"Leaders grasp nettles"
About this Quote
“Leaders grasp nettles” is Ogilvy at his most bracing: a one-line management philosophy that treats discomfort as a job requirement, not a personality quirk. Nettles aren’t just “hard things.” They sting on contact, they punish hesitation, and they’re usually found in the messy, unglamorous parts of the garden. By choosing that image, Ogilvy signals a particular kind of leadership problem: the tasks everyone sees, everyone avoids, and everyone hopes will resolve themselves without anyone getting hurt.
The intent is corrective. In corporate life, the default move is delay wrapped in process: convene another meeting, commission another memo, let a problem “mature.” Ogilvy’s line mocks that reflex. Grasping implies immediacy and decisiveness; it’s not “approach nettles cautiously.” It’s take the sting now to prevent the infestation later. The subtext is that leadership is less about vision boards and charisma than about the willingness to absorb pain on behalf of the organization: firing the brilliant jerk, killing the pet project, telling a client “no,” admitting a strategy failed.
Context matters because Ogilvy wasn’t a theorist; he built one of the defining agencies of the 20th century, a world where reputation is fragile and ego is expensive. Advertising runs on appetite for applause, yet Ogilvy’s best advice is anti-applause: do the thing that will make you briefly unpopular and quietly right. The nettle is also a warning label. If you’re not getting stung occasionally, you may not be leading; you may just be presiding.
The intent is corrective. In corporate life, the default move is delay wrapped in process: convene another meeting, commission another memo, let a problem “mature.” Ogilvy’s line mocks that reflex. Grasping implies immediacy and decisiveness; it’s not “approach nettles cautiously.” It’s take the sting now to prevent the infestation later. The subtext is that leadership is less about vision boards and charisma than about the willingness to absorb pain on behalf of the organization: firing the brilliant jerk, killing the pet project, telling a client “no,” admitting a strategy failed.
Context matters because Ogilvy wasn’t a theorist; he built one of the defining agencies of the 20th century, a world where reputation is fragile and ego is expensive. Advertising runs on appetite for applause, yet Ogilvy’s best advice is anti-applause: do the thing that will make you briefly unpopular and quietly right. The nettle is also a warning label. If you’re not getting stung occasionally, you may not be leading; you may just be presiding.
Quote Details
| Topic | Leadership |
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