Clearing your head of distractions in order to notice and understand the people you are with can feel inefficient - there are so many other people and issues to think about. But being present makes you effective.
I hate people walking down the street listening to the soundtrack of their lives which responds to them but not their setting. I hate the overspill of sound which metro and subway riders are oblivious to because they notice no one and nothing around them.
Words are how people think. When you misuse words, you diminish your ability to think clearly and truthfully.
Once you have power, you are inevitably surrounded by people who have their own agendas and will tell you whatever advances them.
The single hardest part of leading any organization is knowing what is going on. There's too much noise in the system, too much complexity: you absolutely depend on people speaking up and raising concerns.
Speaking is what most people work on. They forget the thinking and the breathing and instead try to occupy space with sound.
How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
When we care about people, we care less about money, and when we care about money, we care less about people.
What do you want your business to do? Make money, of course. To pay for people and supplies, to be able to grow.
Companies don't have ideas. Only people do.
Most people have their best ideas when they take their minds away from problems they're trying to solve.
Every organization has issues and concerns which are known about by many people who choose to remain silent.
Huge open source organizations like Red Hat and Mozilla manage the collaboration of hundreds of people who don't know one another and have spent no time hanging around the water cooler.
Bosses and leaders everywhere should cherish the people who bring them bad news, disappointing data or hard problems.
Companies don't have ideas. Only people do. And what motivates people are the bonds of loyalty and trust they develop around each other.