More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
“Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.”
The ties that bind us are stronger than the occasional stresses that separate us.
“Disagree with me, do it with feeling, try to convince me you are right and I am about to go down the wrong path. You owe that to me; that’s why you are here. But don’t be intimidated when I argue back. A moment will come when I have heard enough and I make a decision. At that very instant, I expect all of you to execute my decision as if it were your idea.
Loyalty is disagreeing strongly, and loyalty is executing faithfully. The decision is not about you or your ego; it is about gathering all the information, analyzing it, and trying to get the right answer. I still love you, so get mad and get over it.”
“Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”
What’s the situation? What’s the mission? What are the different courses of action? How do they compare with one another? Which looks most likely to succeed?
When something goes well, make sure you share the credit down and around the whole organization. Let all employees believe they were the ones who did it. They were.
When things go badly, it is your fault, not theirs. You are responsible. Analyze how it happened, make the necessary fixes, and move on.
Share the credit, take the blame, and quietly find out and fix things that went wrong.
“Whenever you place the cause of one of your actions outside yourself, it’s an excuse and not a reason.”
Few people make sound or sustainable decisions in an atmosphere of chaos.
Purpose is the destination of a vision. It energizes that vision, gives it force and drive. It should be positive and powerful, and serve the better angels of an organization.
Good leaders set vision, missions, and goals. Great leaders inspire every follower at every level to internalize their purpose, and to understand that their purpose goes far beyond the mere details of their job. When everyone is united in purpose, a positive purpose that serves not only the organization but also, hopefully, the world beyond it, you have a winning team.
We can learn to be aware when fear grips us, and can train to operate through and in spite of our fear. If, on the other hand, we don’t understand that fear is normal and has to be controlled and overcome, it will paralyze us and stop us in our tracks. We will no longer think clearly or analyze rationally. We prepare for it and control it; we never let it control us. If it does, we cannot lead.
How many cynics built empires, great cities, or powerful corporations?
Perpetual optimism, believing in yourself, believing in your purpose, believing you will prevail, and demonstrating passion and confidence is a force multiplier. If you believe and have prepared your followers, the followers will believe.
We had demanded a lot from our soldiers. But we had prepared them, we believed in them, they believed in us, and we had the confidence and optimism that they would succeed.
If you take the pay, earn it. Always do your very best. Even when no one else is looking, you always are. Don’t disappoint yourself.
“Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.”
When young soldiers go to basic training they meet a drill sergeant, who seems to be their worst nightmare. He shouts at them relentlessly, he intimidates them, he makes them miserable. They are terrified. But all that changes. Their fear and initial hatred turn into something else by the end of basic training. The sergeant has been with them every step of the way: teaching, cajoling, enforcing, bringing out of them strength and confidence they didn’t know they had. At the end, all they want is for their performance to please him. When they graduate, they leave with an emotional bond and a
...more
“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.”
"To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."
I’ve lived by the proposition that solving problems is what leaders do. The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading. If your desk is clean and no one is bringing you problems, you should be very worried.
the leader can only be physically in one place at a time.
physical presence trumps electronic presence.
The battalion commander who is firing a rifle and no longer commanding his battalion is, as we say, “decisively engaged.”
Corporate leaders will of course have different answers to the “Where on the battlefield?” question than military leaders or Secretaries of State. But for each of them the answer has to be “at the point of decision.”
General George Marshall, Army Chief of Staff during World War II, wanted desperately to lead the D-Day invasion of Europe. Any general would want to lead the “Great Crusade.” But that didn’t happen. The assignment went to General Eisenhower, one of his protégés and junior to him. President Roosevelt, well aware of how badly Marshall wanted the mission, discussed it with him. At the end of the conversation, as Marshall was leaving, Roosevelt said gently, “Well, I didn’t feel that I could sleep at ease if you were out of Washington.” Marshall, that great man, knew his place was not to wade into
...more
“Glad you asked!”
Does he accept blame and share credit?
The leader is with the troops, but above them. He should always maintain an aura of unpredictable mystery.
The leader is always above, but never beyond, the followers.
“We’re not going to let them down.”
If a kid isn’t spoken to properly, read to, taught numbers, colors, time, how to behave, how to tie his shoelaces, play nice, share, respect others, and know the difference between right and wrong, he will be miles behind by the time he reaches the second grade; it takes that long for the kid to know he’s behind and to start acting behind. He will from then on have trouble keeping up with other children—an all too familiar problem in our society.
Above all, kids must be taught that they are ultimately responsible for what they achieve or fail to achieve. Overcoming obstacles is a part of life.
I wished him all the best, but my game, my
ball.
What do I look for in subordinates? The usual qualities: competence, intelligence, character, moral and physical courage, toughness with empathy, ability to inspire, and loyalty. Beyond that, I want subordinates who will argue with me and execute my decisio...
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
In selecting
people you just hope you bat over .500.
In selecting a deputy, I always want someone who is tougher and nastier than I can be. I’m the good guy and chaplain.
He is the disciplinarian and enforcer.
Good management gets 100 percent of a team’s designed capability. Great leaders seek a higher ground. They take their followers to 110, 120, 150 percent of what anyone thought was possible. Great leaders do not just motivate followers; they inspire them.
On the whole, I like people who work hard, have a purpose, inspire folks, spend time with their family, have fun, and aren’t busy bastards.
“Someone unafraid to take charge. Someone people respond to and are willing to follow.”
Verified facts don’t always come pure, but with qualifiers. My warning radar always goes on alert when qualifiers are attached to facts. Qualifiers like: My best judgment . . . I think . . . As best I can tell . . . Usually reliable sources say . . . For the most part . . . We’ve been told . . . and the like. I don’t dismiss facts so qualified; but I’m cautious about taking them to the bank.
• Tell me what you know. • Tell me what you don’t know. • Then tell me what you think. • Always distinguish which from which.
Years ago, one of my best friends, then Major General Butch Saint, got thrown out of the Army Chief of Staff’s office for delivering bad news about one of the Chief’s favorite programs. Butch knew before he walked in that he was entering the lion’s den, and he wasn’t surprised when he got thrown out. Word quickly spread around the Pentagon, as it always does when things like that happen. Not long after I heard about it I ran into Butch in a hallway. As we walked along, I offered him comforting words. “Hey,” he said quietly, “he don’t pay me to give him happy talk.” I have never forgotten that.
“Let me know about a problem as soon as you know about it.” Everyone knows the old adage: bad news, unlike wine, doesn’t get better with time.
Leaders should train their staffs that whenever the question reaches the surface of their mind—“Umm, you think we should call someone?”—the answer is almost always “Yes, and five minutes ago.”
As I have told my staff many times over the years, if you want to work for me, don’t surprise me. And when you tell me, tell me everything.
