Harold S. Geneen

We must not be hampered by yesterday's myths in concentrating on today's needs.

You cannot run a business, or anything else, on a theory.

A true leader has to have a genuine open-door policy so that his people are not afraid to approach him for any reason.

The worst disease which can afflict business executives in their work is not, as popularly supposed, alcoholism; it's egotism.

Management manages by making decisions and by seeing that those decisions are implemented.

I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them.

It's better to take over and build upon an existing business than to start a new one.

You can know a person by the kind of desk he keeps. If the president of a company has a clean desk then it must be the executive vice president who is doing all the work.

Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Nonperformance can always be explained away.

Uncertainty will always be part of the taking charge process.

If your desk isn't cluttered, you probably aren't doing your job.

He suffered from paralysis by analysis.

You can't run a business or anything else on a theory.

Facts from paper are not the same as facts from people. The reliability of the people giving you the facts is as important as the facts themselves.

Every company has two organizational structures: The formal one is written on the charts; the other is the everyday relationship of the men and women in the organization.

Managers in all too many American companies do not achieve the desired results because nobody makes them do it.

It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises-but only performance is reality.

Management must manage!

It is much more difficult to measure nonperformance than performance.

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.