Tom Peters Leader Quotations

Stop being conned by the old mantra that says, 'Leaders are cool, managers are dweebs.' Instead, follow the Peters Principle: Leaders are cool. Managers are cool too!

The best leaders... almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.

As far as I'm concerned, the first business leader who was able to establish a cult of personality around his tenure was Lee Iacocca.

Leaders trust their guts. "Intuition" is one of those good words that has gotten a bad rap. For some reason, intuition has become a "soft" notion. Garbage! Intuition is the new physics. It's an Einsteinian, seven-sense, practical way to make tough decisions. Bottom line, circa 2001 to 2010: The crazier the times are, the more important it is for leaders to develop and to trust their intuition.

The little people will get even, which is one of a thousand reasons why they are not little people at all. If you're a jerk as a leader, you will be torpedoed. And usually it won't be by your vice presidents; it will be on the loading dock at 3am when no supervisors are around.

An ability to embrace new ideas, routinely challenge old ones, and live with paradox will be the effective leader's premier trait.

Leaders do stuff that matters.

The selfish leader will attempt to lead others for their own gain and for the detriment of others.

If the person you delegated to does the job twice as well as you would have done it, consider yourself a leader.

Leaders understand the ultimate power of relationships.

Organizations exist to serve. Period. Leaders live to serve. Period.

Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics.

The best leaders are the best notetakers, best askers, and best learners.