Ginni Rometty Quotes

It is the swimmer who first leaps into the frozen stream who is cut sharpest by the ice; those who follow him find it broken, and the last find it gone. It is the men or women who first tread down the path which the bulk of humanity will ultimately follow, who must find themselves at last in solitudes where the silence is deadly.

I think the character of a man is to establish something where no one else has ever done before.

Pioneers may be picturesque figures, but they are often rather lonely ones.

Like all pioneers I have labored more in faith and hope.

The pioneers get all the arrows.

Leaders are the ones who have the courage to go first, to put themselves at personal risk to open a path for others to follow.

It requires bravery to do something no one else around you is doing.

I like entrepreneurial people; I like people who take risks.

There are times when a leader must move out ahead of the flock, go off in a new direction, confident that he is leading his people the right way.

Leaders must go ahead even when moving ahead is controversial. You must be ahead of time, because if you want to represent the status quo, what do you need leaders for?

Memorable people do memorable things. Followers are seldom remembered. The herd mentality is the killer of innovation. When appropriate, be bold in your undertakings.

Pioneering is the work of individuals.

It takes vision and courage to create

A man of my acquaintance once wrote a poem called "The Road Less Traveled", describing a journey he took through the woods along a path most travelers never used. The poet found that the road less traveled was peaceful but quite lonely, and he was probably a bit nervous as he went along, because if anything happened on the road less traveled, the other travelers would be on the road more frequently traveled and so couldn't hear him as he cried for help. Sure enough, that poet is dead.

What I love about being a member of KISS is that we're the 'John Glenns' of rock - we always have to be the first in anything we do, and I love that.

This business is always changing. If you're going to be a leader, you've got to take chances.

Well, I think that - I think leadership's always been about two main things: imagination and courage.

Only a few act - the rest of us reap the benefits of their risk.

People have laughed at all great inventors and discoverers.

Necessity is the mother of taking chances.

Don't follow trends, start trends.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Take our own company as an example: We're living proof, we jump with our own parachutes.

It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.

That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.