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.