We spend a lot of time teaching leaders what to do. We don't spend enough time teaching leaders what to stop. Half the leaders I have met don't need to learn what to do. They need to learn what to stop Peter Drucker More Quotes by Peter Drucker More Quotes From Peter Drucker Success always obsoletes the very behavior that achieved it. Peter Drucker behavior An effective executive builds on strengths - their own strengths, the strengths of superiors, colleagues, subordinates, and on the strength of the situation. Peter Drucker executivescolleaguessituation For the social ecologist language is not "communication." It is not just "message." It is substance. It is the cement that holds humanity together. It creates community and communication. ...Social ecologists need not be "great" writers; but they have to be respectful writers, caring writers. Peter Drucker communicationcommunitycaring Our job in life is to make a positive difference, not prove we're right. Peter Drucker differenceslife-isjobs Some of the best business and nonprofit CEOs I've worked with over a sixty-five-year consulting career were not stereotypical leaders. They were all over the map in terms of their personalities, attitudes, values, strengths, and weaknesses. Peter Drucker strengthattitudeyears Profitability is the sovereign criterion of the enterprise. Peter Drucker criteriasovereignbusiness Knowledge is information that changes something Peter Drucker informationbecomingdifferent Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only senior executives' decisions matter. This is a dangerous mistake. Peter Drucker seniorbusinessmistake A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge. Peter Drucker learningworkknowledge Leaders shouldn?t attach moral significance to their ideas: Do that, and you can?t compromise. Peter Drucker moralleaderideas The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers. Peter Drucker definitionsfollowersleader Ideas are somewhat like babies - they are born small, immature, and shapeless. They are promise rather than fulfillment. In the innovative company executives do not say, "This is a damn-fool idea." Instead they ask, "What would be needed to make this embryonic, half-baked, foolish idea into something that makes sense, that is an opportunity for us?" Peter Drucker opportunitybabyideas It has been said, and only half in jest, that a tough, professionally led union is a great force for improving management performance. It forces the manager to think about what he is doing and to be able to explain his actions and behavior. Peter Drucker unionshalfthinking Conductors do not know how the oboe does its work, but they know what the oboe should contribute. Peter Drucker oboesshoulddoe Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced. Entrepreneurs need to search purposefully for the sources of innovation, the changes and their symptoms that indicate opportunities for successful innovation. And they need to know and to apply the principles of successful innovation. Peter Drucker creativitystresssuccess Business is society's change agent. Peter Drucker change-agentagents Today knowledge has power. It controls access to opportunity and advancement. Peter Drucker wiseeducationknowledge The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that there are no results inside its walls. The result of a business is a satisfied customer. Peter Drucker walleducationalinspirational Great wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data. Peter Drucker datamarketingaction There's nothing so useless than executing a task efficiently when it actually never should have been executed at all. Peter Drucker uselesstasksshould-have
