20 Smart Minds on What Leadership Means

There's no shortage of advice on leadership, and yet all of that advice delivered in books and seminars is hard, if not impossible to put into practice. To save you the time and money, I've captured the essence of the subject in a series of pithy quotes — from some of the world's greatest leaders.

“Generals don't belong in the trenches.” David Hauseman, Hauseman Group

“Having lots of money doesn't change anything. It just amplifies it. Jerks become bigger jerks, and nice guys become nicer.” Ben Narasin, businessman

“If everyone agrees with you, they probably don't mean it.” Anonymous

“If we want to maintain the quality, the integrity and the whole culture of our company, we've got to own it.” Truett Cathy, Chick-Fil-A

“If you don't make dust, you eat it.”  Bernard Marcus, Home Depot

“If you haven't restructured your company in the past three years, you're in trouble. A company is not a Catholic marriage--forever. It's California style--one year at a time." Ichak Adize, consultant

“If you want to be the first into a new territory, you cannot wait for a large amount of evidence.” Joel A. Barker, consultant

“If your people can get to work by 8 and go home by 5 and do their job without thinking, they are already obsolete.” Gideon Malherbe, Vistage speaker

“In your business decisions, risk only money...never people or relationships.” Jack DeBoer, businessman

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein

“It's best to be Attila The Hun every day rather than every other day.” Richard Palmer, Vistage speaker

“Leadership is one of the things you cannot delegate. You either exercise it, or you abdicate it.” Robert Goizueta, former CEO of Coca-Cola

“Long range planning does not deal with future decisions, but the future of present decisions.” Peter Drucker, business thought leader

“Looking for a place where price is not a factor is going to be a long, lonely search in dark jungles.” Sam Bowers, Vistage speaker

“Managing is like holding a dove in your hand. Squeeze too hard and you kill it; not hard enough and it flies away.” Tommy Lasorda, baseball manager

“Most companies grow themselves out of business. They either can't finance it or they can't manage it.” Richard Palmer, Vistage speaker

“Never interrupt the enemy when he is doing something wrong.” Erwin Rommel, military leader

“No person can get very far in this life on a 40 hour week.”  J.W. Marriott, Marriott Hotels

“Nothing is more wasteful than doing with the greatest of efficiency that which should not be done in the first place.” Ted Levitt, Harvard Business Review

“Occasionally, people succeed because they are brilliant and visionary; mostly it's because they work harder than anyone else.” Michael Eisner, media and entertainment mogul.

This blog is offered by Vistage International, a global CEO member organization. As a CEO, who questions your answers?