In order to serve its purpose, a vision has to be a shared vision.

Effective leaders make a full commitment to be a learner, to keep increasing and nourishing their knowledge and wisdom.

Think of a crucible as an occasion for real magic, the creation of something more valuable than an alchemist could possibly imagine. In it, the individual is transformed, changed, created anew. He or she grows in ways that change his or her definition of self.

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.

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

One of the qualities that all the leaders have is a voracious appetite to learn whatever they do not as yet know and understand, coupled with an openness to new experiences.

The basis of leadership is the capacity of the leader to change the mindset, the framework of the other person.