The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.

Government is like an onion. To understand it, you have to peel through many different layers. Most outsiders never get beyond the first or second layer.

All claims deserve consideration but some claims are more important than others.

Keep reminding people of what's important and that their fates are correlated.

Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person.

In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and conflicting demands, often under great time pressure, leaders must make decisions and take effective actions to assure the survival and success of their organizations. This is how leaders add value to their organizations. They lead them to success by exercising good judgment, by making smart calls when especially difficult and complicated decisions simply must be made, and then ensuring that they are well executed.

Our tendency to create heroes rarely jibes with the reality that most nontrivial problems require collective solutions.