Best 30 quotes of Harold Geneen on MyQuotes

A true leader has to have a genuine open-door policy so that his people are not afraid to approach him for any reason.

Better a good decision quickly than the best decision too late.

Business is many things, the least of which is the balance sheet. It is a fluid, ever changing, living thing, sometimes building to great peaks, sometimes falling to crumbled lumps.

Facts from paper are not the same as facts from people. The reliability of the people giving you the facts is as important as the facts themselves.

I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them. My philosophy is to stay as close as possible to what's happening. If I can't solve something, how the hell can I expect my managers to.

If you keep working you'll last longer. I'd hate to spend the rest of my life trying to outwit an 18-inch fish.

If your desk isn't cluttered, you probably aren't doing your job.

In a good meeting there is a momentum that comes from the spontaneous exchange of fresh ideas and produces extraordinary results. That momentum depends on the freedom permitted the participants.

In the business world, everyone is always working at legitimate cross purposes, governed by self interest.

In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.

I think it is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises, but only performance is reality

It is much more difficult to measure nonperformance than performance.

It is much more difficult to measure non-performance than performance. Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Non-performance can almost always be explained away

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.

Management manages by making decisions and by seeing that those decisions are implemented.

Management must have a purpose, a dedication and that dedication must have an emotional commitment. It must be built in as a vital part of the personality of anyone who truly is a manager.

Management must manage!

Managers in all too many American companies do not achieve the desired results because nobody makes them do it.

Ninety-nine percent of all surprises in business are negative.

Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Nonperformance can always be explained away.

The best way to inspire people to superior performance is to convince them by everything you do and by your everyday attitude that you are wholeheartedly supporting them.

The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself. Check yourself against this list of obstacles to a pleasing personality: interrupting others; sarcasm; vanity; being a poor listener; insincere flattery; finding fault; challenging others without good cause; giving unsolicited advice; complaining; attitude of superiority; envy of others' success; poor posture and dress.

The five essential entrepreneurial skills for success are concentration, discrimination, organization, innovation and communication.

The highest art of professional management requires the literal ability to 'smell' a 'real fact' from all others.

Uncertainty will always be part of the taking charge process.

We must not be hampered by yesterday's myths in concentrating on today's needs.

What you manage in business is people

When I come upon a man who has a gleaming, empty, clear desktop, I am dealing with a fellow who is so far removed from the realities of his business that someone else is running it for him.

You can know a person by the kind of desk he keeps. If the president of a company has a clean desk then it must be the executive vice president who is doing all the work.

You read a book from beginning to end. You run a business the opposite way. You start with the end, and then you do everything you must to reach it.