Seeing clearly. Thinking broadly. Feeling deeply.
“I think for a lot of people, there's a lot of pride involved and they are reluctant to reach out to someone else when they are in trouble.”
(Kenneth D Wade, CEO of NeighborWorks America, in “NeighborWorks America CEO Kenneth D. Wade.” by Charles Wisniowski. Mortgage Banking: July 2008. Vol. 68, Iss. 10; pg. 19)
“A surefire way to kill an innovative process is to go through the processes and then never implement one of the ideas.”
(Matt Bowen, President and CEO of Aloft Group Inc., in “Small Business Link: Productive Brainstorms Take The Right Mix of Elements.” by Kelly K. Spors. Wall Street Journal: July 24, 2008. pg. B.5)
“A lot of the missteps I've had with individual situations within my career I would attribute to not listening to the degree that I needed to listen.”
(Krista McMasters, CEO of Clifton Gunderson, in “Successor Readies to Take the Lead.” Journal of Accountancy: July 2008. Vol. 206, Iss. 1; pg. 68)
“I've found the harder I work, the luckier I get.”
(Loyd Ivey, Chairman and CEO of Mitek Corp., in “Loyd Ivey.” by Janet Pinkerton. Dealerscope: July 2008. Vol. 50, Iss. 7; pg. 32)
“Happiness is tied to having more free time, so give your employees more of it. Ask them to think about what work can be eliminated from the day. Chances are, 40% of what you do is useless. There are often too many meetings, and you probably don't need to see half of your e-mails.”
(Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, in “The Three-Minute Manager.” by Jia Lynn Yang. Fortune: July 21, 2008. Vol. 158, Iss. 2; pg. 58)
“I've had people tell me they haven't had a vacation in ten years. That's not good. You may not have had a physical vacation, but I know you've had a mental vacation. No one can work ten years straight and not have his mind wander. You need breaks to come back as a better employee.”
(Daniel Amos, Chairman and CEO of Aflac, in “The Three-Minute Manager.” by Jia Lynn Yang. Fortune: July 21, 2008. Vol. 158, Iss. 2; pg. 58)
“I am a great believer in not putting things off and taking on the challenges head on. The fact is we have to improve performance even in the face of tough realities and there is no point in waiting for better times, or for someone else to step in and do their share.”
(Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso, in “European CEO Of The Year.” by Mark Rushton. PPI: May 2008. Vol. 50, Iss. 5; pg. 11)
“Remember to leave the house without your ego and with your sense of humour every day. I'm not sure I do that every day, but I try very hard to.”
(Caryn Lerner, CEO and president of Holt Renfrew & Co., in “Live & Learn: Caryn Lerner.” by Megan Harman. Canadian Business: June 16, 2008. Vol. 81, Iss. 10; pg. 96)
“Know the business your company is in, and have a personal connection with what's happening with customers, suppliers and plant personnel.”
(Rick Jacobs, President of Eaton Filtration, in “The view from the top: Insight on life in the C-suite.” by Paul Teague. Purchasing: June 12, 2008. Vol. 137, Iss. 6; pg. 12)
“I think a leader is a person who can inspire people, who people look up to not because of his position but because of his character and the way he goes about leading his life, and somebody who isn't only profit-driven, but also involved in other areas like community involvement.”
(Sajjad Ebrahim, President of Par-Pak Ltd., in “The Whole Package.” by Umair Abdul. Canadian Plastics: May 2008. Vol. 66, Iss. 5; pg. 14)
“The challenge is to make people comfortable with me and my approach and that I'm sincere. I'm not embarrassed to ask what I don't know and I never lost my sense of curiosity of why things are the way they are. I'm challenging people to think about things differently.”
(Sue Swenson, President and CEO of Sage Software, in “Swenson Calls for Change at Sage.” Alexandra DeFelice. Accounting Technology: June 2008. Vol. 24, Iss. 5; pg. 48)
“It's often hard to explain something so simple to people.
"If you have good employees and listen to what the customers' needs are, you work hard to fulfill those needs. It works out. You get a good return for your shareholders. You've just got to make sure you don't focus on the money, but instead on the customer.”
(Dick Evans, Chairman and CEO of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., in “Strictly by the book.” by Steve Cocheo. American Bankers Association. ABA Banking Journal: May 2008. Vol. 100, Iss. 5; pg. 26)
“I've always been very inquisitive about how do you succeed and, no matter what it is, how do you do things better?”
(Nellie Cournoyea, CEO and Chair of Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, in “Live & Learn.” by Lauren McKeon. Canadian Business: May 12, 2008. Vol. 81, Iss. 8; pg. 72)
“Whether you're in executive management or purchasing and supply chain, it's about relationship building, encouraging teamwork and creating harmony. You have to listen to people, because no matter how big your ideas are, you can't do everything yourself.”
(Rick Jacobs, President of Eaton Filtration, in “The view from the top: Insight on life in the C-suite.” by Paul Teague. Purchasing: June 12, 2008. Vol. 137, Iss. 6; pg. 12)
“I think of myself as a simple CEO, one that likes to find the crucial decision makers within the company, and then give them the freedom to get on with it. I want to be the balancing power.”
(Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso, in “European CEO Of The Year.” by Mark Rushton. PPI: May 2008. Vol. 50, Iss. 5; pg. 11)
“Companies depend on their leaders to make the tough decisions, to keep the business propelled toward the vision and making progress. You need to have passion. You need to be confident, even when you hit a speed bump. You need to have a sensitivity to people, but also be decisive and tough.”
(Caryn Lerner, CEO and president of Holt Renfrew & Co., in “Live & Learn: Caryn Lerner.” by Megan Harman. Canadian Business: June 16, 2008. Vol. 81, Iss. 10; pg. 96)
“Being educated is not just about academics, it's also in the way you treat people and conduct yourself as a person.”
(George Quek, founder and Chairman of BreadTalk Group, Ltd., in “Bakery Titan Began at Bottom.” by Tor Chi Li. Wall Street Journal: July 7, 2008. pg. B.6)
“I think that innovation happens in encounters when you encounter other people and also when you step over some boundary and you combine ideas that haven't been combined before.”
(Marten Mickos, CEO of MySQL, in “Software Firm Is Open for Innovation.” by Josh Hyatt. Wall Street Journal: July 7, 2008. pg. R.3)
“I come with a lot of emotion for our employees. They're not numbers. They're human beings. And there are a million people dependent on Chrysler's success -- employees, dealers, suppliers. So this is a huge emotional challenge for us. This has to work.”
(Bob Nardelli, CEO of Chrysler, in “Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli: Surviving The Perfect Storm.” by Maria Bartiromo. Business Week: June 23, 2008. , Iss. 4089; pg. 23)
“You've got to be out talking to people and having dinner with them. You have to make it safe for them to tell you what's really going on -- the good and the bad. It can be complicated and messy, but if you can get alignment, a lot of good things start happening.”
(Bill Mitchell, CEO of Arrow Electronics, in “What Can CEOs Do to Develop Leaders?” by Jennifer Pellet. Chief Executive: June 2008. , Iss. 234; pg. 50)
“You can go into any corporation in America and you are going to see a set of values somewhere near the entrance. The question is whether it is just something that you put up for show and the cosmetics, or whether it is really something that the organization believes in.”
(Jim Sinegal, Costco Wholesale Corp. co-founder and CEO, in “Integrity and Values.” by Miles K Davis. New England Journal of Entrepreneurship: Fall 2008. Vol. 11, Iss. 2; pg. 9)
“We wanted people to see that effective communication was an integral part of our success. Having everyone on the same page, providing each employee with accurate and up-to-date information, not only empowers them, it also engages them to become more involved in helping our business grow.”
(John Mullen, CEO of DHL Express, in “Delivering on the promise.” by Natasha Nicholson. Communication World: May/Jun 2008. Vol. 25, Iss. 3; pg. 16)
“I see myself as the person who sets the general direction and tone... After that, my role becomes one of coach and mentor.”
(Steve White, President and CEO of Westerty Community Credit Union, in “Grape Expectations.” Credit Union Magazine: May 2008. Vol. 74, Iss. 5; pg. 16)
