The greatest managers in the world do not have much in common. They are of different sexes, races, and ages. They employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. But despite their differences, these great managers do share one thing: Before they do anything else, they first break all the rules of conventional wisdom. They do not believe that a person can achieve anything he sets his mind to. They do not try to help a person overcome his weaknesses. They consistently disregard the Golden Rule. And yes, they even play favorites; they must. It may sound harsh, but its cold reality. The quicker you understand and accept this concept, the more you shall benefit.

Great managers are revolutionaries . They topple conventional wisdom and forge new paths using [more than anything] common sense and practicality.

The Gallup Organization undertook a research study that spanned twenty-five years, surveying over a million employees from a broad range of companies, industries, and countries. Questions were asked on all aspects of their working life. Then they dug deep into their answers to discover the most important needs demanded by the most productive employees. Gallup’s research yielded many discoveries, but the most powerful was this: Talented employees need great managers. The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits, and its world-class training programs, but how long that employee stays, and how productive he is while there, is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor. Reminds me of an old saying, ‘employees don’t quit the company, they quit their manager’.
-Credit to Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
-Lao Tzu

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
-Jack Welch

“It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s ok to ask for help. And it’s more than ok to listen to the people you lead – in fact, it’s essential.”
-Mary Barra

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure the impact lasts in your absence.”
-Sheryl Sandberg

“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position.”
-Brian Tracy

“A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.”
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe