Home / Authors / Margaret J. Wheatley

Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

Writer

Margaret J. Wheatley is a renowned writer known for her work on organizational development and leadership. Born on August 17, 1944, her writings are celebrated for their deep insights into complexity and change.

Filter quotes by topic

All People Needs Ifs Organization Leadership Process Thinking Way World Aggression Capacity Leader Order Together Humans Ideas Listening Moving Roles Believe

Famous Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

“Sane leadership is the unshakeable confidence that people can be generous, creative, and kind. The leader’s role is to create the conditions for these qualities to be evoked and utilized to accomplish good work.”

Leadership Creativity Kindness Generosity Sanity

Book:Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations

Source: Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations

“Sanity is an honest relationship with reality. Sanity is seeing clearly, free of our filters, judgments, biases. When we see what’s going on, then we can discern what actions might be useful. Sanity creates possibilities.”

Leadership Creativity Kindness Generosity Sanity

Book:Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations

Source: Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations

“It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do.”

Motivation Leadership Differences Judgment Divides

Book:Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future

Source: Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future

“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.”

Important Real Form Motivation Energy Leadership Leader Roles Position Capacity Tasks Organization Function Patterns Being A Leader Real Power Future Leaders Leadership Roles

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.”

Leadership Roles Hero Behavior Series Woman Leader Women Leadership Trailblazing

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“I'm sad to report that in the past few years, ever since uncertainty became our insistent 21st century companion, leadership has taken a great leap backwards to the familiar territory of command and control.”

Years Past Leadership Taken Century Familiar Command Uncertainty Reports Companion Leap Territory 21st Century Backwards I'm Sad Command And Control

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“I believe that the capacity that any organization needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.”

Needs Believe I Believe Leadership Needed Capacity Organization

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“They have eliminated rigidity, both physical and psychological, in order to support more fluid processes whereby temporary teams are created to deal with specific and ever-changing needs. They have simplified roles into minimal categories; they have knocked down walls and created workplaces where people, ideas, and information circulate freely.”

Source: Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World

“Most people associate command and control leadership with the military.”

People Leadership Military Command Associates Command And Control

Book:Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time (Large Print 16pt)

Source: Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time (Large Print 16pt)

“When leaders take back power, when they act as heroes and saviors, they end up exhausted, overwhelmed, and deeply stressed.”

Ends Leadership Leader Hero Savior Exhausted Overwhelmed Stressed Stressed Out

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“I think it is quite dangerous for an organisation to think they can predict where they are going to need leadership. It needs to be something that people are willing to assume if it feels relevant, given the context of any situation”

People Ifs Thinking Needs Feels Given Leadership Situation Dangerous Willing Assuming Relevant Organisation

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley

“I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes so people can actually learn together, using our experiences”

People Thinking Together Process Leadership Right Now Majors Radical

Author:Margaret J. Wheatley