Power is America's last dirty word. It is easier to talk about money - and much easier to talk about sex - than it is to talk about power.

... people are capable of more than their organizational positions ever give them the tools or the time or the opportunity to demonstrate.

Pessimists see problems as stemming from stable and universal causes, thus making them less susceptible to corrective action. Optimists, in contrast, view problems as temporary and resulting from specific factors that will either change or be changed.

Change is like putting lipstick on a bulldog. The bulldog's appearance hasn't improved, but now it's really angry.

Leaders is the new organisation do not lack motivational tools, but the tools are different from those of traditional corporate bureaucrats. The new rewards are based not on status but on contribution, and they consist not of regular promotion and automatic pay rises, but of excitement about the mission and a share of the glory of success.

I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons taught us we were entitled to, no matter what the sacrifice.

Life is full of cycles that have a way of perpetuating themselves. Success and failure both feed on themselves. Things can go downhill quickly, with people bogged down by ineffective behavior and poor teamwork, unless leaders intervene to shift the cycle.