Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Those who build and perpetuate mediocrity...are motivated more by the fear of being left behind.
It's what you do before you are in trouble, so that you can be strong when people most need you.
The critical question is not whether you'll have luck, but what you do with the luck that you get.
The only way to remain great is to keep on applying the fundamental principles that made you great.
Whether you prevail or fail depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you.
Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.
Good is the enemy of great.. The vast majority of good companies remain just that - good, but not great.
Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats...
The challenge is not just to build a company that can endure; but to build one that is worthy of enduring.
How can you succeed by helping others succeed? We succeed at our very best only when we help others succeed.
The signature of mediocrity is not an unwillingness to change. The signature of mediocrity is inconsistency.
We are not imprisoned by circumstances, setbacks, mistakes or staggering defeats, we are freed by our choices.
Focusing solely on what you can potentially do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.
Start a 'Stop Doing' list. I'll leave it as an existential dilemma on whether to put that task on your To Do list
Managing your problems can only make you good, whereas building your opportunities is the only way to become great.
Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.
The only way to deliver to the people who are achieving is to not burden them with the people who are not achieving.
I am not failing - I am growing! Do you have the ability to reframe failure as growth in order to achieve your goals?
It took Einstein ten years of groping through the fog to get the theory of special relativity, and he was a bright guy.
Throw leaders into an extreme environment, and it will separate the stark differences between greatness and mediocrity.
Most people will look back and realize they did not have a great life because it's just so easy to settle for a good life.
Those fortunate enough to find or create a practical intersection of the three circles have the basis for a great work life.
Just because a company falls doesn't invalidate what we can learn by studying that company when it was at its historical best.
Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.
Profit is like oxygen, food, water, and blood for the body; they are not the point of life, but without them, there is no life.
Leaders who led their organizations quietly and humbly, were much more effective than flashy, charismatic high profile leaders.
If your company disappeared, would it leave a gaping hole that could not easily be filled by any other enterprise on the planet?
A visionary company doesn't simply balance between idealism and profitability: it seeks to be highly idealistic and highly profitable.
It is more important to know who you are than where you are going, for where you are going will change as the world around you changes.
The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconstancy. The signature of greatness is a disciplined and consistent focus on the right things.
Some managers are uncomfotable with expressing emotion about their dreams, but it's the passion and emotion that will attract and motivate others.
Good-to-great companies set their goals and strategies based on understanding; comparison companies set their goals and strategies based on bravado.
We learned that a former prisoner of war had more to teach us about what it takes to find a path to greatness than most books on corporate strategy.
You can't manufacture passion or "motivate" people to feel passionate. You can only discover what ignites your passion and the passions of those around you.
Not every financial company toppled during the 2008 crisis, and some seized the opportunity to take advantage of weaker competitors in the midst of the tumult.
Not all time in life is equal. How many opportunities do you get to talk about what your life is going to add up to with people thinking about the same question?
For, in the end, it is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.
If we only have great companies, we will merely have a prosperous society, not a great one. Economic growth and power are the means, not the definition, of a great nation.
In a truly great company profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life but they are not the very point of life
Those who turn good organizations into great organizations are motivated by a deep creative urge and an inner compulsion for sheer unadulterated excellence for its own sake.
The moment you feel the need to tightly manage someone, you've made a hiring mistake. The best people don't need to be managed. Guided, taught, led-yes. But not tightly managed.
The secret to a successful retirement is to find your retirement sweet spot. The sweet spot is where your passions, what you do best, and what people will pay you to do overlap.
Consider the idea that charisma can be as much a liability as an asset. Your strength of personality can sow the seeds of problems, when people filter the brutal facts from you.
To have a Welch-caliber C.E.O. is impressive.To have a century of Welch-Caliber C.E.O.'s all grown from the inside - well, that is one key reason why G.E. is a visionary company.
It occurs to me,Jim,that you spend too much time trying to be interesting. Why don't you invest more time being interested?" Collin's advice from John Gardner that he took to heart.
First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn't the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team.
Smart people instinctively understand the dangers of entrusting our future to self-serving leaders who use our institutions, whether in the corporate or social sectors, to advance their own interests.
There is a sense of exhilaration that comes from facing head-on the hard truths and saying, "We will never give up. We will never capitulate. It might take a long time, but we will find a way to prevail."
I see the Baldrige process as a powerful set of mechanisms for disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action to create great organizations that produce exceptional results.
Comparison, a great teacher once told me, is the cardinal sin of modern life. It traps us in a game that we can't win. Once we define ourselves in terms of others, we lose the freedom to shape our own lives.