The importance of discretion increases with closeness to the top of a hierarchical organization.

Leaders must wake people out of inertia. They must get people excited about something they've never seen before, something that does not yet exist.

Too many people let others stand in their way and don't go back for one more try.

Lack of opportunity breeds dreams of escape. But professionals and managers who have invested in their careers do not leave the work force as frequently as discouraged workers in lower status occupations. Instead, they keep working, but they escape emotionally by defining achievement in professional, not company, terms. ... Thus, the potential for being stuck as career uncertainty grows takes its toll in weakening attachment to any particular employer.

Everything looks like a failure in the middle.

The behavior of people and the culture of an organization are very different in winning streaks and losing streaks. But what both have in common is their momentum - once winners' or losers' habits and culture take hold, they tend to perpetuate themselves.

Powerlessness corrupts: absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely.