-
Enron - although an extreme case - is hardly the only company with a hollow set of values.
-
You can go to work and actually make someone else's job less miserable. Use your job to help others.
-
The fact is, employees cannot make breakthroughs if they can't openly and honestly disagree with their peers and their leader. Indeed, great leaders don't just permit conflict; they actively try to elicit it from reluctant employees as well.
-
Without trust, the most essential element of innovation - conflict - becomes impossible.
-
Life is full of surprises: new opportunities come up; that's part of the fun - the adventure of life. The thing is, chaos doesn't allow us to enjoy the adventure.
-
I hate touchy-feely things.
-
I work with CEOs and their executive teams... and very few of these people are really indifferent about their employees or their customers.
-
Although most executives pay lip service to the idea of hiring for cultural fit, few have the courage or discipline to make it the primary criteria for bringing someone into the company.
-
When truth takes a backseat to ego and politics, trust is lost.
-
I have yet to meet members of a leadership team who I thought lacked the intelligence or the domain expertise required to be successful. I've met many, however, who failed to foster organizational health. Their companies were riddled with politics, various forms of dysfunction, and general confusion about their direction and mission.
-
Teamwork is a strategic decision.
-
Hungry people are always looking for more. More things to do. More to learn. More responsibility to take on.
-
The truth is that intelligence, knowledge, and domain expertise are vastly overrated as the driving forces behind competitive advantage and sustainable success.
-
If you don't know what your family stands for and what your life situation is, you're in trouble.
-
Hungry people almost never have to be pushed by a manager to work harder, because they are self-motivated and diligent. They are constantly thinking about the next step and the next opportunity. And they loathe the idea that they might be perceived as slackers.
-
Too often, companies focus on systems and structures that facilitate cultural change at the mid-management level, overlooking problems closer to the top.