Wisdom and Leadership

This series of papers collects wisdom from leaders in the IT and IT Security Fields. If you are interested in contributing, please drop us a note.

Pearls of Wisdom from Linked In

May 1st, 2009
By Stephen Northcutt

The Wisdom of Linked In

I am on a Leadership List on Linked In. Recently Merrick Rosenberg posted a question What is the most powerful lesson you learned from a well-known leader?

Here are some that I found interesting and maybe we can add to this as time goes on!

John Clifford Rule #1, Don't lose money. Rule #2 If you forget, go back and read rule #1.
Warren Buffett

This may not sound like leadership but it has the essence of clarity of purpose and that is the true secret of leadership.

Rob Davis "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams

Dr. Terilyn J. Goins "A testimony is a life lived, not a word spoken."

Krishna Kumar Ramamoorthy

1. Mutual respect - Stephen R Covey ( 7 Habits of highly effective people)
2. Trust and openness - Covey Junior ( The Speed of Trust)
3. Humility - Gandhi

Rich Primo

While I have - and continue to - study leadership, one thing that stands out to me is something I read in Fortune Magazine concerning current-CEO of Intel Andy Grove.

At the time Intel was in the computer memory business and they were failing fast due to stiff competition. Grove and then-CEO Gordon Moore needed a solution, but were having a hard time finding one. Then, according to the article, Grove asked Moore this: "If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do? ...Why shouldn't you and I walk out the door, come back, and do it ourselves?"

This jumped out to me right away. As a business should always be evolving, it is important to think of things from a different perspective, to not get caught up in traditional solutions because they may not be the best solutions. Take a moment to step outside of yourself, and your organization, and look at a problem with new eyes. You will be surprised what you might see.

krishna koney Control your destiny or someone else will. I agree, in fact I posted something similar. If we do not manage change, change manages us.

Heeral Kothari

The rags to riches story of Dhirubhai Ambani (Founder of Reliance Industries) is a story that must be motivating millions of people. It was his determination, conviction, need for perfection, vision and his charisma that made him one of the most famous business icon in India. That is what he has taught me.

Some quotes by him:

"Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India."

"You do not require an invitation to make profits."

"If you work with determination and with perfection, success will follow."

"Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities."

"Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver."

"Between my past, the present and the future, there is one common factor: Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our growth"

"We bet on people."

"Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation."

"Don't give up, courage is my conviction."

"We cannot change our Rulers, but we can change the way they Rule Us."

"Dhirubhai will go one day. But Reliance's employees and shareholders will keep it afloat. Reliance is now a concept in which the Ambanis have become irrelevant."

Glain Roberts-McCabe "What lies behind us, and what lies before us are but tiny matters compared to what lies within in." by Oliver Wendall Holmes or Ralph Waldo Emerson (they both get credited with this quote).

To me, this is the essential lesson of leadership. If you aren't in touch with your own core and who you are as a leader... how can you lead others? This is where we have to look first and from that place we can bring our best to our organizations and teams.

And my personal favorite:

Barbara Garabedian "I don't judge a person when they make a mistake...everyone makes mistakes. I judge a person by how they deal with the mistakes."