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.'
I had worked hard my entire career to establish myself as a leader. But I wasn't a leader until I was perceived as one.
Leadership is all about people … and getting the most out of people.
Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
My vision of a 'new world order' foresees a United Nations with a revitalized peacekeeping function.
I was raised with traditional stories of leadership: Robert E. Lee, John Buford at Gettysburg. And I also was raised with personal examples of leadership. This was my father in Vietnam. And I was raised to believe that soldiers were strong and wise and brave and faithful; they didn't lie, cheat, steal, or abandon their comrades.
It's very important in a leadership role not to place your ego at the foreground and not to judge everything in relationship to how your ego is fed.
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