Great Groups need to know that the person at the top will fight like a tiger for them.

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

Charisma is the result of effective leadership, not the other way around.

People in great groups have blinders on. Their work is all they see. They value failures as learning opportunities. They are optimistic, not realistic, as they proceed from one challenge and crisis to the next.

Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, sensitive or assertive, but about a set of attributes. First and foremost is character

This is more than just having a vision. You can see the difference in the often-cited way in which Steve Jobs brought in John Sculley to take over Apple. At the time, Sculley was destined to be the head of Pepsico. The clincher came when Jobs asked him, "How many more years of your life do you want to spend making colored water when you can have an opportunity to come here and change the world?"

Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary.