Rick Riordan Quotes

Caesar was a man of great common sense and good taste, meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage.

Leaders who can push themselves beyond their comfort zones and understand how to harness the power of reverse innovation have the chance to become the next great visionaries.

I think all presidents should take the long view of history.

The first move of leadership is learning to think for yourself.

I had discovered long ago the first lesson of political courage: to think anew. I had then learned the second: to be prepared to lead and to decide. I was now studying the third: how to take the calculated risk. I was going to alienate some people, like it or not. The moment you decide, you divide.

Most great leaders in history that I've studied always need to get as wide a range of opinions as possible so that they can have sufficient information to make the right decisions.

If you give the boss all the decision-making power, they see the world through their eyes. The big innovations are generally such a shift that they won't see it. For a long time, it looked like it was just inevitable that you would get slow and bureaucratic.

It is surely no coincidence that Napoleon's two greatest heroes were Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. In certain respects, he would outdo them both.

Great leaders are not proverbial fence sitters. They judge. They opine. They challenge. They fight for their vision.

Leadership is about having the courage to go against the advice of the so-called experts and doing what your instinct tells you is right.

My father, a Vietnam War pilot, used to tell me that the only really bad decisions are the ones you stick to even when you get facts that support a change in the mission.

Leaders have to be intensely aware and be bold and flexible enough to adjust course ahead of impending changes.

Obviously everyone wants to play a certain way but when you get into certain moments you need someone to hold it up or if you are losing a game, go long.

The most valuable real estate in the world lies between the president's ears.

I can sit in the boardroom and battle it out, step up and be a project manager, take risks, and put my ideas alongside anybody's.

A good leader... maintains a balance between emotional drive and sound thinking.

It is impossible to be a maverick or a true original if you're too well behaved and don't want to break the rules. You have to think outside the box. That's what I believe. After all, what is the point of being on this earth if all you want to do is be liked by everyone and avoid trouble?

The real heart of strategy is the strategist.

Most people believe that great leaders are distinguished by their ability to give compelling answers. This profound book shatters that assumption, showing that the more vital skill is asking the right questions…. Berger poses many fascinating questions, including this one: What if companies had mission questions rather than mission statements? This is a book everyone ought to read—without question.

All great leaders constantly seek new information and new ways of thinking.

It isn't enough to think outside the box. Thinking is passive. Get used to acting outside the box.

Making good judgments when one has complete data, facts, and knowledge is not leadership - it's bookkeeping

Here lay the political genius of Franklin Roosevelt: that in his own time he knew what were the questions that had to be answered, even though he himself did not always find the full answer.

Good thinkers are always in demand. A person who knows how may always have a job, but the person who knows why will always be his boss.