Friendly people are caring people, eager to provide encouragement and support when needed most.

The degree to which the opportunity to use power effectively is granted to or withheld from individuals is one operative difference between those companies which stagnate and those which innovate.

Time is a function of impact. The longer a book of mine has been in print, the greater its impact seems to be as people absorb and digest my ideas. I am especially proud of The Change Master: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the American Corporation, first published in 1983, because it raised questions and addressed issues at a time when so many great changes were occurring in our society, indeed throughout the world.

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.

In the most innovative companies there is a significantly higher volume of thank yous than in companies of low innovation.

It takes courage to speak up against complacency and injustice while others remain silent. But that's what leadership is.

What being among the 'right people' entails is the possession of human capital, rather than organizational capital: an individual reputation, portable skills, and network connections. Career responsibility is squarely in the hands of individuals, a function of their knowledge and networks. Transferable knowledge is more important to a career than firm-specific knowledge.