Bill Gates Quotes

Every organization has men and women who will be sure that the news gets out when it is good news. The problem is with the bad news. That is the challenge of democracy

The good news always comes to the top. What I need to know is the bad news.

They made a mistake. And it was an easy mistake to make. I don't regard setting incentives aggressively as a mistake. I think the mistake was, when the bad news came, they didn't recognize it directly. I don't think that impairs the future of Wells Fargo. They'll be better for it.

Deliver bad news early and personally.

As leaders, we owe it to every employee to let them know where they stand in the organization.

That's the art of leadership. To make sure that what shouldn't happen, doesn't happen.

The flatter the corporate hierarchy, the more likely it is that employees will communicate bad news and act upon it.

After 9/11, we had to look at the world differently. After 9/11, we had to recognize that when we saw a threat, we must take it seriously before it comes to hurt us. In the old days we'd see a threat, and we could deal with it if we felt like it or not. But 9/11 changed it all.

If your news must be bad, tell it soberly and promptly.

Being a Navy SEAL and sniper taught me all about risk management. Take away all the risk variables under your control and reduce it to an acceptable level. The same fundamentals apply in business.

As CEO, I believe my most important job is to both define reality and inspire hope for the PayPal team. Defining reality includes being realistic about all the things that could go wrong so that we are prepared to navigate those challenges.

Without trust, no organization can sustain innovation because without trust, no one is willing to take the risks that innovation requires.

When you can look at failure and say, 'What is the worst case scenario,' it's not as bad as it seems.

I will take the lead in turning risks into opportunities.

We try to reduce the danger to a minimum, of course. And then we prepare for accidents with alternate plans. For instance, if I'm turning over a stagecoach, I try to take into consideration what moves I have to make if it flips in the wrong direction. Without those emergency plans you get hurt.

There's so many things, when you're in national security, that you do that aren't perfect, but you do them because you think you're doing what the country needs to be safe.

Trust, but look for the exits.

Everyone in a successful organization must be willing and ready to risk. Risk is like change; it's not a choice.

The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.

In the industrial age, the CEO sat on the top of the hierarchy and didn't have to listen to anybody ... In the information age, you have to listen to the ideas of people regardless of where they are in the organization.

Every organization should tolerate rebels who tell the emperor he has no clothes

I prefer to underwrite. Simple, clear as a country creek.

Sometimes, I think my most important job as a CEO is to listen for bad news. If you don't act on it, your people will eventually stop bringing bad news to your attention and that is the beginning of the end.

You have to have a plan, or else you're just creating a recipe for chaos.

Bosses and leaders everywhere should cherish the people who bring them bad news, disappointing data or hard problems.