Elia Kazan Quotes

As an architect, you cannot be so arrogant as to say you are 100% sure about what you do.

Superior leaders are willing to admit a mistake and cut their losses. Be willing to admit that you've changed your mind. Don't persist when the original decision turns out to be a poor one.

Objective leaders identify their unproductive mental models and tweak them for greater effectiveness.

One of the things I like enormously about Bob Weinstein is that that he's the only studio head I have ever known who will change his mind and say he was wrong.

To change your mind about something is always difficult. I think that people who are big enough to admit they were wrong can be counted on your fingers.

I'm always open for people saying I'm wrong because most of the time I am.

At the end of the day, none of us are the Oracle of Delphi, so we don't get everything right. It's always good to be able to listen and to take on what seems to be the right thing to do.

Every executive should be able to say four things: 'I don't know,' 'I need help,' 'I was wrong,' and 'Thank you.'

You have to do a lot of listening, you don't just learn out of yourself.

The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change.

Leadership does not depend on being right.

If men can learn to be less defensive, more open to others, and more accepting of accountability, they will adapt well to the new global economy.

The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks.

Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right, but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.

The greatest friend of truth is Time, her greatest enemy is Prejudice, and her constant companion is Humility.

Well, the first quality of being a good leader is you have to be able to follow. See, a good leader can't just be the leader all the time, I have to be able to follow.

Try to keep your mind open to possibilities and your mouth closed on matters that you don't know about. Limit your 'always' and your 'nevers.'

I hate being wrong, but I love it when I'm set straight.

I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong.

I think it's the sign of a leader to step up and say, you know, when something's not working to have the guts to reverse it. And the worst thing you can do is to let that mistake linger.

Wisdom is keeping a sense of fallibility of all our views and opinions.

I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

As a leader, you have to have the ability to assimilate new information and understand that there might be a different view.

I've learned in most areas of my life, to bounce heated choices off other people. Co-workers, my agent, my wife, a sponsor, etc. A majority of the time, that keeps me on the right side of things.

Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt.