Ideally, the star will be replaced within eight hours. This sends the message that no single individual is bigger than the company.

Trust is enormously powerful in a corporation. People won't do their best unless they believe they'll be treated fairly. The only way I know how to create that kind of trust is by laying out your values and then walking the talk. You've got to do what you say you'll do, consistently, over time.

Make winners out of every business in your company. Don't carry losers.

My main job was developing talent. I was a gardener providing water and other nourishment to our top 750 people. Of course, I had to pull out some weeds, too.

The operative assumption today is that someone, somewhere, has a better idea; and the operative compulsion is to find out who has that better idea, learn it, and put it into action-fast.

If you reward candor, you'll get it.

The best thing workers can bring to their jobs is a lifelong thirst for learning.