Quotes about Leadership

It's not time," "Take it easy," "Wait and see," "It's someone else's turn"—none of these stalls are appropriate for a leader in search of change. There's a small price for being too early, but a huge penalty for being too late. The longer you wait to launch an innovation, the less your effort is worth.

Part of leadership (a big part of it, actually) is the ability to stick with the dream for a long time. Long enough that the critics realize that you're going to get there one way or another . . . so they follow.

Each of us can show up in our own way, but the choice is the same: to lead, to create work that matters, and to find the magic that happens when we are lucky enough to cocreate with people who care.

If religion comprises rules you follow, faith is demonstrated by the actions you take. When you lead without compensation, when you sacrifice without guarantees, when you take risks because you believe, then you are demonstrating your faith in the tribe and its mission. Of course it's difficult. But leaders will tell you that it's worth it.

Think for a second about the people you know who are engaged, satisfied, eager to get to work. Most of them, I'll bet, make change. They challenge the status quo and push something forward—something they believe in. They lead.

It's not enough to find a niche that shares a worldview. That niche has to be ready and able to influence a large group of their friends.

great marketing is the generous and audacious work of saying, "I see a better alternative; come with me.

In order to lead a tribe, no such rule applies. All you need to do is motivate people who choose to follow you.

Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change that you believe in.

Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make—stories that sell and stories that spread. Marketing elects presidents, and marketing raises money for charity. Marketing also determines if the CEO stays or goes (Carly Fiorina learned this the hard way). Most of all, marketing influences markets.

If your team is filled with people who work for the company, you'll soon be defeated by tribes of people who work for a cause.

No, the real reason is this: Meetings are a great place to hide. Meetings are where we go to wait for someone else to take responsibility. Meetings are a safe haven, a refuge from what might happen.