Donald Rumsfeld

The Secretary of Defense is not a super General or Admiral. His task is to exercise civilian control over the Department for the Commander-in-Chief and the country.

Your performance depends on your people. Select the best, train them and back them. When errors occur, give sharper guidance. If errors persist or if the fit feels wrong, help them move on. The country cannot afford amateur hour in the White House.

Learn to say “I don’t know.” If used when appropriate, it will be often.

When asked for your views, by the press or others, remember that what they really want to know is the President’s views.

Public servants are paid to serve the American people. Do it well.

I don’t do quagmires.

The best leaders are humble enough to realize their victories depend upon their people.

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

I like to praise and reward in a loud voice and to scold in a whisper.

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.

The art of leadership is a serious matter. One must not lag behind a movement, because to do so is to become isolated from the masses. But one must not rush ahead, for to rush ahead is to lose contact with the masses. He who wished to lead a movement must conduct a fight on two fronts–against those who lag behind and those who rush ahead.

Leaders who are effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives.

It’s easy to demonise people, you’re usually wrong about it, people are nicer than you think.

I judge people based on their capability, honesty, and merit.

If you aspire to be a leader of your own country, you must speak your own language, for God’s sake.

If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?

When the leader lacks confidence, the followers lack commitment.

Even as entrepreneurs, we rely on people to get things done. We may have the original idea, but moving it forward can involve hundreds of people. Every person becomes integral to the overall success.

Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.