Yquotes.com

 

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.
--
Chapter 12, p. 330

 

John Kenneth Galbraith

» John Kenneth Galbraith - all quotes »

Similar quotes

 

The great secret, known to internists and learned early in marriage by internist’s wives, but still hidden from the general public, is that most things get better by themselves. Most things, in fact, are better by morning. Obviously, it is a great time-saver and money-saver for the physician’s family that anxiety about disease is not handled as though it were the disease itself; there is perhaps greater willingness to accept anxiety as a natural, often transient, phenomenon. And certainly there is much less ambition to deploy the full technology of medicine as a corrective for the human condition.

 

Lewis Thomas

 

For nearly five years, the positive leadership, sound judgment, and unceasing efforts of Secretary of Defense Charles Erwin Wilson, have been major factors in strengthening the security of the United States and its allies against aggression.
Under his guidance, the effectiveness of the armed forces of the United States has been greatly increased. Their strategic deployment to endangered parts of the world has been a major factor in the preservation of peace. Military assistance programs, including the provision of modern weapons, carried out under his supervision, have bolstered the will and determination of our allies to resist aggression. The common defense of free nations has been greatly furthered by his frequent discussions with foreign leaders both abroad and at home.

 

Charles Erwin Wilson

 

I see more of what leadership is about, in the absence of it. It's an instinct for good ideas. An aversion to bad ones. Compromise on indifferent ones. Power is another matter. Power is not leadership but coercion. People follow leaders because they want to.

 

Robert Hunter

 

In many ways we have the young people, we have the talent, we have the imagination, we have the technology. But I don't believe we have the leadership and the willingness to accept risk, to achieve great goals. I believe we need a long-term national commitment to explore the universe. And I believe this is an essential investment in the future of our nation — and our beautiful, but environmentally challenged planet.

 

Eugene F. Gene Kranz

 

While we call role models 'leaders', most 'leaders' are really followers. Most 'leaders' follow their bribes. And we are the people who offer the bribes. We in essence give men two bribes to risk their lives: pay and praise... A man who self-selects for a death profession expects his body to be used in exchange for pay. The unspoken motto of the death professions is 'My body, not my choice.'

 

Warren Farrell