Leadership & Management: Leadership Quotes

"In the area we're discussing, leadership begins on Madison Avenue, on the desks and in the offices of people who spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying what will get them ratings"

Norman Lear, Producer

"You don't hear things that are bad about your company unless you ask. It is easy to hear good tidings, but you have to scratch to get the bad news"

Thomas J. Watson, Scientist

"I think it's good to have competition. Now we have a third country that can launch astronauts, so it's good for all of us. It makes us a little bit more competitive and wanting to be the leader"

Leroy Chiao, Astronaut

"The mayor has got to work closely with a wide variety of people, his city council, state legislature, governor, business community, labor community, president and the Congress in order to be able to do this"

Marc Morial, Politician

"If it is widely assumed that the new President cannot move forward simply because of a narrow victory, there can easily develop a sense of unease and uncertainty, adversely affecting every sector of American society, our economy, and the perception of other nations"

Richard V. Allen, Public Servant

"Because you basically won a close re-election, your first task is to unify the city. And it's done not with words but with actions, by reaching out, to the supporters of your opponent as well as to reassure your own supporters"

Marc Morial, Politician

"What is called for is dignity. We need to set an example"

Kenny Dalglish, Athlete

"You had better have one King than five hundred"

Charles II, Royalty

"One of the essential elements of government responsibility is to communicate effectively to the American people, especially in time of a potential terrorist attack or a natural disaster"

Vito Fossella, Politician

"But if I were to sum up who Barack Obama is and how he plans to meet this moment with one word, that word would be 'responsibility.' Responsibility to each other, our families, our communities, our country, and our world"

Valerie Jarrett, Lawyer

"A new era of responsibility is here"

Valerie Jarrett, Lawyer

"We need people out talking about the President, explaining, agreeing with and praising his actions"

Robert Teeter, Politician

"I think we need one recognized, respected public figure to make a tough, blunt statement on just what Reagan's record is and what he might do to the country, let alone the Republican Party before Christmas"

Robert Teeter, Politician

"Most of the good executives do pretty well, because to be a good executive you have to be strong, and you have to have a simple attribute that people have forgotten about - courage"

John Milius, Director

"I think the greater responsibility, in terms of morality, is where leadership begins"

Norman Lear, Producer

"If I wasn't an actress, I would run a Fortune 500 company"

Sela Ward, Actress

"That's healthy and good for us that there are people who are prepared to question what we are doing"

Martin McGuinness, Politician

"While the President leads his potential adversaries in almost every state, his support is soft. He is seen as honest, sincere, just, and friendly, but gets mediocre or relatively poor ratings, being competent, strong, intelligent, and a forceful leader"

Robert Teeter, Politician

"Research has shown that the perceived style of leadership is by far the most important thing to most voters in evaluating officeholders and candidates"

Robert Teeter, Politician

"You will always find a few people in any area that would like things done completely their way"

Norman Granz, Musician

"President Obama celebrates diversity, yet instinctively seeks common ground and builds on that common ground to make progress"

Valerie Jarrett, Lawyer

"I can assure you we are all strong-willed, forceful personalities, and the president encourages vigorous debate"

Karen Hughes, Politician

"Men of power have no time to read; yet the men who do not read are unfit for power"

Michael Foot, Politician

"I think maybe it is about time for a governor who has created jobs, who's managed a budget, who's led and inspired large organizations, who listens well, and who can drive an agenda"

Meg Whitman, Businessman

"You must be a power on earth, and must therefore accept all the consequences of this position"

Lajos Kossuth, Lawyer

"In a government such as ours, we have vigorous contests to determine who should lead. The recent election was no exception. Now we inaugurate a new government on a day that transcends any one individual or any one party"

Matt Blunt, Politician

"If you have a crisis, whether on a ship or wherever, there are heroes who rise above it"

Jerry Bruckheimer, Producer

"There is only one governor, and his name is Gray Davis"

Gray Davis, Politician

"Every company, every boardroom in which I sit, has a plan, and they have objectives, goals, and a process. And to make it work, the pressure and incentive have to come from the top"

Vernon Jordan, Businessman

"Every time we've moved ahead in IBM, it was because someone was willing to take a chance, put his head on the block, and try something new"

Thomas J. Watson, Scientist

"Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire community, as long as that person was doing a good job on the merits, nobody was going to run against him"

Stephen Breyer, Judge

"Usually, those persons closest to the incoming President will be the main leaders of the Transition effort. They are most familiar with his policies and practices, and are able to interpret his wishes regarding the structure and staffing of the new Administration"

Richard V. Allen, Public Servant

"A skilled Transition Team leader will set the general goals for a Transition, and then confer on the other team leaders working with him the power to implement those goals"

Richard V. Allen, Public Servant

"A Bush Administration will, I believe, enjoy a better relationship with the new Congress, although President-elect Bush will be faced with real challenges in getting along with the Congress"

Richard V. Allen, Public Servant

"The one indication that I got that I was doing the right job in Bosnia was that at different periods of time all the factions came down very hard on me"

John Pomfret

"Franklin Roosevelt was a great leader. He saw how to use the levers of power to affect change!"

Pete du Pont, Politician

"I am running for governor of Kentucky as the people's advocate"

Sonny Landham, Actor

"The first term of the Clinton administration was very jolly. Everybody was running around meeting people, and of course, in the second term, everyone went down the black hole, which also happened at the end of the Reagan administration"

Sally Quinn, Journalist

"I think he could have made most of the trips and gone to most of the fund-raisers, if he would have avoided the partisan rhetoric and talked to the country as President in each of these appearances, rather than to the narrow partisan audiences"

Robert Teeter, Politician

"I am the Federal Government"

Tom DeLay, Politician

Page 38 of 50