Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
Let your family, staff, and friends know that you’re still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers – they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
Don’t automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn’t considered key aspects of the issue.
Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented.
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
Amidst all the clutter, beyond all the obstacles, aside from all the static, are the goals set. Put your head down, do the best job possible, let the flak pass, and work towards those goals.
Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.
Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.
Our task, your task… is to try to connect the dots before something happens. People say, ‘Well, where’s the smoking gun?’ Well, we don’t want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction.
There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.
Presidential leadership needn’t always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.
The Federal Government should be the last resort, not the first. Ask if a potential program is truly a federal responsibility or whether it can better be handled privately, by voluntary organizations, or by local or state governments.
In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.
Imagine, a September 11 with weapons of mass destruction. It’s not 3,000. It’s tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children.
Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
If you try to please everybody, somebody’s not going to like it.
Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.
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