Good leaders are good storytellers, and that skill is critically important in the rendering of the vision.
Leaders must give people a compelling reason to put forth their best effort. This can be a twofold approach: challenge and reward.
Everything you do will send a strong signal, either that you mean what you say or that you don’t.
Marcus Aurelius: “If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.”
You are the model. That means that when people come to work in the morning, your car should already be in the lot.
Understand this as a leader: Your people never take their eyes off of you. They are watching you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you have to walk the talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
There are occasions when being hard and being tough immediately is the easiest way and the kindest way, really, in the long run. We have to be hard sometimes to get the most out of people. We have to be hard sometimes to get the most out of ourselves, and what can appear to be cruel at a particular moment can eventually turn out to be a blessing in the long run.
My father often used the words “teaching” and “coaching” interchangeably.
Leaders keep people challenged by giving them responsibility and a chance to contribute to the vision.
To win, the team must somehow get the feeling that there is dedication coming from the top.
Building the winning organization begins with an obvious, but critical choice: Which organization are you going to affiliate yourself with?
Demand autonomy, respect authority.
If you’re going to exercise authority, you’ve got to respect it.
An organization is its people.
