Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Quotes

A director is a choreographer, both politically and creatively.

The recipe for success is a tried and true one here in Rhode Island - innovation, reform, public service.

Obviously I've got a great team of people within the company. You can't operate all by yourself. We have a good board of directors and a big bench, and they can make decisions if I'm not around.

In my opinion, the most important thing in governance is management control.

Running a country is much more difficult than running a campaign.

[Describing her role:] It's like running a big corporation and a little country at the same time.

Presidents ... become hermits only at their peril. Running the executive branch is now a team sport. It is operated best by politicians who thrive on command, possess a fine and sure touch for the levers of power and enjoy the company of those who serve them.

In our government we drive decisions either by leadership of by crises. If the leadership is not there, we rely on crises.

People will give you the responsibility, even the authority, to go after the big things, the visionary things, the reaching for incredible opportunities, if they trust that you're running a city well. And if you don't run a city well, conversely, you can't do the big things.

That's a large part of the job as governor: to create and maintain the optimal balance.

Today, we should look for people with great organizational skills to run a government - not just leaders, who are good with people.

I think that I, because of student government and because of working in Baltimore, knew how to be creative with very little resources.

You've got to demonstrate you're capable of developing policies but, more importantly, you're capable of implementing them.

I am not helpless. Any timid minister will not go forward... I have come here to strive hard for the sake of the country, to work for the country. If anybody thinks that decision making process in the oil sector will be prevented, they are totally wrong.

General Petraeus is not a miracle worker. He can not be successful unless the president creates greater confidence within his own team about the decisions which the president has himself made.

Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.

And it is crucial of course that chief constables are able to make decisions within their budgets about how they deploy their police officers to the greatest effect to ensure that they're able to do the job that the public want them to do.

The difference between management and administration (which is what bureaucrats used to do exclusively) is the difference between choice and rigidity.

As the BBC approaches the final phase of decisions about its future, it will be important for those involved to be established in post and ready to take responsibility for implementation of the outcome.

It's my job as governor to set a vision.

I counted on sixty days only, but I held out for 133. I didn't go into power, but to get power I borrowed some power from the President and made him sign a number of decrees and give me enough power to create a system capable of handling crisis situations.

As a director, I never feel that I have the answers.

The art of politics is knowing what to do next.

In recent years, more and more of my time has become absorbed by administrative work for the research council of ETH-Z of which I am presently the president.

What we're also doing is helping police forces in terms of issues like procurement and IT, so that savings can be made in those areas which I think is the sort of thing that everybody is going to want us to be doing.