(Pg 36) I always felt that our triumphs were an expression of the consistent application of discipline. It may surprise some to learn that much of the success comes from not getting carried away or trying to do the impossible and taking too many risks
(Pg 103) I was looking for four principal virtues. The first was a desire to lead on the field...the third was a person whom the other players would respect as a leader and whose instructions they would follow
(Pg 113) Be careful about the way you define success. I was always careful about setting specific, long range targets.
(Pg 118) You don't get the best out of people by hitting them with an iron rod. You do so by gaining their respect...convincing them that they are capable of improving their performance.
(Pg 118) It turns out that the two most powerful words in the English dictionary are 'Well done'
(Pg 123) A strong personality is an expression of inner strength and fortitude
(Pg 145) When I interview someone, I want to know how ambitious they are of whether they are just thinking about a job as a stepping-stone to something else...I want to measure the level of their commitment...for eye contact and for personal courage.
(Pg 145) For example, someone who sits up properly and is leaning forward a little is showing that they are eager to start.
(Pg 148) A network takes time to develop. Part comes through the passage of time, part from the way you treat others and part from reciprocity.
(Pg 178) But we are all haunted by failure. It paralyses some and motivates others.
(Pg 204) In team meetings it's important to maintain eye-contact and look directly at the players because it adds intensity to the delivery of the message.
(Pg 212) People don't want mundane recitals of the obvious. They want to read something different and learn about the unexpected.
(Pg 225) Authority, and the exercise of control, rests on possessing the confidence of those who provide it.
(Pg 237) And would concentrate the ones who could look me in the eye.
(Pg 237) I was always very careful that my control was not usurped. That explains why I sold players who tried to undermine my control.
(Pg 244) Two types of decisions too early and too late...earlier rather than later.
(Pg 267) The more powerful incentives are to appeal to their competitive instinct, the pride they have in their profession and the prospect of a winner's medal. Bonuses get spent. Medals are forever.
(Pg 273) Negotiations are often irrational.
(Pg 292) Understanding the character of the payer and the sort of upbringing he had received.
(Pg 323) I arrived with too many preconceived ideas.
(Pg 326) A leader who arrives in a new setting, or inherits a big role, needs to curb the impulse to display his manhood.
(Pg 350) Sequoia Capital has to constantly fight for its place in the world.
(Pg 353) We contend with issues around recruitment, team-building, setting of standard, questions of inspiration and motivation, avoiding complacency, the arrival of new competitors and the continual need to refresh and purge our under-performers.
(Pg 354) Many, of course, were felled by managers who made the wrong choices, through themselves invulnerable and were undone by a combination of ineptitude and vanity.
(Pg 364) The trick lies not in memorizing some list of rudiments of leadership (which any intelligent 14 year old can do) but, rather, having the stamina, knowledge, and skill to consistently implement them...preparation, perseverance and patience.
(Pg 365) A great leader possesses and unusual, and essential characteristic - he will think and operate like an owner, or a person who owns a substantial stake of the business, even if, in a financial or legal sense, he is neither.
(Pg 369) Mastery of a particular field remains a prerequisite for leadership, because it is the breeding ground for inner conviction.
(Pg 370) Whatever form it takes, the underlying propellant is an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge.
(Pg 372) on Bill Gates: The enforced solitary confinement when he decamped twice a year to pore over technical papers and books, both helped eliminate the noise.
(Pg 376) Intel reinvented their business, Nividia's first product was a failure...Webvan we abandoned common sense in a haphazard pursuit of mindless growth.
(Pg 377) Was careful to build success one step at a time.
(Pg 379) 'At United we expect to win every game'
(Pg 383) No organization has ever achieved greatness by perpetually reacting to its competitors. You cannot lead by following. The businesses that are consigned to eternal mediocrity are those led by people who do not know what they want.
