“We didn’t want people who thought servicing others was demeaning � we wanted people with high self-esteem. Not people who said in a crisis, “That’s not my job,” but people who’d say, “How can I help?” People who’d never answer a customer’s question by saying, “I don’ know,” but rather, “I’ll find out””
“The ability to convey emotion convincingly, from the heart, requires that a leader be sincere about the message being delivered; truly believing the emotional message is what segregates the charismatic leader from the self-serving, manipulative one”
“When you organize your mind, a sense of power will come to you, and you will soon wonder at the ease with which you can handle responsibilities. Your capacity for work will increase; so will your pleasure in what you are doing. Strain and tension will subside”
“If you want to change things, you have to change yourself. And become a ‘DJITU’ person. D stands for ‘disiplin’ (discipline) in whatever we do; J for ‘jujur’ (honesty), because you win trust with that, it is your capital; I is for ‘iman’ (faith), which must be strong; T is for ‘tekun’ (focus) and knowing what you want to be, not scattered doing this and that. And U is for ‘ulet’ (persistence), because you have to work hard for success”
“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”
“Organization doesn’t really accomplish anything. Plans don’t accomplish anything, either. Theories of management don’t much matter. Endeavors succeed or fail because of the people involved. Only by attracting the best people will you accomplish great deeds.”
“It is impossible to go through life without trust; that is to be imprisoned in the worst cell of all, oneself”
“It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense”
“The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it”
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say: “Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well”
“Innovation in Bottom of Pyramid markets can reverse the flow of concepts, ideas, and methods. Therefore, for an MNC that aims to stay ahead of the curve, experimenting in Bottom of Pyramid markets is increasingly critical. It is no longer an option.”
“Each of us carries around a crippling disadvantage: we know and probably cherish our product. After all, we live with it day in and day out. But that blinds us to why the customer may hate it � or love it. Our customers see the product through an entirely different set of lenses. Education is not the answer; listening and adapting is”