The first job of a leader is to define a vision for the organization...the capacity to translate vision into reality.

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.

Leaders are people who do the right thing: managers are people who do things right. Both roles are crucial, but they differ profoundly. I often observe people in top positions doing wrong things well.

This duality, making yourself better while teaching and developing others' judgment capabilities, is the key to leadership that is both productive and principled.

The leader...is rarely the brightest person in the group. Rather they have extraordinary taste, which makes them more curators than creators. They are appreciators of talent and nurturers of talent and they have the ability to recognize valuable ideas.

Every great group is an island... but an island with a bridge to the mainland.

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