Frances Hesselbein

Planning defines the particular place you want to be and how you intend to get there. It's a responsibility rather than a technique.

When it comes to communicating change at any time, the mission must be clear, and it must inspire.

Management is the set of skills that can help get things done. Unfortunately, its practice is too often a bag of manipulative tricks to advance someone's own interests, which creates cynicism.

Move beyond the old assumptions, practices, and language that can be barriers to equal access.

The Millennial mindset is one on the pulse of changing technology. They multi-task and enjoy a challenge. They need projects that utilize their knowledge and skills that can connect with their philosophical or deeper interests.

I had read everything Peter Drucker ever wrote.

I always had this philosophy that only the best is good enough for those who serve girls.

I never had any question about the direction we were going in at the Girl Scouts. We shared our mission and research with all levels of leaders from the very beginning - a concept I created, using cups and saucers, called 'circular management.' Everyone was on a team; there were no superiors or subordinates. There was respect for all people.

I thought I'd never leave Pennsylvania. And I never imagined that I'd one day have the chance to lead the largest organization for girls and women around the world.

At a young age, I learned from my grandmother that I should respect all people. Her lessons were defining moments in my life and determined the type of leader that I would become.

The real leader redefines or defines the mission in a very powerful way so that people understand it; it permeates the organization.

Leadership is not a basket of tricks or strategies or skills that you pull out. Leadership begins with the quality of the person.

When I choose what I do, I ask, 'Does it make a difference?'

Listening is an art.

When you see a roadblock or challenge as an opportunity, it is amazing how you are already halfway there.

Selling cookies is usually a girl's first exposure to the world of business. She learns how to meet the public, talk about a product, sell the product, and is responsible for collecting money, giving change, and delivering the product. That's quite a business venture for a 7-year-old.

It is not business, it is not government - it is the social sector that may yet save the society.

With a growing number of one-parent families in the country, the Girl Scout troop can be an indispensable and powerful positive factor.

There's something exhilarating about being in the mountains and talking about management and the future with Peter Drucker.

If you grow up in Germantown, Pennsylvania, as I did, 5:30 means 5:30.