This obsession with leadership... It's not neutral; it's American, this idea of the heroic leader who comes in on a white horse to save the day. I think it's killing American companies.

The idea that you can take smart but inexperienced 25-year-olds who never managed anything and turn them into effective managers via two years of classroom training is ludicrous.

Strategies grow initially like weeds in a garden, they are not cultivated like tomatoes in a hothouse.

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

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

While hard data may inform the intellect, it is largely soft data that generates wisdom.

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.