Those who build great companies understand that the ultimate throttle on growth for any great company is not markets, or technology, or competition, or products. It is one thing above all others: the ability to get and keep enough of the right people.

If you have a charismatic cause you don't need to be a charismatic leader.

We learned that a former prisoner of war had more to teach us about what it takes to find a path to greatness than most books on corporate strategy.

You must ask, "What do we mean by great results?" Your goals don't have to be quantifiable, but they do have to be describable. Some leaders try to insist, "The only acceptable goals are measurable," but that's actually an undisciplined statement. Lots of goals-beauty, quality, life change, love-are worthy but not quantifiable. But you do have to be able to tell if you're making progress.

The drive for progress doesn't wait for the external world to say "It's time to change."

The purpose of bureaucracy is to compensate for incompetence and lack of discipline.

Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.