"An executive should be a realist; and..." - Quote by Peter Drucker
An executive should be a realist; and no one is less realistic than the cynic.
More by Peter Drucker
“Change is the norm; unless an organization sees that its task is to lead change, that organization will not survive.”
“The large organization has to learn to innovate, or it won't survive.”
“What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it is another matter.”
More on Leadership
“A good leader encourages followers to tell him what he needs to know, not what he wants to hear.”
“Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant.”
“All leaders make mistakes. They are a part of life. Successful leaders recognize their errors, learn from them, and work to correct their faults.”
More on Realism
“I have no happy fairyland vision that she can win.”
“I love to see that Nature is so rife with life that myriads can be afforded to be sacrificed and suffered to prey on one another; that tender organizations can be so serenely squashed out of existence like pulp, - tadpoles which herons gobble up, and tortoises and toads run over in the road; and that sometimes it has rained flesh and blood! With the liability to accident, we must see how little account is to be made of it.”
“Come, for the House of Hope is built on sand: bring wine, for the fabric of life is as weak as the wind.”