Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies that get the most from champions, therefore, are those that have rich support network so their pioneers will flourish. This point is so important it's hard to overstress. No support systems, no champions. No champions, no innovations.

It doesn't matter what product or service you're offering; there is unlimited ability to improve the quality of anything.

I'm about as far from being a flag-waver - you won't find any American flag pins in my drawer - as someone can be.

With most competitors moving ever faster, the race will go to those who listen (and respond) most intently.

If silly things were not done, intelligent things would never happen.

Only pissed-off people change the world.

Community. A friend started a real estate brokerage a few years ago. By the time she'd added her second employee, she was a pillar of her 35,000-person community. No rule says that only the local banker or car dealer can organize the program to raise supplemental funds for the public library or send the high school band on a well-earned special trip. Participating in community affairs, with time more than dollars, is good business from day one. It gets your name around, adds to your distinctiveness, and, best of all, makes you an attractive employer (which is the key to sustained success).