Marvin Bower Quotes

I meet regularly with my staff to ensure they are aware of what I want, but also to make sure they have the chance to influence the process and use all of their knowledge to help prepare the group.

There is no better way to manage than by walking around. Autocracy doesn't work. Talk to people in their offices, find out what's on their minds.

I always look at it that I work with my employees as opposed to them working for me.

The new leader is a facilitator, not an order giver.

Most organisations do not actively seek out input from their lower echelons.

I've always felt that, in the past, there has been a teacher-pupil relationship between the management and the players. But the best teams are run in such a way that the players have a voice.

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.

When I was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I would still have junior officers brief me. Usually these people knew more about the subject we were discussing than I did. I had to make sure that they felt confident enough to tell me everything they believed.

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

I think, though, with that whole sense of integrity and a lot of things that have been going on, the shared leadership rather than the titular head.

The best leaders are humble enough to realize their victories depend upon their people.

I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them. My philosophy is to stay as close as possible to what's happening. If I can't solve something, how the hell can I expect my managers to.

If we want people on the front lines of companies to be responsible for making good business decisions, they must have the same information that managers use to make good business decisions.

One does not "manage" people. The task is to lead people.

If you want a successful business, your people must feel that you are working for them - not that they are working for you.

High level policy makers and program managers do not normally listen to the voices of local people, local providers and local program managers when they make decisions about contraceptive introduction or other aspects of program development in reproductive health.

I don't like to be overly directing people either. I tell them what I want and I tell them when it's wrong. I tell them no, that's not what I want. I want it more like this or more like that. I'm pretty direct with everyone, and I treat everyone the same which might be good.

You've got to treat people as equals, and make them feel like it's their company. I don't know if I've had any impact or helped persuade Frank [to sell Eastern]. But, I can tell you, there were many discussions on the subject.

I hire people who can do their jobs and who will advise me of things they don't agree with. The worst thing you can do is get in a room with 14 people who say, "OK!" Then you really are making decisions about engineering and finance and other areas.

The interesting thing is that it seems like George W. Bush would have been happy being the president of anything. He could have been president of Major League Baseball. Less people killed. It wouldn't have affected the world on a planetary level. Sure, there would have been little things. There would have been scandals and kind of numbskull things here and there .

The best managers figure out how to get great outcomes by setting the appropriate context, rather than by trying to control their people.

Most people, even in simple risky situations, don't behave the way the theory of utility would have them behave.

I think that being a business a leader that treads all over people to get to the top is actually not the way I think to become a successful business leader.

Good leadership means leading the way, not hectoring other people to do things your way.

I've made tough calls and tough times and been held accountability. I think that is the kind of leadership that the American people need now to produce results.