“If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”

“Business has only two functions; Marketing and Innovation.”

 “Don’t ever let your business get ahead of the financial side of your business. Accounting, Accounting, Accounting. Know your numbers.”

“The role of leadership is to transform the complex situation into small pieces and prioritize them.”

“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: It was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”

“Expect the best. Prepare for the worst. Capitalize on what comes.”

“Business is a game, played for fantastic stakes, and youre in competition with experts. If you want to win, you have to learn to be a master of the game.” 

“Earn your leadership every day.”

“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.”

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”

“Great companies are built on great products.”

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

“Get a mentor in the applicable field if you’re at all unsure of what you’re looking for.”

Corporate executives and business owners need to realize that there can be no compromise when it comes to ethics, and there are no easy shortcuts to success. Ethics need to be carefully sown into the fabric of their companies.”

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”

“I try not to make any decisions that I’m not excited about.”

“Simplicity is a great way to build something that works well without costing too much.”

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure–It is: Try to please everybody.”

“Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.”

“Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing.”

“No more romanticizing about how cool it is to be an entrepreneur. It’s a struggle to save your company’s life – and your own skin – every day of the week.”

“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”

“Doing what is right isn’t the problem. It is knowing what is right.”

“If ethics are poor at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization.”

It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.”

“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”

“It’s more effective to do something valuable than to hope a logo or name will say it for you.”

“Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I dont think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the other.”

The things we fear most in organizations–fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances–are the primary sources of creativity.

“Fortune does favor the bold and youll never know what youre capable of if you dont try.” 

“Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.”

“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.”

The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”

“In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.”

Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard.”

“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.”

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.”

 “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.”

“Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.”

“If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run, then walk. And, if you can’t walk; then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”

“Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.” 

“I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes.”

“I never took a day off in my twenties. Not one.”

The things we fear most in organizations–fluctuations, disturbances, imbalances–are the primary sources of creativity.

“We’re all working together; that’s the secret.”

“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.”

“Don’t worry about funding if you don’t need it. Today it’s cheaper to start a business than ever.”

“Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities that appear, wherever they might be.”

“Great leaders find ways to connect with their people and help them fulfill their potential.”

“The true measure of the value of any business leader and manager is performance.”

“The secret of success is to do the common thing uncommonly well.”

If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t – you’re right.”

“Nothing works better than just improving your product.”

“You have to be burning with an idea, or a problem, or a wrong that you want to right. If youre not passionate enough from the start, youll never stick it out.” 

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

“I am reminded how hollow the label of leadership sometimes is and how heroic followership can be.”

“I never dreamed about success, I worked for it.”

“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”

 “Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important.” 

“Those who let things happen usually lose to those who make things happen.”

“Formal education will make you a living; self education will make you a fortune.”

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to meet it!”

“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”

“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.”

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.”

“You manage things; you lead people.”

“The highest of distinctions is service to others.”

“Anything that is measured and watched, improves.”

“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.”

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of      a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of               a personality beyond its normal limitations.”

The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.”

“It is rare to find a business partner who is selfless. If you are lucky it happens once in a lifetime.”

“We are, each of us, a product of the stories we tell ourselves”

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

“When I’m old and dying, I plan to look back on my life and say ‘wow, that was an adventure,’ not ‘wow, I sure felt safe.’”

“Dont tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”

Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.”

“Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.”

“You can retire from a job, but don’t ever retire from making extremely meaningful contributions in life.”

“Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.” 

“Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer represents a huge opportunity for more business.”

“Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership.”

“Life is about making an impact, not making an income.”

“Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not.”

“Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.”

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

“To have long-term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.”

“Commitment, belief and positive attitude are all important if you’re going to be a success, whether you’re in sports, in business or, as in my case, anthropology.”