You need people who have their own views, whose views you respect, whom you can have a productive disagreement with, and work out ideas which you might not have come up with, or who improve on ideas you had.
Interpretation
Valuing diverse perspectives fosters constructive dialogue and innovation.
This quote emphasizes the importance of surrounding oneself with individuals who possess their own opinions and insights, as they contribute to meaningful discussions. Engaging with people who can challenge your ideas respectfully not only leads to better outcomes but can also help refine and improve your original thoughts, ultimately enhancing creativity and decision-making in leadership contexts.
In practice
In a team meeting when discussing a new project, I can remind everyone: 'You need people who have their own views, whose views you respect, whom you can have a productive disagreement with.'
If we did not have a sense of who we were, how we got here, why we want to achieve something - which, on the face of it, on the logic of it, is probably not worth trying - and prove that logic wrong, then you wouldn't succeed; then you would just evaporate.
Just as our forefathers saved and invested to build what we, the current generation, are enjoying today, so, too, we must plant trees so that our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters, can enjoy the shade.
When people say they don't want a nanny state, they are, in fact, in a conflicted state of mind. On the one hand, they want to do whatever they want and not be stopped. On the other hand, if something goes wrong, they want to be rescued.
You need to have good people: honourable, capable, committed in politics, standing in public office. It's not a guarantee, but it's the ideal we have to aim for.
No government prospers by saying, 'I don't need to do anything. Just by being there, we have made the country thrive.'
The natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally; but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, and of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the test of a great general.
Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
I'm so proud to see that I went through an era when it wasn't popular to be an African-American quarterback. Then, to see how things have turned around. It's not about the African-American quarterback. It's about the quarterback who has an ability to do everything.
Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them.
Women, it turns out, are built to lead - particularly in the modern world.
Exercising leadership is an expression of your aliveness... But when you cover yourself up, you risk losing something as well. In the struggle to save yourself, you can give up too many of those qualities that are the essence of being alive, like innocence, curiosity, and compassion.
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