“I perfectly understood President Obama's attitude throughout the French presidential campaign. He had no reason to distance himself from Nicolas Sarkozy. It's the basic solidarity that leaders who worked together owe to each other.” ReasonTogetherPresidentAttitudeLeaderUnderstoodDistanceCampaignsPresidentialNo ReasonPresident ObamaSolidarityPresidential Campaign Author:Francois Hollande
“Leaders need to remember that the point of leading is not to cross the finish line first. It's to take people across the finish line with you. For that reason, leaders must deliberately slow their pace, stay connected to their people, enlist others to help fulfill the vision, and keep people going. You can't do that if you're running too far ahead of your people.” PeopleIfsNeedsFirstsReasonHelpingMotivationalRunningRememberLinesLeaderVisionCrossesConnectedPaceFinish Line Author:John C. Maxwell
“[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsYearsHas BeensImportantStatesReasonSeemsPoliticsUnitedLeaderOpinionMillionsUnited StatesMediaPolicyProveMouthsImportancePaidAffairAthleteIgnorantTreatedRationalDeclineMistakenEntertainersRational ThinkingProfessional AthleteForeign AffairsIdolizedDomestic Policy Author:Robert A. Heinlein
“In the long term, we've got to defeat an ideology of hate with an ideology of hope. There' a reason why people like [Al-Qaida leader Osama] bin Laden are able to recruit suiciders, because if you don't have hope, you're attracted to an ideology which says, it's OK to kill people and kill yourself.” PeopleIfsLongReasonAbleHateTermLeaderDefeatIdeologyReason WhyLong TermAlsBin LadenHaving HopeOsama Bin LadenRecruitKilling Yourself Author:George W. Bush
“The liberal tradition has its roots in the Enlightenment, that period in the eighteenth-century Europe when intellectuals and political leaders had a powerful sense that reason could be employed to make the world a better place.” WorldReasonPoliticalPowerfulLeaderCenturyPeriodsEnlightenmentEuropeTraditionRootsEmployedBetter PlacePolitical Leaders Book:The Tragedy of Great Power Politics Source: The Tragedy of Great Power Politics
“However much the creationist leaders might hammer away at their scientific and philosophical points, they would be helpless and a laughing-stock if that were all they had. It is religion that recruits their squadrons. Tens of millions of Americans, who neither know nor understand the actual arguments for - of even against - evolution, march in the army of the night, their Bibles held high. And they are a strong and frightening force, impervious to, and immunized against, the feeble lance of mere reason.” IfsKnowsReasonMightWould BeNightStrongForceLeaderMillionsLaughingEvolutionArgumentArmyPhilosophicalMereMarchFrighteningHelplessHammersRecruitImperviousCreationist Author:Isaac Asimov
“The moment you discover in life that it's not about yourself, that it is about investing in others, I think you're entering a steadier state to be a great leader. Because above all, I think the main quality of a leader is to be a human being. There's no reason you are special because you happen to have this job or these responsibilities.” ThinkingHumansStatesReasonMomentsHappensJobsHuman BeingsQualityResponsibilityLeaderSpecialInvestingNo ReasonAbout YourselfEnteringGreat LeaderBeing ThereQualities Of A Leader Author:Paul Polman
“And uh, so, I'm running for a reason. I'm answering this question here and the answer is, you cannot lead America to a positive tomorrow with revenge on one's mind. Revenge is so incredibly negative. And so to answer your question, I'm going to win because people sense my heart, know my sense of optimism and know where I want to lead the country. And I tease people by saying, "A leader, you can't say, follow me the world is going to be worse." I'm an optimistic person. I'm an inherently content person.” PeopleKnowsWorldWantMindHeartPersonsCountryReasonHumorRunningAmericaPoliticalWinningAnswersLeaderTomorrowMy HeartNegativeOptimismRevengeOptimisticTeaseFollow MePolitical HumorOptimistic Person Author:George W. Bush
“Breaking the rules and challenging convention is in the DNA of every successful entrepreneur. Doing things differently and solving problems with new, innovative and fresh approaches are the very reason many start-ups are able to compete and sometimes outpace the established market leaders.” SometimesReasonProblemAbleChallengesLeaderSuccessfulApproachEntrepreneurConventionsProblem SolvingDnaInnovativeSuccessful EntrepreneursMarket Leaders Author:Richard Branson
“I hear people everywhere saying that the trouble with our time is that we have no great leaders any more. If we look back we always had them. But to me it seems there is a very profound reason why there are no great leaders any more. It is because they are no longer needed. The message is clear. You no longer want to be led from the outside. Every man must be his own leader. He now knows enough not to follow other people. He must follow the light that's within himself, and through this light he will create a new community.” PeopleIfsKnowsMenWantLooksReasonEnoughLightSeemsCommunityLeaderClearTroubleNeededMessagesProfoundEvery ManReason WhyOur TimeGreat Leader Author:Laurens van der Post
“The Leader of the Opposition's constitutional obligation - the obligation to Parliament - it's the reason we did the merger! - is to make sure Canadians have an alternative for government.” ReasonGovernmentLeaderObligationAlternativesOppositionParliamentMergers Author:Stephen Harper
“Having lost faith in all else, zealots have nothing left but a holy cause to please a warrior God. They win if we become holy warriors, too; if we kill the innocent as they do; strike first at those who had not struck us; allow our leaders to use the fear of terrorism to make us afraid of the truth; cease to think and reason together, allowing others to tell what's in God's mind.” IfsThinkingMindFirstsReasonUseTogetherWinningLostLeftCausesLeaderHolyPleaseTerrorismStrikesCeaseInnocentWarriorAllowingZealotLost Faith Author:Bill Moyers
“I was never a prisoner of any theory. What guided me were reason and reality. The acid test I applied to every theory or scheme was: Would it work? The acid test is in performance, not promises. It is not from weakness that one commands respect. As long as the leaders take care of their people, they will obey the leaders.” PeopleLongReasonRealityCareLeaderTheoryPromiseWeaknessTestsPerformancesTake CareCommandPrisonerSchemesAcid Author:Mr. Lee
“There are a variety of reasons. Not all Western leaders are equal. We have to make a certain separation from naïve Americans and Europeans. These are two different categories. For the Europeans, it affects the image of the "New Europe." The false image of Europe is that it is peaceful, separate from the past. Now the image of the New Europe is a radically false image.” TwoDifferentReasonPastCertainLeaderEqualEuropeWesternSeparationPeacefulVarietyCategories Author:Manfred Gerstenfeld
“The majority cannot reason; it has no judgement. It has always placed its destiny in the hands of others; it has followed its leaders even into destruction. The mass has always opposed, condemned, and hounded the innovator, the pioneer of a new truth.” ReasonHandsLeaderDestinyMassDestructionMajorityJudgementPioneersInnovators Author:Emma Goldman
“No leader or organization can achieve breakout growth until it treats, "we've always done it this way" as an opportunity to think anew rather than as a reason to stop thinking. Keep in mind, tradition should be a guide, not a jailer.” ThinkingWayShouldMindReasonDoneOpportunityGrowthLeaderAchieveTraditionOrganizationTreatsGuidesJailer Author:Michael Josephson
“Most people don't like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.” PeopleReasonActionProcessLeaderReadyAdvantageMaking ChangesRevoltGood Leader Author:John C. Maxwell
“People who are slavish to a fantasy ideology become very lonely in the world. It's very alienating and sometimes reality is very threatening to this magical way of thinking. On the other hand, if it is a politician or leader that chooses for whatever reason to remain in this state of magical thinking, then they should be called out for it strongly and repeatedly.” PeopleIfsThinkingWorldWaySometimesReasonHandsRealityLeaderFantasyPoliticianLonelyIdeologyThreateningWay Of Thinking Author:Mark Ruffalo
“If you're a leader, your whole reason for living is to help human beings develop - to really develop people and make work a place that's energetic and exciting and a growth opportunity, whether you're running a Housekeeping Department or Google. I mean, this is not rocket science.” PeopleIfsHumansMeanReasonWholeHelpingRunningOpportunityGrowthHuman BeingsLeaderExcitingDepartmentGoogleRocketsEnergeticHousekeepingRocket Science Author:Tom Peters
“And in some ways, to me, that's one of the inspiring and powerful things about the Great Migration itself. There was no leader, there was no one person who set the date who said, 'On this date, people will leave the South.' They left on their own accord for as many reasons as there are people who left. They made a choice that they were not going to live under the system into which they were born anymore and in some ways, it was the first step that the nation's servant class ever took without asking.” PeopleWayFirstsPersonsMadeSaidReasonChoicesLeftNationsBornPowerfulLeaderStepsClassAskingSouthServantFirst StepsAccordMigration Author:Isabel Wilkerson