A real leader has the ability to motivate others to their highest level of achievement; then gives them the opportunity and the freedom to grow.

People buy products for what they can do, not for what they are.

At IBM everybody sells! Every employee has been trained to think that the customer comes first - everybody from the CEO, to the people in finance, to the receptionists, to those who work in manufacturing.

You can't talk about leadership without talking about responsibility and accountability...you can't separate the two. A leader must delegate responsibility and provide the freedom to make decisions, and then be held accountable for the results.

Good people need room to develop. They have to find their own voice . . . each IBMer is a businessperson working within the framework of the company structure.

The ultimate compliment a customer can make to an organization about one of its marketing people is: "I'm not sure whether your sales rep works for me or for you."

There are countless ways of achieving greatness, but any road to achieving one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.