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The way to do well is to do well.

Donald Rumsfeld

Let your family, staff, and friends know that you’re still the same person, despite all the publicity and notoriety that accompanies your position.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Family Friendship Person Position Publicity
Politics is human beings; it’s addition rather than subtraction.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Government Human Being Politics
Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Edge Leadership Necessary
Don’t blame the boss. He has enough problems.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Blame Boss Enough Problem
Simply because you do not have evidence that something exists does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn’t exist.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Evidence Existence
Be able to resign. It will improve your value to the President and do wonders for your performance.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Improvement Performance President Value Wonder
Treat each federal dollar as if it was hard earned; it was – by a taxpayer.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Earn Money Tax
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Decision Guidance Lack Random
If we know anything, it is that weakness is provocative.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Knowledge Weakness
Presidential leadership needn’t always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Leadership Money Option President
Many people around the President have sizeable egos before entering government, some with good reason. Their new positions will do little to moderate their egos.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ego Government Moderate People President
First rule of politics: you can’t win unless you’re on the ballot. Second rule: If you run, you may lose. And, if you tie, you do not win.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ballot Lose Politics Rule Win
Remember where you came from.
DONALD RUMSFELD

History One Liner Past Remember
Reduce the number of lawyers. They are like beavers – they get in the middle of the stream and dam it up.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Lawyer Reduce Stream
If in doubt, don’t. If still in doubt, do what’s right.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Doubt Inspirational Right
The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don’t tell him the truth. Others won’t do it.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Deliver Failure President Price Truth
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Bsuiness Motivational Politics Risk
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Criticism Inspirational
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Customer Distance Management Organization
Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Argument Convenience Inevitable Integrity
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Criticism Publicity Receive
Let’s stick something in the ground and not pretend that it’s perfect.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Ground Perfection Pretend
Those who made the decisions with imperfect knowledge will be judged in hindsight by those with considerably more information at their disposal and time for reflection.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Decision Government Imperfection Knowledge Politics Reflection War
Prune – prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Activity Business People Product
There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don’t know.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Imagination Knowledge
Be precise. A lack of precision is dangerous when the margin of error is small.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Dangerous Error Lack Margin
If in doubt, move decisions up to the President.
DONALD RUMSFELD

Decision Doubt President

The way to do well is to do well.

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The way to do well is to do well.

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