Business Leaders Quotes & Sayings

The sepia tone of November has become blood-soaked with paper poppies festooning the lapels of our politicians, newsreaders and business leaders ... I will no longer allow my obligation as a veteran to remember those who died in the great wars to be co-opted by current or former politicians to justify our folly in Iraq, our morally dubious war on terror and our elimination of one's right to privacy. — Harry Leslie Smith

Inspiring leadership communication is not about great oratory or great charisma; rather it is about getting others to believe in themselves and believe in your cause, and then achieve more than they thought was possible. — Kevin Murray

Our world isn't about ideology anymore. It's about complexity. We live in a complex bureaucratic state with complex laws and complex business practices, and the few organizations with the corporate willpower to master these complexities will inevitably own the political power. On the other hand, movements like the Tea Party more than anything else reflect a widespread longing for simpler times and simple solutions - just throw the U.S. Constitution at the whole mess and everything will be jake. For immigration, build a big fence. Abolish the Federal Reserve, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education. At times the overt longing for simple answers that you get from Tea Party leaders is so earnest and touching, it almost makes you forget how insane most of them are. — Matt Taibbi

Currently, we allow our political and business leaders to get away with murder. Now is the time to change that. We need direct liability for those who are destroying our future and this planet. We need fast, profound and systemic change. History only moves forward when courageous people get up and act. That's why I support this citizens' initiative to recognise ecocide as the crime it is. — Kumi Naidoo

I'm calling for us all to be The Inspired CEO, Conscious Evolutionary Officers of our own lives and businesses. — Tia Walker

The Highest Reward for men and women 's devotion and dedication to excellence is not what one gets from it but what one he or she becomes through it. — Bill Britt

I think business leaders all over the world should not just think of how we can make lots of money, which is fine, but to take some of the problems in the world and get out there and tackle them using business. I think that if businesses do that we can get on top of these problems. — Richard Branson

Business leaders must not cling to old ways of doing business, or allow inertia or complacency to prevent them from making the decisions that they will eventually be forced to make. — Patricia Hewitt

During my many years in international business and public life, I have had the good fortune of sitting down for lunch with people with whom I completely disagreed, in practice and principle: Soviet communists, heads of state from various unsavory regimes, benighted religious figures, corrupt business leaders. — Edgar Bronfman, Sr.

The great leaders are like the best conductors - they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players. — Blaine Lee

The power of a successful salesman is not putting his hand in the customer's pocket to pull his money out. but rather manipulate the customer's mind to let him put his hand and happily pull the money and give it to you — Hisham Fawzi

Gaining an in-depth understanding of business capabilities helps today's business leaders craft good strategy and implement it effectively. — Pearl Zhu

Confidence believes you are able. Competence knows you are able. — Lolly Daskal

You can't dominate a network with old-style leadership.

But, you can emerge, with the network's consent, as one of its leaders, regardless of your formal position or job title. — Phil Dourado

If you wait for customers to tell you that you need to do something, you're too late. Good business leaders should be half a step ahead of what customers want, i.e. they don't actually quite know they want it. That's what innovation's about. With Plan A, we didn't wait for the consumers to tell us. — Stuart Rose

It also reflects a tendency in our society to focus on negatives. Doctors, for instance, study illness, not health. Business leaders analyse failure, not success. Economists study cost, not value. Philosophers mostly debate original sin, not original blessing. — Robert Holden

Terrorist groups will not, in most instances, openly recruit from universities or the well developed areas that politicians and business leaders are always focusing on. They will not flight newspaper or TV adverts, but will use belief systems riding on the back of disadvantages, poverty and problems that have remained unaddressed in particular communities, tribal and religious ideologies. They will recruit the most vulnerable to harm and attack the most vulnerable, in order to spite leaders and authorities. — Archibald Marwizi

Your vision not only becomes the future place you desire to live, but it becomes a foundation for your life's decisions. — Lisa A. Mininni

Good leaders know who they are - their strengths, weaknesses, passions, talents, and values. And, developing leaders always starts with self-awareness. — Lee Ellis

Once war was considered the business of soldiers, international relations the concern of diplomats. But now that war has become seemingly total and seemingly permanent, the free sport of kings has become the forced and internecine business of people, and diplomatic codes of honor between nations have collapsed. Peace in no longer serious; only war is serious. Every man and every nation is either friend or foe, and the idea of enmity becomes mechanical, massive, and without genuine passion. When virtually all negotiation aimed at peaceful agreement is likely to be seen as 'appeasement,' if not treason, the active role of the diplomat becomes meaningless; for diplomacy becomes merely a prelude to war an interlude between wars, and in such a context the diplomat is replaced by the warlord. — C. Wright Mills

What is happening on the inside, is reflected on the outside. If you lack the confidence, you very well may feel pushy in selling your product or service. If you lack a clear plan on exactly how to grow your business, you're going to play it safe rather than do what it takes. If you feel desperate, your prospect no doubt will feel your push. If you're unclear about your exact target market, then implementing focused marketing will be nearly impossible because you don't know where your target market hangs out, their preferences, and even what and where they buy. The more you nurture your inner entrepreneur, the more it affects the outcomes of your business. — Lisa A. Mininni

When we talk about change, we, the business leaders, have to implement it. We have to look at what we're not doing and what we should be doing. — Ofra Strauss

Leaders are made, not born. You learn to become a leader by doing what other excellent leaders have done before you. You become proficient in your job or skill, and then you become proficient at understanding the motivations and behaviors of other people. — Brian Tracy

What great leaders have in common is that each truly knows his or her strengths - and can call on the right strength at the right time. — Tom Rath

I admire leaders in science, people who really figure things out like Richard Fineman or people who work on vaccines, tons of people working on [the] HIV vaccine. There's leaders in business, people like Warren Buffett, who've got a certain approach they take that are pretty amazing. There [are] product innovators like Steve Jobs was, where he gets behind a concept and does a fantastic job. — Bill Gates

Great leaders inspire greatness in others. — Lolly Daskal

Women hold up more than half the sky and represent much of the world's unrealized potential. They are the educators. They raise the children. They hold families together and increasingly drive economies. They are natural leaders. We need their full engagement ... in government, business and civil society. — Ban Ki-moon

Where do business leaders turn for advice to improve their leadership skills? Many successful leaders like Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A turn to the Bible. Speaking at Trinity College in Illinois, "Cathy discussed how scripture dictates Chick-fil-A's business plan. — R.J. Stepansky

Leaders can choose to grow and change, but generally the most powerful predictor of future performance is past behavior. Evaluate them realistically. — Lee Ellis

I say, 'Get me some poets as managers.' Poets are our original systems thinkers. They contemplate the world in which we live and feel obligated to interpret, and give expression to it in a way that makes the reader understand how that world runs. Poets, those unheralded systems thinkers, are our true digital thinkers. It is from their midst that I believe we will draw tomorrow's new business leaders.
Sidney Harman, CEO Multimillionaire of a stereo components company — Daniel H. Pink

The Hollywood left insists on painting business persons as arch criminals, even though it's ridiculous. They like to depict free enterprise, capitalism and business leaders as a source of evil and criminality. Somehow they think that will influence enough people to further their left-wing agenda. — James Cook

Like leaders in many walks of life, my business has been to serve with, and for, others. — Stanley A. McChrystal

Thought Leadership
"The new economics for industry, government, education" Book by W. Edwards Deming
"In God we trust. All others must bring data."
William Edwards Deming,
Statistician, Professor and Author
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Christine Gray wrote in her remarkable 1986 PhD dissertation, Thailand: The Soteriological State in the 1970s: Any study of contemporary Thai society must account for the U.S. influence on that polity and the mutual denial of that influence. Thailand's relationship with the United States is complex, heavily disguised and, in many instances, actively denied by the leaders of both countries... In many cases, it is difficult if not impossible to determine the extent of American influence in Thailand. Thailand is a nation of secrets: of secret bombings and air bases during the Vietnam War, of secret military pacts and aid agreements, of secret business transactions and secret ownership of businesses and joint venture corporations. This is precisely the point; the American presence has taken on powerful cosmological, religious and even mythic overtones. The American influence on the Thai economy and polity has become a symbol of uncertainty, of men's inability to know the truth. — Andrew MacGregor Marshall

We are so sluggish in our mentality that we think the world's problems are not our business, that they have to be resolved by the United Nations or by substituting new leaders for the old. — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Move away from the mid-set that the fulfillment of the organization's mission, vision, and strategic plan is only the work of leaders. — Sue Tetzlaff

It's so important for business leaders to discover what their purpose is. In the days when the business seems overwhelming, or you aren't certain you can continue, it is your purpose that will compel you to push through. — Anne F. Beiler

Followers have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the most influential leaders in their lives: trust, compassion, stability, and hope — Tom Rath

The biggest part of my job now is to quickly develop successors, and around the world I am working to develop new business leaders in the company. — Tadashi Yanai

The number of business leaders who asked me to lower their taxes can be counted on one hand. — Jack Markell

The most successful businesses have leaders that see the correlation between customer service and sales ... not as separate departments, but as complimentary components for growth. — Steve Maraboli

One reason the United States is one of three countries in the world that do not have any form of paid maternity leave is that many American business leaders, like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, oppose any family-friendly policies. They scare people into thinking maternity leave will be a job killer. — Madeleine M. Kunin

What you hold in your consciousness tends to manifest - the inner game runs the outer game. — William A. Adams

A few years ago the idea that extreme poverty was harmful was on the fringes of the economic and political debate. But having made the case we are now seeing an emerging consensus among business leaders, economic leaders, political leaders and even faith leaders. — Winnie Byanyima

We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats - and then they figured out where to drive it. — James C. Collins

Market leaders inevitably slip into decline when they tell the people what they want instead of giving the people what they want. — Alan Sugar

Leaders are never measured by their success but rather by the success of those they've been entrusted to lead. Therefore, a leader can never be considered successful until those they lead are successful. — Greg Cagle

All things being equal, the primary competitive advantage of your business will be your ability to grow Leaders Without Titles faster than your industry peers. — Robin Sharma

Learning options will indeed mushroom for business students and leaders, but it will take prudence and shrewdness to find and utilize the best option. — Warren Bennis

I think that the main issue with inequality is not the gap between the rich and the poor. It is the gap between the earnings of top business leaders and the salaries of academics and journalists. — Arnold Kling

A disruptive innovation is a technologically simple innovation in the form of a product, service, or business model that takes root in a tier of the market that is unattractive to the established leaders in an industry. — Clayton Christensen

Today it is difficult to find leaders who are independent of the forces that have brought us our problems: The Congress, the bureaucracy, the lobbyists, big business, and big labor. — Ronald Reagan

Business leaders must find ways to infuse mundane business activities with deeper, soul-stirring ideals, such as honor, truth, love, justice, and beauty. — Gary Hamel

Effective leaders are, first and foremost, good teachers. We're in the education business. — John Wooden

In November, when our nation remembers her fallen soldiers and honours the lost youth of my generation, the Prime Minister, government leaders and the hollow men of business affix paper poppies to their lapels and afford the dead of war two minutes' silence. Afterwards, they speak golden platitudes about the struggle and the heroism of that time. Yet the words they speak are meaningless because they have surrendered the values my generation built after the horrors of the Second World War. — Harry Leslie Smith

Do business managers have a commitment to anything more than the success of their company and to making money? It would be hard to say that they do. Indeed, many business leaders deny that there is any conflict between self-interest and the interests of all. — Peter Singer

Don't let quick wins distract your focus from long-term goals. — Sascha Bosio

It takes healthy, resilient leaders and employees to achieve great results. — Sue Tetzlaff

For better or worse, the people who become leaders and decision makers in politics, law and business are going to come from schools like Princeton. — Brian Kernighan

A well-dressed, self-assured business executive steps into a quiet corner of the conference room, crowded with people. Everyone there is aware of her presence. She's dark-haired, petite, and alluring. She is quick to smile, and when she does, her whole face lights up. Her enthusiasm is infectious. Young men and women nod as they pass by, briefly breaking off their conversations with colleagues. The executive looks down at her compact electronic device and quickly texts: "Smile. Talk into the mic. Good luck. — Jill Bryant

What is clear is that business leaders must commit to champion change - to be transparent about their goals for change, to align their incentives systems to drive the change, and to make sure their work environments are flexible in a way that allows men and women who choose to work to be able to achieve all of their potential. — Beth Brooke

America's highest economic need is higher ethical standards
enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders. — George W. Bush

We, as conservative intellectuals, should not be in the business of making excuses for bad parliamentary decisions by Republican leaders in Congress. — David Frum

We must recognize that "happy" is not a business goal. Service providers pursue "happy." Leaders pursue growth, competitive advantage, mission enhancement, and cost management. — Tina Nunno

The American people don't believe politicians. They don't believe business leaders or Hollywood celebrities or athletes or other supposed role models. And they certainly don't believe the news media. — John Yarmuth

Voters - here's the real challenge: we don't need empty promises made by politicians whose only goal in life is to get elected or re-elected. We need leaders with attributes that qualify them to lead us through the difficult challenges we're facing. — Lee Ellis

DOOR MONEY" To focus on door money means one is paying so much attention to the amount of money they are making at the door they do not consider there is much more profit to be made inside a venue. — Carlos Wallace

Steve Jobs is the most epic entrepreneur of all time. He served as a guiding light for any emerging businessperson who wanted to learn how things should get done. He'll be looked at as one of the best business leaders of all time, and certainly one of the best tech entrepreneurs. — Aaron Levie

If this country is really to go forward along the path of social and economic justice, there must be a new party of nationwide and non-sectional principles, a party where the titular national chiefs and the real state leaders shall be in genuine accord, a party in whose counsels the people shall be supreme, a party that shall represent in the nation and the several states alike the same cause, the cause of human rights and of governmental efficiency. At present both the old parties are controlled by professional politicians in the interests of the privileged classes, and apparently each has set up as its ideal of business and political development a government by financial despotism tempered by make-believe political assassination. Democrat and Republican alike, they represent government of the needy many by professional politicians in the interests of the rich few. This is class government, and class government of a peculiarly unwholesome kind. — Theodore Roosevelt

This years keynote session is a clear reminder that wireless data technology is expanding its reach beyond that of an alternative to wireline telephony. We have gathered an exclusive group of business leaders to share how wireless is being integrated into their companys business strategies and what it means for their bottom lines. The presence of these telecom, media and entertainment giants on our center stage is a great indicator of the impact wireless data has made on countless industries, — Steve Largent

Although being human brings me the greatest delight~ being human also means that I have limitations — Nina Montgomery

I was employed as an investigator and my particular team, we were investigating the role of the business community in the genocide and we identified a bunch of leaders of the business community and I investigated two people. — Tony Greig

There is a clear connection between developing the skills and talents of young people, and our economic success as a province. Initiatives like the Make Your Pitch competition and the Ontario Social Impact Voucher help us nurture the next generation of business leaders. We will continue creating an inviting environment for our next generation of entrepreneurs, ensuring they develop the right skills needed to succeed in a globally competitive economy and build the future of Ontario. — Brad Duguid

It is amazing, the number of business executives and senior leaders who get to be appointed and elevated to positions of authority on the basis of technical competences whilst lacking essential grooming on basic good manners and customs of conduct that must come from the home training process. — Archibald Marwizi

The world of the 90s and beyond will belong to managers or those who make the numbers dance, as we used to say, or those who are conversant with all the business jargon we used to sound smart. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders
people who not only have an enormous amount of energy but who can energize those whom they lead. — John Welch

Business leaders, labor unions, governors, mayors, congressmen and presidents have all complained about a lack of funding for years, but aside from a one-time cash infusion from the stimulus program, nothing much has changed. There is still no consensus on how to solve the problem or where to get the massive amounts of money needed to fix it, just another example of political paralysis in Washington. — Steve Kroft

We need to have business leaders who live by deep, strong principles. — Stephen Covey

Many business leaders are seeing the relationship between long term success and sustainability, and that's very heartening. — Jacqueline Novogratz

Social media requires that business leaders start thinking like small-town shop owners. This means taking the long view and avoiding short-term benchmarks to gauge progress. It means allowing the personality, heart and soul of the people who run all levels of the business to show. — Gary Vaynerchuk

The extraordinary power of influence is now within everyone's reach. Recent graduates, executive assistants, project managers, and business leaders can all benefit from Monarth's simple steps for 'getting everyone to follow your lead.' — Marshall Goldsmith

The country as a whole is far too complex and poor compared to Gujarat, which has been business-friendly and advanced in both governance and physical infrastructure (like roads, ports, etc.) over many decades now. On top of this, Modi's rather high-handed autocratic personal style (which is resented by many even within his own party) does not augur well for the intricate negotiations with diverse groups, state leaders and coalition partners he will necessarily have to work with at the all-India level. His polarising personality is not conducive to the tasks of compromise and consensus-building a leader inevitably faces in a highly fragmented polity like India's. — Anonymous

From the systems point of view, it is evident that one of the main obstacles to organizational change is the - largely unconscious - embrace by business leaders of the mechanistic approach to management. — Fritjof Capra

None but praying leaders can have praying followers. A praying pulpit will beget praying pews. We do greatly need pastors and evangelists who will set the saints to this business of praying. We are not a generation of praying saints. Who will restore this breach? The greatest will he be of reformers who can set the Church to praying. — Edward McKendree Bounds

Our society does not give nearly enough credit to business leaders who create jobs, behave ethically and provide products and services that enhance our lives. — Mark Skousen

Business leaders should provide expertise in service of our country. My predecessors at GE have done so, as have leaders of many other great American companies. — Jeffrey R. Immelt

The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians, and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes- a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power. The greatest danger to the Christian church today is that of pitching its message too low. — Dallas Willard

To take full advantage of the potential in e-business, leaders must lead differently, and people must work together differently. Let's call this new way of working e-culture-the human side of the global information era, the heart and soul of the new economy. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

A good businessman knows how to make a profit. An engineer makes sure it runs well. We need more leaders who are task oriented. — Phil Mitchell

Every time I criticize what I consider to be excesses or faults in the news business, I am accused of repression, and the leaders of various media professional groups wave the First Amendment as they denounce me. That happens to be my amendment, too. It guarantees my free speech as it does their freedom of the press ... There is room for all of us - and for our divergent views - under the First Amendment. — Spiro T. Agnew

I see the God complex around me all the time in my fellow economists. I see it in our business leaders. I see it in the politicians we vote for - people who, in the face of an incredibly complicated world, are nevertheless absolutely convinced that they understand the way that the world works. — Tim Harford

I believe that leaders and leadership teams working together in a proper design will run the business more effectively than by hierarchical, command-and-control managing. But I can't prove that. And there are no models. — Marvin Bower

Your leaders and staff are the face of your brand. Often they are the front line of your brand story. Their job is to show the world what your business stands for. Their posture, their attitude, and their influence trickle down through the organization and affect it. A good leader maps out the vision for the business. — Bernadette Jiwa

Communication can't always follow the top-down model. With the fluidity of information in business today, leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to be able to receive as well as send. — Joseph Badaracco

Many business leaders are asking fundamental questions about what business they're in, why they are doing it and how it can be used as a means of healing human and natural communities. — Amory Lovins

When political and business leaders tell the public - any public - 'We don't trust you to make the right decision' - they prejudice that electorate against the very proposals they want it to accept and undermine public confidence in themselves. — Preston Manning

When the initial effort of political and business leaders to influence public opinion on an issue is to threaten rather than to engage and persuade, they further arouse public opposition rather than win support. — Preston Manning

When you see government leaders really bullying business, you know that government's economic policy is failing. They get angry and they get desperate. — Amity Shlaes

My government is going to deal with all forms of corruption. White-collar corruption will be high on the list and we are going to plug all gaps that are being used by corrupt leaders (and) business people. — Jakaya Kikwete

As business leaders we need to understand that lack of data is not the issue. Most businesses have more than enough data to use constructively; we just don't know how to use it. The reality is that most businesses are already data rich, but insight poor. — Bernard Marr

If you want to break through to higher levels of performance, you must allow yourself to be restructured. — William A. Adams