Quotes About Responsibility

Delegating decisions doesn't mean being detached, nor does it mean standing idly by if the whole ship is going to crash into the rocks. It simply means giving people the power to make decisions that affect their area. It gives people a chance to test themselves and to build their own decision-making "muscle.

The function of leadership—the number one responsibility of a leader—is to catalyze a clear and shared vision for the company and to secure commitment to and vigorous pursuit of that vision. As we discussed earlier, this is a universal requirement of leadership, and no matter what your style, you must perform this function.

Merck • Corporate social responsibility • Unequivocal excellence in all aspects of the company • Science-based innovation • Honesty and integrity • Profit, but profit from work that benefits humanity Nordstrom

people worried more about the leader—what he would say, what he would think, what he would do— than they worried about external reality and what it could

Letting the wrong people hang around is unfair to all the right people, as they inevitably find themselves compensating for the inadequacies of the wrong people. Worse, it can drive away the best people. Strong performers are intrinsically motivated by performance, and when they see their efforts impeded by carrying extra weight, they eventually become frustrated. Waiting

Level 5 leaders look out the window to apportion credit to factors outside themselves when things go well (and if they cannot find a specific person or event to give credit to, they credit good luck). At the same time, they look in the mirror to apportion responsibility, never blaming bad luck when things go poorly. The

quando in una famiglia c'erano più lavoratori che membri non lavoratori, la famiglia riduceva lo sforzo lavorativo complessivo una volta assicurata la produzione sufficiente.

You do not tell people to go fuck themselves and then later when you're in trouble ask them to help you.

When you make a deal you stick to it. Rock-hard rule. You don't renege, you don't sell out. You hold up your end and expect the other party to do the same. If the other party doesn't, you're entitled to deal with every man of it as you see fit in order to set things right. No--you're more than entitled. You're obligated. Or the rule would mean nothing.

Memory is a political act. Forgetfulness is the handmaiden of tyranny.

Wars are fought by teenagers, you realize that. They really ought to be fought by the politicians and old people who start these wars. (Interview with Don Swaim of CBS Radio-1986)

Lend a little and you have a debtor—lend a lot and you have a partner!

an able man has many burdens. As I'm abler than most I have to sweat more than most.

Fallibility in a leader is very trying. Isn't it? They spill so much of other people's blood.

But a vassal should never expect his lord to reward his services or even acknowledge them: To serve is duty, duty is samurai, samurai is immortality.

People are "the company" and those in charge can and always will hide behind that facade, that "the company must survive," or "for the good of the company," and so on, wrecking or promoting for personal reasons, enmities or hatreds.

Poor God," Blackthorne said. "The stupidities He gets blamed for!

It's the right of every red-blooded American to avoid taxes, but not evade them.

But often life asks much of you, and you either honor life by answering with all your heart, or you cower your way into your grave.

To give advice to a tyrant was to suggest his fallibility and offer oneself as a scapegoat should things go wrong.

The pressures of command were clearly weighing on him. He had insufficient authority, but he was no longer sure he wanted more of it.

As Marine Corps aviator Samuel Hynes would observe, "They go to war because it's impossible not to. Because a current is established in society, so swift, flowing toward war, that every young man who steps into it is carried downstream.

There's a lot to be done," he told them. "Look around, see what it is, and do it.

When a man is in command, he sits in a position where he cannot have friend or foe. Regular human relationships do not figure into it. So you can't worry about what people think of you, and you can't lie awake and have sleepless nights. The job of being in command is lonely by definition.