Best Robert Townsend Quotes

If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot.

Many ideas are good for a limited time -- not forever.

A good leader needs to have a compass in his head and a bar of steel in his heart.

True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.

A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong -- that's healthy.

Is what I'm doing or about to do getting us closer to our objective?

Make every decision as if you owned the whole company.

If you don't do it with excellence, don't do it at all! Because if it's not excellent, it won't be profitable or fun, and if you're not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?

Compromise is usually bad. It should be a last resort. If two departments or divisions have a problem they can't solve and it comes up to you, listen to both sides and then pick one or the other. This places solid accountability on the winner to make it work. Condition your people to avoid compromise.

Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch.