Understand the "Pygmalion Effect": Leaders should always expect the very best of those around them. They know that people can change and grow.

Recognize the skills and traits you don't possess, and hire the people who have them.

This is more than just having a vision. You can see the difference in the often-cited way in which Steve Jobs brought in John Sculley to take over Apple. At the time, Sculley was destined to be the head of Pepsico. The clincher came when Jobs asked him, "How many more years of your life do you want to spend making colored water when you can have an opportunity to come here and change the world?"

The learning person looks forward to failure or mistakes. The worst problem in leadership is basically early success.

Understand the "Pygmalion Effect": Leaders should always expect the very best of those around them. They know that people can change and grow.

I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is more improvisation.

People who cannot invent and reinvent themselves must be content with borrowed postures, secondhand ideas, fitting in instead of standing out.