John P. Kotter

Great leaders understand that historical success tends to produce stable and inwardly focused organizations, and these outfits, in turn, reinforce a feeling of contentment with the status quo.

We are always creating new tools and techniques to help people, but the fundamental framework is remarkably resilient, which means it must have something to do with the nature of organizations or human nature.

Managers are trained to make incremental, programmatic improvements. They aren't trained to lead large-scale change.

Because management deals mostly with the status quo and leadership deals mostly with change, in the next century we are going to have to try to become much more skilled at creating leaders.

Outsiders have the intuitive ability to continually view problems in fresh ways and to identify ineffective practices and traditions.

Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.

Many years ago, I think I got my first insight on how an incredibly diverse team can work together and do astonishing things, and not just misunderstand each other and fight.

Leadership is always about change: it's not about mobilising people to do what they've always done well to continue to do it well.

True urgent leadership doesn't drain people. It does the opposite. It energizes them. It makes them feel excited.

If the culture you have is radically different from an 'experiment and take-risk' culture, then you have a big change you going to have to make - and no little gimmicks are going to do it for you.

Neurologists say that our brains are programmed much more for stories than for abstract ideas. Tales with a little drama are remembered far longer than any slide crammed with analytics.

In an ever changing world, you never learn it all, even if you keep growing into your 90s.

People change what they do less because they are given an analysis that shifts their thinking than because they are shown a truth that influences their feelings.

Over the years I have become convinced that we learn best - and change - from hearing stories that strike a chord within us ... Those in leadership positions who fail to grasp or use the power of stories risk failure for their companies and for themselves.

In the final analysis, change sticks when it becomes the way we do things around here.

Overcoming complacency is crucial at the start of any change process, and it often requires a little bit of surprise, something that grabs attention at more than an intellectual level. You need to surprise people with something that disturbs their view that everything is perfect.

Leadership defines what the future should look like, aligns people with that vision, and inspires them to make it happen despite the obstacles.

What's really driving the boom in coaching, is this: as we move from 30 miles an hour to 70 to 120 to 180......as we go from driving straight down the road to making right turns and left turns to abandoning cars and getting motorcycles...the whole game changes, and a lot of people are trying to keep up, learn how not to fall.

We know that leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership.

Leadership produces change. That is its primary function

Good communication does not mean that you have to speak in perfectly formed sentences and paragraphs. It isn't about slickness. Simple and clear go a long way.