Clayton Christensen Quotes

He who has a task to perform must know how to take sides, or he is quite unworthy of it.

A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.

One cannot govern with 'buts'.

If you call yourself a leader, then you have to be decisive. If you're decisive, then you have the chance to be a leader. These are two sides to the same coin.

At that time, we were in charge. We didn't ask. We just did. We just did what was in our heart.

[President] McKinley gave [Lt. Andrew Sommers] Rowan a letter to be delivered to [General Calixto] Garcia: Rowan took the letter and did not ask, "Where is he at?" By the eternal, there is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college in the land. It is not book learning that young men need, nor instruction about this and that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust to act promptly, concentrate their energies, do the thing—"carry a message to Garcia.

In order to implement your convictions you must win.

It's deeds we need, not words.

If we don’t enforce the regulations we have, these conversations are useless.

The times demand not a man bearing promises of new things, but a man who can finish the things begun...

If you draw [red] lines and then don't respect them, you diminish your credibility.

Politicians are strong to the extent that they are ready to take serious decisions and fight for it.

A leader can't pick and choose when he wants to lead.

I like people with conviction, who are in control of themselves. I'm not interested in working with a designer who hires a creative director.

When the decision is up before you-and on my desk I have a motto which says "The buck stops here"-the decision has to be made.

I'm not going to just take office in January, I'm going to take responsibility.

People want guidance, not rhetoric. They need to know what the plan of action is, and how it will be implemented. They want to be given responsibility to help solve the problem and authority to act on it.

We need a leader, not a reader.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and there's a difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.

People hand over the power to you withimmense faith. It's your job to ensure tough implementation of laws.

You can't kind of take away, you either do or you don't. If you kind of take away something you're a failure.

A leader is the one who speaks last and acts first.

Whenever a warrior decides to do something, he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.

Unless a decision has degenerated into work, it is not a decision; it is at best a good intention.

The worst days of leadership beat the best days of being an onlooker.