leadership decisions Quotes

Commanders-in-chief make really tough decisions.

At the end of the day, leaders have to come up with pragmatic solutions that work

Being in charge sometimes means making people mad. Some days you have to overrule even the best advice, because you think it is not right.

I think it is vitally important to study History. If we are going to lead Britain safely into the future, it is essential that we understand our country's historical roots. If we can learn the lessons of the past, we will be able to avoid making mistakes in the future.

A certain grasp of military affairs is vital for those in charge of general policy.

I can't possibly put myself in his [Tony Blair's] shoes and be inside his head but what I can say is that the security of the nation is the first duty of any government but at the same time for me going to war would always be the last resort. I would exhaust all other opportunities first.

George W. Bush has much to evaluate: he has presided over the most sweeping redesign of U.S. grand strategy since the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The way you build trust with your team is around super-clear communication in that instant when they say, 'I will be sad if you don't do X.' You have to say, 'We're not going to do X, and here's why, and believe me, you'll be much sadder later if I let you go do it and you spend a bunch of time on it and nothing ever happens.'

For every leader in the company, not just for me, there are decisions that can be made by analysis. These are the best kinds of decisions!

You cannot be driven by the polls. The polls change all the time; they're easily manipulated by whoever wants to ask those poll questions; they go up; they go down.

See that the President, the Cabinet and staff are informed. If cut out of the information flow, their decisions may be poor, not made, or not confidently or persuasively implemented.

Summits are best at dealing with problems, where the need for action is urgent and the range of possible actions limited. They are less good at dealing with opportunities.

I think we should do better next week, better the week after, and better right throughout the course of our government. Sometimes in parties these things happen, but it is not acceptable and I do believe that what people now want to do is to debate the future - about policy - and I think the issues about what Tony Blair will or will not do are going to be left to Tony Blair

I was out of the country for a period of time but followed everything closely through other people in our organization and we've made the decisions that we felt were right for the football team and we'll continue to do that and be as diligent as we can going forward.

History and the generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks.

The deciding factor of why some entrepreneurs are successful and others fail is not limited to your DNA or your education; it is about the actions you take as the leader of your business.

Now there are times when I have to make big decisions as I'm now running a company and that it's OK to go with being respected first.

The national interest is predetermined by geopolitics or the history of a country. Important political leaders never just followed their interests - they were concerned about the interests of their people.

Leadership is about making decisions with the information you have, not the information people will have 12 years later, i kind of feel sorry for my friend Jeb Bush.

A leader's most important decisions are about people. Who do you put in which jobs? How long do you leave them in a job?

We will never know what would have happened if President Johnson had said no to more troops and more war [in Vietnam]. We do know what happened when he said yes.

Government leaders need to ask themselves if they are positioning their country to reap the full potential of the digital economy.

When I was Prime Minister, it's right - we had a close relationship - but that did not prevent me, when I believed the United States position was wrong, arguing against them.

You could arm-chair quarterback what the president did or didn't do, or was asked to do or asked not to do. I guess I'm more focused on what's going forward.

Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon," Frank said. "Great leaders have to think out side the box sometimes.