Executives Quotes

“Employees are savvy. They know the difference between disguising and remedying unfairness at work”
― Hanna Hasl-Kelchner, Seeking Fairness at Work: Cracking the New Code of Greater Employee Engagement, Retention & Satisfaction

“Strategy is really the essence of the boards value proposition to the company. The ability to strategize well is the essence of what makes a board relevant.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“A board-established and led vision is a critical element of effective corporate governance. It provides direction, inspires stakeholders, and guides the company towards a successful future.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“As a board, you want to be able to identify exactly what the company is succeeding at and exactly what it's failing at so that you can amplify the successes and correct the failures with surgical precision.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“I believe that companies, as major employers, resource managers, technological innovators, and capital allocators, have a unique responsibility to operate with integrity, transparency, and accountability.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“Domination is a relationship, not a condition; it depends on the participation of both parties. Hierarchical power is not just the gun in the policeman's hand; it is just as much the obedience of the ones who act as if it is always pointed at them. It is not just the government and the executives and the armed forces; it extends through society from top to bottom, an interlocking web of control and compliance. Sometimes all it takes to be complicit in the oppression of millions is to die of natural causes.”
― CrimethInc., Contradictionary

“A successful blitz requires a well-thought-out strategy and flawless execution. Similarly, effective corporate governance involves developing and implementing sound strategies that align with the company's goals and values.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“I have always been fascinated by the intricate dance of power, strategy, and decision-making that unfolds within the boardroom. It is a microcosm of human interaction, where the fate of companies, communities, and sometimes even nations, is shaped.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“Managers receiving hundreds of thousands a year—and setting their compensation for themselves—are not being paid wages, they are appropriating surplus value in the guise of wages. ”
― Michael Harrington

“In essence, a blitz play in football is a microcosm of corporate governance principles. It showcases the importance of coordination in mind body and spirit, clear roles, strategic planning, risk management, and performance evaluation – all critical elements in ensuring a company's success and sustainability.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr., Board Room Blitz: Mastering the Art of Corporate Governance

“A leader who people do not perceive as worthy of following is really not a leader at all.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, Business Leadership: The Key Elements

“When direction and meaning are confined to Executive Leadership, value is minimized.”
― Bob Anderson, Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results

“Despite the continual rise of the knowledge worker over the last 60 years, we haven’t done enough to question “how we’ve always done things” and redefine effectiveness in organizations.”
― Crystal Kadakia

“Good leaders follow as well as they lead. Because you can’t delegate effectively without being a good follower. When you delegate, you have to then trust the leadership of the person you delegated the activity to. And that’s good followership.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr

“Millennials, instead of a danger, are really a reflection of the society in which they grew up in, and in which all of us now live.”
― Crystal Kadakia, The Millennial Myth: Transforming Misunderstanding into Workplace Breakthroughs

“There's all kinds of phantom work! Unreal values assigned to most of the jobs on Earth! The entire transnational executive class does nothing a computer couldn't do, and there are whole categories of parasitical jobs that add nothing to the system by an ecologic accounting. Advertising, stock brokerage, the whole apparatus for making money only from the manipulation of money--that is not only wasteful but corrupting, as all meaningful money values get distorted in such manipulation." She waved her hand in disgust.”
― Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars

“What I’m talking about is the order of chosen men who inherit power. From Pharaohs and kings to bankers and executives. Their path is paved for them, and life is but a child’s lavish play pen. It used to be that the peasants would toil in meaningless servitude, unable to see the big picture, without a chance to break the cycle. Now we have computers to help us do our research. Suddenly, the rhythms and patterns of oppression and deceit since time immemorial come into startling focus.”
― Nick Drnaso, Sabrina

“Boardsi provides a web-based network that brings the best-matched executives to the attention of companies searching for the right talent to meet their needs.”
― Boardsi

“William Coyne headed research and development at 3M—the company behind Ace bandages, Post-it notes, Scotch tape, and other inventions—for over a decade. Shortly after retiring, Coyne spoke to a group of hundreds of executives about innovation at 3M and his own management style. He said he’d started at 3M as a researcher and learned firsthand how well-meaning but nosy executives who proffer too many questions and suggestions can undermine creative work. So when he became head of R&D, he was determined to allow his teams to work for long stretches, unfettered by intrusions from higher-ups. Coyne understood his colleagues’ curiosity; if successful, an R&D project could generate millions in new revenue. But he limited their interference (and his own) because, he said, “After you plant a seed in the ground, you don’t dig it up every week to see how it is doing.”
― Robert I. Sutton

“...executives are often insulated from the scale and variety of problems faced by junior employees. Even when senior leaders try to seek out information, most employees put on a brave face because they’re afraid to show weakness or vulnerability. Top leaders are further handicapped by their own psychology: Research shows that power reduces empathy, which means they identify less with both the frontline employees’ challenges and the middle managers who must deal with these issues daily.”
― Heidi K. Gardner

“There is more to running a business than sitting in a comfy chair in a cozy office.”
― Utibe Samuel Mbom, Your Clients and You

“One of the reasons why CEOs fail is an inability to execute, and this is also one of the reasons why first-line supervisors through executives derail.”
― Richard L. Hughes, Robert C. Ginnett, Gordon J. Curphy