If I were to give off-the-cuff advice to anyone trying to institute change, I would say, "How clear is the metaphor?"

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.

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

Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them.

The ability to plan for what has not yet happened, for a future that has only been imagined, is one of the hallmarks of leadership.

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

Recognize and respect mutual self-interests, then build creative collaborations to serve them.