Don't be interesting - be interested.

The most effective leaders of companies in transition are the quiet, unassuming people whose inner wiring is such that the worst circumstances bring out their best. They're unflappable, they're ready to die if they have to. But you can trust that, when bad things are happening, they will become clearheaded and focused.

A dream is a feeling that sticks - and propels.

If your company disappeared, would it leave a gaping hole that could not easily be filled by any other enterprise on the planet?

I see the Baldrige process as a powerful set of mechanisms for disciplined people engaged in disciplined thought and taking disciplined action to create great organizations that produce exceptional results.

Start a 'Stop Doing' list. I'll leave it as an existential dilemma on whether to put that task on your To Do list

If we allow the celebrity rock-star model of leadership to triumph, we will see the decline of corporations and institutions of all types. The twentieth century was a century of greatness, but we face the very real prospect that the next century will see very few enduring great institutions.