Quotes About Leadership

the best way to ensure that a message gets communicated throughout an organization is to spread rumors about it.

Firing someone is not necessarily a sign of accountability, but is often the last act of cowardice

find someone who can demonstrate trust, engage in conflict, commit to group decisions, hold their peers accountable, and focus on the results of the team, not their own ego.

when leaders fail to tell employees that they're doing a great job, they might as well be taking money out of their pockets and throwing it into a fire

Great organizations, unlike countries, are never run like a democracy.

On a cohesive team, leaders are not there simply to represent the departments that they lead and manage but rather to solve problems that stand in the way of achieving success for the whole organization. That means they'll readily offer up their departments' resources when it serves the greater good of the team, and they'll take an active interest in the thematic goal regardless of how closely related it is to their functional area.

The most important part of the development process, and the part that is so often missing, is the leader's commitment to constantly "reminding" an employee if she is not yet doing what is needed. Without this, improvement will not occur.

I believe that teamwork is not a virtue, but rather a choice. It's a strategic decision and an intentional one, which means that it's not for everyone.

Becoming a healthy organization takes a little time. Unfortunately, many of the leaders I've worked with suffer from a chronic case of adrenaline addiction, seemingly hooked on the daily rush of activity and firefighting within their organizations. It's as though they're afraid to slow down and deal with issues that are critical but don't seem particularly urgent. As

If team members are never pushing one another outside of their emotional comfort zones during discussions, then it is extremely likely that they're not making the best decisions for the organization.

People who don't like conflict have an amazing ability to avoid it, even when they know it's theoretically necessary

it is far more natural, and common, for leaders to avoid holding people accountable.

fundamental values are not chosen from thin air based on the desires of executives; they are discovered within what already exists in an organization.

Conflict is about issues and ideas, while accountability is about performance and behavior.

a leader's first priority is to create an environment where others can do these things and that cannot happen if they are not having effective meetings.

Most organizations I've worked with have too many top priorities to achieve the level of focus they need to succeed.

few groups of leaders actually work like a team, at least not the kind that is required to lead a healthy organization.

A leadership team is a small group of people who are collectively responsible for achieving a common objective for their organization.

last frontier of competitive advantage will be the transformation of unhealthy organizations into healthy ones

people in a healthy organization, beginning with the leaders, learn from one another, identify critical issues, and recover quickly from mistakes.

Scare People with Sincerity

I think we need to start having a Headline News every day, for five minutes. We could call it a Daily Check-in or something. That means we should get together in a conference room, standing up, and just announce what we're all doing.

Second, and this is certainly related, those executives don't see the company's reason for existing as having any practical implications for the way they make decisions and run the organization.

There is always that little voice in your head saying, "What about me?" Sometimes that little voice drowns out the cry of the team, and the collective results of the group get left behind.