Most of the time, strategies should not be formulating strategy at all; they should be getting on with implementing strategies they already have.

The prime occupational hazard of a manager is superficiality.

If you ask managers what they do, they will most likely tell you that they plan, organise, co-ordinate and control. Then watch what they do. Don't be surprised if you can't relate what you see to those four words.

An obsession with control generally seems to reflect a fear of uncertainty.

Management is, above all, a practice where art, science, and craft meet

Empowerment is what managers do to people. Engagement is what managers do with people.

Managers who don't lead are quite discouraging, but leaders who don't manage don't know what's going on. It's a phony separation that people are making between the two.