Steve Ballmer Quotes

To be strategic is to concentrate on what is important, on those few objectives that can give us a comparative advantage, on what is important to us rather than others, and to plan and execute the resulting plan with determination and steadfastness.

If you really know... what you want and how to get there, then everything else really falls into place.

Unless an action is rightly thought out and its steps rightly planned, every stage of its performance will probably remain vague and therefore unsatisfactory for the doer and all those concerned.

People who consistently win have a clear and thoughtful strategy. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it. They write it down so they stay on course, and avoid any alternative that does not get them closer to the finish line.

What I've learned over the years is that focus and singular purpose is the best approach for businesses.

If football taught me anything about business, it is that you win the game one play at a time.

I am not a bomber. I'm more about precision and being target-oriented. I have to rely on all parts of my game firing if I'm going to win.

Everybody thinks you can get by by being Mr. Nice Guy, but that's not what winning programs do. Winning programs have a plan.

Apple is so focused on its vision that it does things in a very careful, deliberate way.

Great execution is at least 10 times more important and a 100 times harder than a good idea.

Plans get you into things, but you got to work your way out.

Competence goes beyond words. It's the leader's ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know that you know how - and know that they want to follow you.

Clarity precedes mastery. Craft clear and precise plans/goals/deliverables. And then block out all else.

Dream big but think small.

Success doesn't sneak up on us; it starts as a dream that we combine with a clear plan of action.

The seven Ps: Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss-Poor Performance

A dozen times a day we come to a fork in the road and must decide which way we will go. It is important to get our ultimate objectives clearly in mind so that we do not become distracted at each fork in the road by the irrelevant questions: Which is the easier or more pleasant way? Or, Which way are others going?

When you stop planning and preparing . . . you stop winning.

Ready, fire, aim. Do it! Make it happen! Action counts. No one ever sat their way to success.

We have a strategic plan. It's called 'doing things'.

If you have a dream: Number one, make a plan. And then execute that plan. And there will be failures along that line. Don't let that discourage you. Because failure is part of the process ... make the necessary adjustments and you can be successful at whatever you do.

Realize that agendas drive data, not the other way round

After 25 years of buying and supervising a great variety of businesses, Charlie [Munger] and I have not learned how to solve difficult business problems. What we have learned is to avoid them. To the extent we have been successful, it is because we have concentrated on identifying one-foot hurdles that we could step over rather than because we acquired any ability to clear seven-footers.

You don't win on emotion. You win on execution.

Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution