Quotes

"Victory awaits him who has everything in order--luck people call it. Defeat is certain for him who has neglected to take the necessary precautions in time; this is called bad luck."
Roald Amundsen
The South Pole
"A company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract enough of the right people."
Jim Collins
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap. . .and Others Don't
"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."
Norman Schwarzkopf
Retired United States General
"Success is more a function of consistent common sense than it is of genius."
An Wang
Co-founder of Wang Laboratories
"Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune."
Sam Walton
Former CEO of Walmart
Your true value is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.
Bob Burg and John Mann
The Go-Giver
Values are meaningless without stories to bring them to life and engage us on a personal level.
Annette Simmons
The Story Factor
"Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it. Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine."
David Mackenzie Ogilvy, English advertising executive
“The best way to solve a problem? Try explaining it to somebody outside your field.”
Jonah Lehrer
“The Neuroscience of Screwing Up” in Wired (January 2010)
Success is a dangerous element [in] any endeavor. Embrace the struggle. Beware the achievement. For it steals your caution even as it leads you down the next unknown pathway.
Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival
Leadership means realizing potential–in yourself and in the people you lead…. [The] leader and followers cocreate their identities and performance.
Justin Menkes
Better Under Pressure: How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others
As a small businessperson, you have no greater leverage than the truth.
John Greenleaf Whittier
Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who choose to follow.
James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It; Why People Demand It
Business, that's easily defined; it's other people's money.
Alexandre Dumas