there. I mean, you wouldn't do it thinking, Hey, now that I'm president I'll play it safe, hope nothing happens. Would you?

The urge to excel and the urge to lead aren't the same. Sometimes I think they may be opposites.

Power wasn't a matter of job titles, after all. Power was a matter of vision, persuasiveness, freedom of movement, fame, influence. The figurehead stands at the front, after all, pointing the way.

There have been mass delusions larger than this," I said, "following a fanatic leader.

When we traded places, I could only lead for a couple hundred yards before slowing to a snail's pace. Sinking thigh deep made for exhausting work. Terry would take back the lead without comment. Following him, I stepped exactly in his deep snowshoe prints, feeling relief at how much easier things became when the trail was broken.