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Listen while you can, so that you can lead when you must.

Tom Peters

Passion. The life of an entrepreneur is occasionally exhilarating, and almost always exhausting. Only unbridled passion for the concept is likely to see you through the 17-hour days (month after month) and the painful mistakes that are part and parcel of the start-up process.
TOM PETERS

Concept Exhilarating Mistake Occasionally Passion Peace
Accept change as a friend. And don’t take yourself too seriously.
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Accepting Change
As a consumer, you want to associate with brands whose powerful presence creates a halo effect that rubs off on you.
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Halos Powerful Want
Excellent firms don’t believe in excellence – only in constant improvement and constant change.
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Educational Inspirational Loyalty
Community. A friend started a real estate brokerage a few years ago. By the time she’d added her second employee, she was a pillar of her 35,000-person community.
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Business Person Real School Second
The dominant culture in most big companies demands punishment for a mistake, no matter how useful, small, invisible.
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Culture Mistake Punishment
Learning is a matter of intensity not elapsed time.
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Learning Matter Teaching
Treat the customer as an appreciating asset.
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Appreciate Assets Business
Gandhi and Mandela and Churchill and JFK and Reagan and Thatcher and Sarkozy and Franklin and Washington set the tone to an incredible degree-their “personal style” was their “brand.” (“It” starts with personal style of the tip-top leadership team.
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Degree Leadership Sorry Team
Have you set high standards in the past that make it clear what level of performance you demand?
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High Levels Past Standards
Progress is mostly the product of rogues.
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Products Progress Rogues
Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. In other words, you must win through superior logistics.
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Leader Right Timer Version War Winning
Cost does not equal value… and low cost parts decrease brand equity for a very long time.
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Cost Elapsed Long
We’re going to see leadership emerge as the most important element of business – the attribute that is highest in demand and shortest in supply.
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Demand Elements Important
Leaders trust their guts. “Intuition” is one of those good words that has gotten a bad rap. For some reason, intuition has become a “soft” notion.
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Decision Leader Rap
What you decide not to do is probably more important that what you decide to do.
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Decide Important Probably
Divas do it, golfers do it, pilots do it, violists do it, sprinters do it, soldiers do it, surgeons do it, astronauts do it…only business people think it isn’t necessary to train.
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People Teamwork Thinking
The race will go to the curious, the slightly mad, and those with an un-satiated passion for learning and dare-deviltry.
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Deviltry Mad Passion Race
He who makes the quickest, coolest prototypes reigns!
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Prototype Reign Work
Garbage! Intuition is the new physics. It’s an Einsteinian, seven-sense, practical way to make tough decisions. Bottom line, circa 2001 to 2010: The crazier the times are, the more important it is for leaders to develop and to trust their intuition.
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Decision Important Intuition More Practical Tough
Momentum is a fragile force. Its worst enemy: procrastination. Its best friend: a deadline (think Election Day). Implication no. 1 (and there is no no. 2): Get to work! NOW!
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Enemy Procrastination Thinking Worst
Mistakes are life. Mistakes are not to be tolerated…they are to be encouraged. The bigger the better.
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Bigger Encouraged Mistake
The populations of most cities around the world continue to grow. The reasonspeople congregate in cities are various and complex, and the dawn of the digital age has not put much of adamper on the human urge to congregate.
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Age Cities Congregate Digital
The idea of intimately entwining with customers [to get ideas] is an idea whose time has come.
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Customers Ideas Intimately
The day firing becomes easy is the day to fire yourself.
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Easy Fire Wisdom Yourself
If you love your company and love what you do, you will serve your customers better-period!
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Better Business Love Passion Period
Those who succeed always reach far beyond formal deputation, take initiatives, and take the heat when things go awry. That’s true in the military in times of war, true for 200 person manufacturing firms, and true at giant automakers or software companies.
TOM PETERS

Initiatives Manufacturing Reach Reputation

Listen while you can, so that you can lead when you must.

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Listen while you can, so that you can lead when you must.

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