Leaders must earn the trust of their teams, their organizations, and their stakeholders before attempting to engage their support.

The leaders I met, whatever walk of life they were from, whatever institutions they were presiding over, always referred back to the same failure something that happened to them that was personally difficult, even traumatic, something that made them feel that desperate sense of hitting bottom-as something they thought was almost a necessity. It's as if at that moment the iron entered their soul; that moment created the resilience that leaders need.

Without character, there is no credibility; and without credibility, there is no trust.

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity.

Understand the "Gretzky Factor": Cultivate an instinct, a "touch", call it what you will, that enables you to know both where the "puck" is now and where it will be soon.

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

Organizations should try to find out if their learning programs actually work.