Quotes About Leadership

When nurse-doctor relations are poor, patients die unnecessarily.

He who has a partner has a master.

Punctuality is the politness of kings p.154

But the kings of modern times, restrained by the limits of mere probability, have neither courage nor desire. They fear the eat that hears their orders, and the eye that scrutinizes their actions.

Instruction is good for a child; but example is worth more.

What the deuce does the fellow mean by getting trap-doors made without first consulting you? Trap-doors!

Leadership selection constitutes another operational test of whether a ranked system exists. The leadership of a subordinate group must be acceptable to the superordinate group, which is usually in a position to reject unacceptable leaders. Influence or prestige within the subordinate group by itself is not enough. Lack of group autonomy in leadership selection is a sure sign of ethnic subordination

in the kingdom of the blind," as the French proverb has it, "the one-eyed man is king";

Genghis Khan who's read Marx," to quote Bukharin.

The successful people are the ones that can think up stuff for the rest of the world to keep busy at.

Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, "The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind.

In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.

Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

In the execution of Presidential decisions work to be true to his views, in fact and tone.

Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.

If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.

In politics, every day is filled with numerous opportunities for serious error. Enjoy it.

Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

Leave the President's family business to him. You will have plenty to do without trying to manage the First Family. They are likely to do fine without your help.

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don't tell him the truth. Others won't do it.

Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.

The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be."[5]