Michael Mullen Quotes

Conflict is like cancer; early detection increases the possibility of a healthy outcome.

We must be part of the general staff at the inception, rather than the ambulance drivers at the bitter end.

Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning.

Game management is accomplished by staying constantly alert and then reading and reacting to potential problem situations before they materialize. It all boils down to paying attention to details.

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

I tremendously enjoy getting involved in a troubled situation and straightening it out... My interest would be if there was a situation that came up, and I thought I could do something with and the price was right, I would be interested.

Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong—these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.

It is axiomatic in politics that the earlier one addresses a problem, the more the alternatives and the easier the solutions.

We must solve problems before they occur, rather than scrambling to deal with crises after they erupt..

The international community spends much more time and resources managing crises than preventing them. But TV cameras are seldom there when a conflict is avoided, so it is difficult for governments and international organizations to make prevention a priority.

I think, as a professional, inside the cage you can fix anything.

You can't just throw people at all your problems, dear.

I use game theory to help myself understand conflict situations and opportunities.

Diplomatic eminences often natter on about preventive action, making the obvious point that it's better to cure festering ills before they metastasize into something much worse.

I think we need ideas for the future.

Voters should absolutely know that a future president has the instincts to react to real-life and unrehearsed situations.

If you're on a bus and going down a snowy mountain like in Tahoe, and the bus loses its brakes, where do you want to be sitting? Immediately, you all think, 'In the back.' But in the front would be the correct answer. As a quarterback, you want to take control of it.

I grew up military but have met very few women that have a mission plan for when things don't work out. I attack everything like that.

An important part of leadership is being able to hold two things in your mind at once: Dealing with the reality, whatever it may be, and focus on hope for the future. Any leader helping an organization through challenges needs to be able to do both.

I've kind of found out that when I do get into trouble, that when I do have people on base, sometimes the best thing is to throw a little bit more off-speed, back off a little bit.

There's an urgent need to stop reacting to each immediate vexing issue in isolation. Such response often creates unanticipated second-order effects and even more problems for us.

I think the thing is resolving problems rather than letting them fester.

Pellegrini is always calm; if you have problems, he will try to resolve it.

Every manager must be prepared to face every situation.

When you are in a situation or a crisis, you need to define, what is the unique role that I can play?