Jason Fried Quotes

Leadership means forming a team and working toward common objectives that are tied to time, metrics, and resources.

If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.'

My definition of an executive's job is brief and to the point. It is simply this: Getting things done through other people.

Like most entrepreneurs, getting motivated to work has never been a problem for me; focus comes through delegating tasks to the best people you can find.

I used to spend my time more on process than strategy. Now, I prioritize my time around strategy, people, and process.

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

Of all the things I've done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.

The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.

The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.

When leaders know how to lead great meetings, there's less time wasted and less frustration. We have more energy to do the work that matters, realize our full potential, and do great things.

Turnaround or growth, it's getting your people focused on the goal that is still the job of leadership.

Meetings get a bad rap, and deservedly so - most are disorganized and distracted. But they can be a critical tool for getting your team on the same page.

I need to build my team around my weaknesses.

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.

Basically, managing is about influencing action. Managing is about helping organizations and units to get things done, which means action. Sometimes, managers manage actions directly. They fight fires. They manage projects. They negotiate contracts.

I'll continue to try to make changes to better improve the team.

A leader is the one who can outline the broad vision and the direction, and say here's where we are going to go, here's why we need to go there, and here's how we are going to get there. A manager is the one who actually gets up under the hood and tunes the carburetor.

Basically, a manager's job is to make other people more productive. What's one really good way to do that? Do the work that is getting in their way. Which means find out what kind of important work your developers dislike the most, and do it for them.

A manager is a guide. He takes a group of people and says, 'With you I can make us a success; I can show you the way.'

All we do is sign great teams, and stay out of the way. The rest will take care of itself.

We need to have fewer meetings, not more—as we have to have time to put into effect some of the things we decide in these meetings.

Leaders create a sense of urgency. And along with that you have to create a sense of hope and a direction.

Mobilize people and resources to get results, Not small results but big results. Spend 80% of your time doing development work. Only 20% your time doing administrative work. Never be bureaucrats. Always be leaders.

I think that the CEO is responsible for setting the vision, for articulating the mission, and for building a team of powerful evangelists that share that mission and that passion, because no one person can do anything by themselves.

As an entrepreneur and investor, I prioritize construction and collaboration. Whether it's a five-person start-up or a global giant, the companies that are most productive are the ones whose employees operate with a shared sense of purpose and a clear set of policies for responding to changing conditions and new opportunities.