It's been my experience that the people who gain trust, loyalty, excitement, and energy fast are the ones who pass on the credit to the people who have really done the work. A leader doesnt need any credit... He's getting more credit than he deserves anyway.

A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong - that's healthy.

When you get right down to it, one of the most important tasks of a leader is to eliminate his people's excuse for failure.

To keep an organization young and fit, don't hire anyone until everybody's so overworked they'll be glad to see the newcomer no matter where he sits.

If people are coming to work excited. . . if they're making mistakes freely and fearlessly. . . if they're having fun. . . if they're concentrating on doing things rather than preparing reports and going to meetings-then somewhere you have leaders.

A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs.

A good leader needs to have a compass in his head and a bar of steel in his heart.