Entrepreneurs in general are take-charge, independent people. I sure fit into this mold myself, but I also recognize the wisdom that can be gleaned from the words of business and thought leaders who have shaped world to accommodate their vision and passion. I’ve assembled some of the choicest bits of wisdom on several business topics.
Minimalism/Simplicity
One of the traits I admire in many thought leaders is their inclination to simplify their approaches to business and to their lives in general.
1. “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
E.F. Schumacher
2. “Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing… layout, processes, and procedures.”
Tom Peters
3. “If you see a snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.”
Henry Ross Perot
4. “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
Tenacity
Entrepreneurs, contrary to the common belief, aren’t superhuman. We make mistakes, and if we’re smart, we learn from those mistakes and make all new ones on the next venture. We shouldn’t strive to be perfect; we should strive to keep trying even in the face of difficulty.
5. “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”
Colin Powell
6. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
Dale Carnegie
7. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”
Steve Jobs
8. “Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”
Robert H. Schuller
9. “Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.”
Thomas A. Edison
10. “Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it’s a lot easier to launch work that matters.”
Seth Godin
11. “The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake- you can’t learn anything from being perfect.”
Adam Osborne
How to Treat Employees
Even though we may expend a lot of our time and energy hiring and retaining our staff, there a few things that we should always keep in mind.
12. “The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them.”
Benjamin Jowett
13. “You don’t lie to your own doctor. You don’t lie to your own attorney, and you don’t lie to your employees.”
Gordon Bethune
14. “Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can’t miss.”
Lee Iacocca
15. “People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”
Mary Kay Ash
16. “Hire character. Train skill.”
Peter Schutz
And because it helps to have a sense of humor:
17. “Employees make the best dates. You don’t have to pick them up and they’re always tax-deductible.”
Andy Warhol
The Nature of the Successful Entrepreneur
What qualities differentiate the successful entrepreneurs from everyone else?
Originality:
18. “The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.”
Aristotle Onassis
Direction:
19. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Independence and Focus:
20. “Hell, there are no rules here – we’re trying to accomplish something.”
Thomas A. Edison
Vision:
21. “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity.”
Peter Drucker
Thirst for knowledge:
22. “What we actually learn, from any given set of circumstances, determines whether we become increasingly powerless or more powerful.”
Blaine Lee
Drive:
23. “The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It’s as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer. “
Nolan Bushnell
Flexibility:
24. “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. “
Charles Darwin
Dedication:
25. “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”
Jack Welch
I don’t think that memorable quotes are a panacea, but I know for sure that I’ve found it heartening to know that giants of business and captains of industry have struggled with the same issues that I face as an entrepreneur.
