Ben Affleck Quotes

If you're a leader at any level and your people aren't challenging you, you've got to change that or you can't be a leader here because you're not going to be using ideas, you're not going to have innovation, you're not going to fully develop your people. And if you're working in a group and you don't challenge, then you're not really doing your job.

Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.

As a director, you're a bit of a dictator. But I feel that you're a better director if you're open to other people's ideas. It means that it's tougher: you have to be in a choosing process; you have to put the ego aside. As long as everybody's aiming in the same direction... I'm open to my main partners in the film crew.

It's great, getting the scripts and working with somebody like Sam Esmail, who is such a great leader.

In animation, the directors are part of a huge team of animators who all have opinions, too. It's a much more democratic process. Also, the animation executives oversee things more.

Getting every employee's mind into the game is a huge part of what a CEO job is all about. Taking everyone's best ideas and transferring them to others is the secret. There's nothing more important.

I think the leadership of a company should encourage the next generation not just to follow, but to overtake. The duty of leadership is to put forward ideas, symbols, metaphors of the way it should be done, so that the next generation can work out new and better ways of doing the job. The complaint Gordon and I have is that we are not being overtaken by our staff. We would like to be able to say, "We can't keep up with you guys", but, it is not happening.

You can inspire people to give you greatness, or you can micro-manage them into your own one specific kernel of an idea. To me, I think that when you inspire people to give their best, then you're going to get the best result.

Most people think leadership is about being in charge. Most people think leadership is about having all the answers and being the most intelligent person or the most qualified person in the room. The irony is that it is the complete opposite. Leadership is about empowering others to achieve things they did not think possible. Leadership is about pointing in the direction, articulating a vision of the world that does not yet exist. Then asking help from others to insure that vision happens.

I was a pretty good coach and working with marketing was like coaching.

Cause I was such a novice and thank God that Sarah was as seasoned as she was because she was really a great leader in that regard in the sense that she would communicate really well with the crew.

The smartest thing a director can do is surround himself with really good people.

Hire people who are smarter than you, and don't be afraid to work with them as partners. Make it clear that you plan to learn from them, not just the other way around. The right, smart, motivated people respond very well to that approach, particularly coming from a younger manager like I am.

I enjoy directing more when I don't have to direct myself. I like when I can just be the director.

The manager of a team is like a stagecoach, he can't move unless he has the horses.

I believe the director's primary role is to create an atmosphere where his company can be created.

Ideas are cheap. The difficult part is finding the team to execute them.

You don't make a movie by yourself; you certainly don't make a TV show by yourself. You invest people in their work. You make people feel comfortable in their jobs; you keep people talking.

I need to build my team around my weaknesses.

BuzzFeed started as a lab with a small team where we would play with ideas.

Usually in features, I'm the lead. I consider the director the captain, but I consider myself the first mate, and it's up to me to keep in contact with the heart of the crew.

Some people say it's scarier to direct the people you work with; not me, I'm a team guy.

One of my favorite things about 'Castle' is the fact our writers and producers are so collaborative. They allow us to bring in ideas, and they try to make them happen for us.

I think of myself as a producer who tries to bring the best out of everyone, whether that be an artist, songwriter or a publicist.

I think, at the end of the day, filmmaking is a team, but eventually there's got to be a captain.