Rosabeth Moss Kanter Quotes

No" is always an easier stand than "Yes.

It is crucial to recognize, reward, and celebrate accomplishments.

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.

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

I wonder whether there has been too much emphasis on teaching women to conform, to fit into the system. Certainly that suits conservative organizations in conservative times. But now ... innovation and creativity are necessary.

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.

Winning becomes easier over time as the cornerstones of confidence become habits.

Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.

You've no future unless you add value, create projects.

The Martha Stewart trial makes clear how far women have risen in the business world. America can be proud of our equal-opportunity prosecution and conviction.

Everything looks like a failure in the middle. In neary every change project, doubt is cast on the original vision because problems are mounting and the end is nowhere in sight.

The best way for business to move out of the Hall of Shame is to demonstrate a commitment to social causes. This also makes business sense. A focus on solving social problems has motivational benefits in lean economic times.

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.

Embrace change as an opportunity to learn, to improve, to make a difference in others' lives as well as in your own. Have the courage to challenge the status quo. Remember that preparation and ambition in combination with opportunity equals success. And have fun!

Corporate men and women, once divided by striking differences in opportunity for career growth, have come to share career chaos.

Leaders must pick causes they won't abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every encounter.

You can always buy something in English, you can't always sell something in English.

The difference between "winners" and "losers" is not whether they face obstacles and setbacks - we all do, and it is inevitable that plans do not unfold exactly as imagined or that unexpected events surprise us or that a few mistakes happen. The real difference is that "winners" bounce back from a fumble or a loss by refusing to panic, analyzing the situation and looking for positive actions they can take to correct the problem, and then go on to resume winning.

Power is the ability to get things done

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.

Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation.

Peter Drucker being one of the most important influences because he has helped to think differently about organizational leadership and management. Frankly, I learn something of value from everyone I meet. My Harvard colleagues. My students. The executives I work with. For an eager student, which is what I am, there is so much to be learned from everyday experiences. I'm a sponge. Always will be.

Sometimes you lose - perhaps because you play against the very best, or because surprises happen - but if there is organizational confidence, you bounce back from losses and convert them to successes.

in most important ways, leaders of the future will need the traits and capabilities of leaders throughout history: an eye for change and a steadying hand to provide both vision and reassurance that change can be mastered, a voice that articulates the will of the group and shapes it to constructive ends, and an ability to inspire by force of personality while making others feel empowered to increase and use their own abilities.

Throughout human history, people have developed strong loyalties to traditions, rituals, and symbols. In the most effective organizations, they are not only respected but celebrated. It is no coincidence that the most highly admired corporations are also among the most profitable. Why? Because everyone involved is committed to certain non-negotiable core values. Traditions keep them alive. Rituals such as special occasions reaffirm them. Symbols serve as constant reminders of their enduring importance.

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

The boomers' biggest impact will be on eliminating the term 'retirement' and inventing a new stage of life... the new career arc.

The more closed the circle, the more difficult it is for 'outsiders' to break in. Their very difficulty in entering may be taken as a sign of incompetence, a sign that the insiders were right to close their ranks.

The goal of winning is not losing two times in a row.

The most radical thing we can do is connect people to one another. That starts conversations toward a vision for change.

"Leadership" is a big topic today. We know that the world - nations and communities in addition to companies - needs more and better leaders. So I wanted to explore how leaders make a difference, how they can shift a negative cycle, turn around a losing organization, propel a team to victory when conditions aren't perfect. I saw that what leaders do is build confidence in advance of victory. Then the confidence they produce makes the hope of success turn into the reality of success, because people behave differently when they are surrounded by a culture of confidence.

Innovation is an outgrowth of initiative, and initiative - taking positive actions in a belief that your actions can make a difference - is a big part of confidence.

Competition has never been more threatening than it is now. Innovative thinkers challenge the status quo in their organizations. They are often viewed as "troublemakers." They threaten the defenders of the status quo. So competition within an organization can also be brutal. The most effective leaders overcome "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom" by being change agents themselves. They encourage and reward innovative thinking. I have observed that people only resist changes imposed on them by other people.

A basic truth of management - if not of life - is that nearly everything looks like a failure in the middle.

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

People who are making decisions about the future often don't have access to some of the best ideas in the company, which may be at the periphery or at lower levels.

Everything looks like a failure in the middle.

The way innovating companies are designed leaves ambiguities, overlaps, decision conflicts or decision vacuums in some parts of the organisation. People rail at this, curse it-and invent innovative ways to overcome it.

Passion for a goal doesn't guarantee success, but without it, you can't even begin.

During the Boom Years, it was so easy to lose sight of basic values. For example, there was lots of nonsense said and written about the so-called "New Economy." Some people said all economic laws have been overturned! Then all the problems developed. Corporations were heavily fined for illegalities. Many of their senior-level executives were indicted, convicted, and sent to prison.

I've been looking at companies that are on a positive path vs. a negative path and I've come to use the language of sports, winning streaks and losing streaks.

Powerlessness corrupts: absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely.

Thinkers, makers and traders are the DNA of the world class company