John T. Chambers Quotes

If I can impact an executive and his or her team, I can help to change the culture of an organization.

The one thing I have learned as a CEO is that leadership at various levels is vastly different. When I was leading a function or a business, there were certain demands and requirements to be a leader. As you move up the organization, the requirements for leading that organization don't grow vertically; they grow exponentially.

Reorganization to me is shuffling boxes, moving boxes around. Transformation means that you're really fundamentally changing the way the organization thinks, the way it responds, the way it leads. It's a lot more than just playing with boxes.

We started Kotter International to improve leaders' ability to deal with big, important transformations in organizations - and in their lives.

The biggest barriers to strategic renewal are almost always top management's unexamined beliefs.

At IBM, if we kept our same leadership for 36 years, we'd be bankrupt.

You need to be strategic about how you define your leadership journey and where that takes you.

When it comes to communicating change at any time, the mission must be clear, and it must inspire.

A leader's job is to look into the future and see the organization, not as it is, but as it should be

The essence of leadership is essentially taking the responsibility of trying to interpret the future to the present.

Too many people who come in as CEO of a poorly performing company assume that none of the incumbent executives are worth retaining. That's not always the case. Sometimes the talent is there, but it's not being led well.

You're born with some things inside you that will allow you to lead, but I think you have to take the bull by the horns. You have to want that leadership position, and then there are things you can do to develop that.

I already have a job and being the CEO of Nvidia is a great privilege. It is once in a life time opportunity.

Sometimes, you do need different leaders for different stages of the company.

For the label to grow, it has to have great executives who understand the culture, understand the mission, and can lead. I don't want to be part of every decision.

I think it's very important, I think for any leader as you go through a career you have to learn the leadership lessons.

I think any time there's a change in leadership there's a different personality, there's a different style involved with it, different demeanor.

I'm constantly reinventing myself. It's a constant thing that I do.

When we first started, I had the time to personally live every project. As I continue to build the company, I've learned much better ways to delegate and let the executive team run. It's just as exciting for me to see the executives succeed as it is the artists.

I think there's a lot of things that need to be changed in the business.

A policy of knowing your replacement is one of the best ways to drive a growth culture. It anticipates and eliminates the most harmful politics in leadership for an expanding company and instantly sets the right tone for a high-talent, growth-mindset executive team.

I think I maximised my opportunity at Bolton, changing the mindset of the people from when I arrived till the time I left.

Like any startup in hyper-growth mode, growth often brings change, and with it, evolution in the executive team.

I wouldn't be a CEO today if I didn't do different things to build capabilities and build experiences because to come a leader, you need varied experiences.

I don't think managers have the opportunity to think in terms of a long-term vision for a club.