Unlike top management at Enron, exemplary leaders reward dissent. They encourage it. They understand that, whatever momentary discomfort they experience as a result of being told they might be wrong, it is more than offset by the fact that the information will help them make better decisions.

If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to a single rule, it would be to speak truth to power.

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.

Encourage dissent: Leaders should have associates who have contrary views, who are devil's advocates, "variance sensors" who can tell them the difference between what is expected and what is really happening, between what they want to hear and what they need to hear. There are too many naked emperors running around today.

Leaders are people who do the right thing: managers are people who do things right. Both roles are crucial, but they differ profoundly. I often observe people in top positions doing wrong things well.

Create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then translate that vision into a reality.

The opposite of hope is despair, and when we despair, it is because we feel there are no choices.