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Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.

— Thomas J. Watson Watson (1939)

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Leadership

More quotes by Thomas J. Watson

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

to Watson in: Roger von Oech (1982)

Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of "crackpot" than the stigma of conformity.

The toughest thing about the power of trust is that it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy. The essence of trust building is to emphasize the similarities between you and the customer.

If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less than excellent work.

to Watson in: William G. Dickerson (1995)

A man is known by the company he keeps. A company is known by the men it keeps.

All Thomas J. Watson quotes →

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Political leaders are never leaders. For leaders we have to look to the Awakeners! Lao Tse, Buddha, Socrates, Jesus, Milarepa, Gurdjiev, Krishnamurti.

Henry Miller My Bike & Other Friends (1977)

It's simply to say that managers and investors alike must understand that accounting numbers is the beginning, not the end, of business valuation.

Warren Buffett Letters to Shareholders (1957)

Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.

George S. Patton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

George S. Patton War As I Knew It (1947)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Thomas J. Watson (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.