Stewart Butterfield Quotes

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

Your ability to shape your future depends on how well you communicate where you want to be when you get there. When ideas are communicated effectively, people follow and change.

And I've always said, 'If two people think the same thing about everything, one of them isn't necessary.' We need to be able to understand that if we're going to make real progress.

If you think that something worked and your directing partner doesn't think so, then maybe you have to re-think what you were doing.

Once an organization has a strong sense of mission, leaders can focus on trying new things.

Historic opportunities are missed because we fixate on what folks say they want. And what folks say they want in business and politics is limited to what they believe is possible.

For someone who comes from my business background, getting fashion people aligned around certain things can be a challenge. In a way, the industry is so forward-looking. And yet, sometimes people in fashion are not open to change.

Technology can be part of a solution, but it takes far more than software to usher in reform.

"If we had not created a set of people against another the world would have been corrupt", and "against" here means two things: Against in the fact that they are challenging you with their diversity, challenging your intelligence and to challenge is not negative, it can be very positive depending on how you are challenged.

I walked in and inherited a management group that I didn't know very well. They didn't know me, and we had a very short window to put together a credible recovery plan.

In a business, you've got to move on.

You have to be damn certain you're putting something better in its place.

Don't underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global movement, you need to have a core belief that what you contribute can fundamentally change the paradigm or way of thinking about problems.

In any business, you have to evolve.

Communication is an issue where we can improve, and if I can do anything to help, I am happy to.

Relationships are negotiated and if you deal with ultimatums and authority all the time, then you're not going to get anywhere.

Truth is born into this world only with pangs and tribulations, and every fresh truth is received unwillingly.

How you manage change can make all the difference.

You know, the truth is this: it is a leader's job to challenge the status quo. And when you do, you make enemies.

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

I have a partner, Danny Strong; he's an incredible writer and, really, my backbone. So when we don't see eye to eye, it's painful.

To me, success in the job is setting a vision, guiding an organization through change - which is exactly what I did at Digitas, and I'm very proud of that - and bringing people together and with you. That, to me, is what it takes to be successful.

It is, after all, the responsibility of the expert to operate the familiar and that of the leader to transcend it.

The whole concept of negotiating is intimidating to many people.

When I got to the Mavericks people were all giving me advice - change this, change that - and one thing that I didn't do was fire anybody.