If you're interested in the job and in the kind of work that's done, you have to have an interest in who's going to fill your shoes.
Interpretation
True leadership involves caring about the future and who will carry on the work after you.
In this quote, John Paul Stevens emphasizes the importance of succession in leadership. A responsible leader shouldn't only focus on their current role but also consider who will take over and carry forward the mission. This approach fosters a culture of mentorship and ensures that the values and quality of work continue beyond one's tenure.
In practice
In a team meeting about succession planning, you could mention this quote to emphasize the importance of mentoring future leaders.
It might be added that corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their ‘personhood’ often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of ‘We the People’ by whom and for whom our Constitution was established.
But I wound like people to think I was an honest judge and a good judge. And I always tried the reach the best result in every case.
It is not our job to apply laws that have not yet been written.
I think this country would be much better off if we did not have capital punishment.... We cannot ignore the fact that in recent years a disturbing number of inmates on death row have been exonerated.
While money is used to finance speech, money is not speech.
But I really think it's a very unfortunate part of our judicial system and I would feel much, much better if more states would really consider whether they think the benefits outweigh the very serious potential injustice, because in these cases the emotions are very, very high on both sides and to have stakes as high as you do in these cases, there is a special potential for error. We cannot ignore the fact that in recent years a disturbing number of inmates on death row have been exonerated.
That was my first lesson from Ben-Gurion. Then I saw him making peace, and I saw him making war. He mobilized me before the war. The man was a very rare combination between a real intellectual and a born leader. There is a contradiction between the two.
Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them.
When it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round. The same thing was done, if I remember right, by the Founder of Christianity.
It's not my job to judge one of my athletes. Everybody is different. Some are the partying type, some are the studying type, some are ultra-religious, some might be gay. Put it this way: If you can play ball, that's all I care about.
There can be no limitation of that authority which is to provide for the defense and protection of the community in any matter essential to the formation, direction, or support of the NATIONAL FORCES.
Presidents grow up in the White House. The times shape the man.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.