Larry Bossidy (Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done)

“I saw that leaders placed too much emphasis on what some call high-level strategy, on intellectualizing and philosophizing, and not enough on implementation. People would agree on a project or initiative, and then nothing would come of it.”—Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“Execution is a systematic process of rigorously discussing hows and whats, tenaciously following through, and ensuring accountability.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“Execution is the job of the business leader “Execution is the job of the business leader.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

(“Leaders ‘do’ people. Period.” —TP)

The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors The Leader’s Seven Essential Behaviors *Know your people and your business *Insist on realism *Set clear goals and priorities *Follow through *Reward the doers *Expand people’s capabilities *Know yourself Source: Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“Realism is the heart of execution “Realism is the heart of execution.” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“robust dialogue” —Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

“The person who is a little less conceptual but is absolutely determined to succeed will usually find the right people and get them together to achieve objectives. I’m not knocking education or looking for dumb people. But if you have to choose between someone with a staggering IQ and an elite education who’s gliding along, and someone with a lower IQ but who is absolutely determined to succeed, you’ll always do better with the second person.” —Larry Bossidy (Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan/ Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done)

Duct Tape Rules! “Andrew Higgins, who built landing craft in WWII, refused to hire graduates of engineering schools. He believed that they only teach you what you can’t do in engineering school. He started off with 20 employees, and by the middle of the war had 30,000 working for him. He turned out 20,000 landing craft. D.D. Eisenhower told me, ‘Andrew Higgins won the war for us. He did it without engineers.’ ” —Stephen Ambrose/Fast Company

Ye gads: “Thomas Stanley has not only found no correlation between success in school and an ability to accumulate wealth, he’s actually found a negative correlation. ‘It seems that school-related evaluations are poor predictors of economic success,’ Stanley concluded. What did predict success was a willingness to take risks. Yet the success-failure standards of most schools penalized risk takers. Most educational systems reward those who play it safe. As a result, those who do well in school find it hard to take risks later on.” Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes, Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins