I recently read that Carly Fiorina, the former CEO for Hewlett Packard is considering a run for President. Early this year I read her book, Tough Choices, and thoroughly loved it. I was moved by her passion for leadership and her determination to persevere through very difficult challenges.
This is not a typical book summary, rather a collection of some of my favorite quotes from the book. It is a book worth reading, particularly if she does make a run for the Oval Office.
There are some who would argue a manager’s job is to use fear to motivate
people, but I believe a leader’s job is to help people overcome their fear.
(pg. 26)
People don’t do business with a company; they do business with people who
represent that company and can commit its resources and support. (pg. 96)
For many people, even deep dissatisfaction with the known present can be
preferable to the fear of an unknown future.
I learned that when people are afraid, they turn inward and protect
themselves and those things most personal and important to them. (pg. 121)
It is the particular nature of American business that negotiations become
real when words go to paper. (pg. 126)
Sometimes leaders make decisions for others. Sometimes leaders let others decide. And sometimes leaders build processes that
help everyone make decisions and help people choose where they should lead and
where they should follow. (pg. 128)
HP’s culture – no one would set challenging goals. (pg. 153)
Whenever a leader hears a team say “We can’t” – for whatever reason –
much more conversation is required. And
teams are built through such conversations.
Team are built when people can work together to successfully solve
problems and achieve goals. Teams are
built through effective collaboration. (pg. 167)
Managers control resources, but people follow leaders. Managers produce desired results within known
boundaries and defined conditions.
Leaders take risks, take action, create some excitement and create
something new. (pg. 183)
Leaders are defined by three things: character, capability and
collaboration. Leaders are candid and courageous; they know their strengths and
use them; they bolster their weaknesses by relying on others with complementary
skills and by constantly learning and adapting; they know when they need help
and seek it; they know when help is required by others, and they provide it.
(pg. 185)
The best meetings occur when people share a common experience. The most progress is made when people
discover things together. (pg. 186)
Strategy and operations are two sides of the same coin. (pg. 195)
Incremental change is sometimes viewed as safer, but incrementalism often
lacks the necessary force to overcome inertia and resistance. (pg. 197)
[At HP] Consensus decision making was celebrated as the ideal. There are, of course, times when consensus is
important, and there are other times when an individual or small group decides
on behalf of the larger group. At HP,
however, a call for consensus was a very effective way of grinding the
decision-making process to a halt. (pg. 201)
Horizontal is not the same as centralized. Centralized decision making is traditional,
vertical, command-and-control behavior where decisions are made in a central
location. Horizontal decision making is
distributed across many organizations and locations. Each decision maker knows his or her role by
virtue of the process map. (pg. 220)
Values are signposts to guide people’s behavior when the rules aren’t
clear and the supervisor isn’t present.
Goals and metrics are what get done.
Values are how those things get done. (pg. 265)
Improving performance discipline was focused on using program management
processes throughout the company to drive consistent, reliable execution (pg.
273)
A [manager] must strike that right balance between letting people do
their jobs and constantly verifying that the details are being attended to
appropriately, and then making course corrections as required. (pg. 276)
