Madeleine Albright

As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person that I should try to change is me.

I feel like the thing we can do is celebrate people doing great work and create more cultural momentum and awareness that this is an important thing in the world. So when the next economic crisis hits and people are talking about where to cut from the budget, science isn’t the thing.

I have a very simple rule when it comes to management: hire the best people from your competitors, pay them more than they were earning, and give them bonuses and incentives based on their performance. That’s how you build a first-class operation.

I judge people based on their capability, honesty, and merit.

If you aspire to be a leader of your own country, you must speak your own language, for God’s sake.

Rule a kingdom as though you were cooking a small fish – don’t overdo it.

The best leaders are humble enough to realize their victories depend upon their people.

Even as entrepreneurs, we rely on people to get things done. We may have the original idea, but moving it forward can involve hundreds of people. Every person becomes integral to the overall success.

A great leader has to be flexible, holding his ground on the major principles but finding room for compromises that can bring people together. A great leader has to be savvy at negotiations so we don’t drown every bill in pork barrel bridges to nowhere. I know how to stand my ground – but I also know that Republicans and Democrats need to find common ground to stand on as well.

You don’t reward failure by promoting those responsible for it, because all you get is more failure.

The art of leadership is a serious matter. One must not lag behind a movement, because to do so is to become isolated from the masses. But one must not rush ahead, for to rush ahead is to lose contact with the masses. He who wished to lead a movement must conduct a fight on two fronts–against those who lag behind and those who rush ahead.

The very essence of leadership is having vision.

Everything rises and falls on leadership.

In real life, if I were firing you, I’d tell you what a great job you did, how fantastic you are, and how you can do better someplace else. If somebody steals, that’s different, but generally speaking, you want to let them down as lightly as possible. It’s not a very pleasant thing. I don’t like firing people.

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.