Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

I believe that the capacity that any organisation needs is for leadership to appear anywhere it is needed, when it is needed.

Very often, we think of leadership being at the very top of an organisation. I think what's unique about ABG is that we have a very strong cadre of leaders across the organisation who are highly empowered and therefore play a very major role in the growth and evolution of the organization.

The basic DNA we've got to implant in leaders now is adaptability: not to get wedded to the solution to a particular problem, because not only the problem but the solution changes day to day. Creating people who are hardwired for that is going to be our challenge for the future.

It's better to be in charge of change than to have to react to change.

Uncertainty is a permanent part of the leadership landscape. It never goes away.

Founders go wrong when they start to believe their business plan will materialize as written. I advise entrepreneurs to burn their business plan - it's simply too dangerous to the health of your business.

You can't build an adaptable organization without adaptable people - and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to.

Nobody has a crystal ball, and part of evolving a business plan is to say, 'I might have said we're going left, but I see the opportunity and we're going right.'

When you deal with change, you have a couple choices: you can lead it and make the rules, or you can be a fast follower, or you can be a slow follower.

At IBM, if we kept our same leadership for 36 years, we'd be bankrupt.

The essence of statesmanship is not a rigid adherence to the past, but a prudent and probing concern for the future.

When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.

We cannot assume that past successes will insure future successes.

It was a hallmark of Nelson Mandela's leadership that being open to change made him appear not weaker, but even stronger.

What matters in the Sun-tzu universe are not positions of strength and power, but situations in which you have options, full of potential force.

Strategy is, at some level, the ability to predict what's going to happen, but it's also about understanding the context in which it is being formulated. And then you have to be open-minded to the fact that you're not going to get it right at the very beginning.

I think I've changed my business strategy every year since 2003. You have to be watching the horizon constantly. The rug has been pulled out from under our feet so many times.

The best leaders adapt and are flexible with their situations. I try to be the same.

There are different ways to lead throughout a practice or a year. Whatever that moment needs is something I've always tried to be ready to do.

You change your business plan to anticipate and adapt to changes in the marketplace.

I believe in, 'I do it my way, and you do it your way, and then see what works' pattern. I think that comes with me having worked as an assistant director earlier, which I really enjoyed.

My job is called adaptation. It's always about adapting to new situations, but the core team is going to be the same.

I can adapt to any situation.

I think there is a big and significant difference between being a leader and being a manager-leaders lead from the heart. You have to be analytical and flexible. Flexibility is one of the key ingredients to being successful. If you feel like it's difficult to change, you will probably have a harder time succeeding.

Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations