Explore Quotes by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Leaders is the new organisation do not lack motivational tools, but the tools are different from those of traditional corporate bureaucrats. The new rewards are based not on status but on contribution, and they consist not of regular promotion and automatic pay rises, but of excitement about the mission and a share of the glory of success.

The very lack of opportunity the group faces creates a self-defeating cycle and puts pressure on members to limit their aspirations.

The commune movement is part of a reawakening of belief in the possibilities for utopia that existed in the nineteenth century and exist again today, a belief that by creating the right social institution, human satisfaction and growth can be achieved.

Leaders must pick causes they won't abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every encounter.

Too many people let others stand in their way and don't go back for one more try.

Leaders must wake people out of inertia. They must get people excited about something they've never seen before, something that does not yet exist.

People often resist change for reasons that make good sense to them, even if those reasons don't correspond to organizational goals. So it is crucial to recognize, reward, and celebrate accomplishments.

I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons taught us we were entitled to, no matter what the sacrifice.

The goal of winning is not losing two times in a row.

Everything looks like a failure in the middle.

Power is the ability to get things done

Change is a threat when done to me, but an opportunity when done by me.

Creativity is a lot like looking at the world through a kaleidoscope. You look at a set of elements, the same ones everyone else sees, but then reassemble those floating bits and pieces into an enticing new possibility.

The positive outlook that optimists project does not come from ignoring or denying problems. Optimists simply assume that problems are temporary and can be solved, so optimists naturally want more information about problems because then they can get to work and do something. Pessimists are more likely to believe that there is nothing they can do anyway, so what's the point of even thinking about it?

Pessimists see problems as stemming from stable and universal causes, thus making them less susceptible to corrective action. Optimists, in contrast, view problems as temporary and resulting from specific factors that will either change or be changed.

Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach.

Mindless habitual behavior is the enemy of innovation.

Confidence is the bridge connecting expectations and performance, investment and results.

Winning becomes easier over time as the cornerstones of confidence become habits.

After years of telling corporate citizens to 'trust the system,' many companies must relearn instead to trust their people - and encourage their people to use neglected creative capacities in order to tap the most potent economic stimulus of all: idea power.

A self-reinforcing upward spiral: performance stimulating pride stimulating performance.