 | Management Quotes |  |
As far as I know, economics does not teach us anything about the artistic dimension of management, despite the many insights it offers.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Economics and Management
The person who consistently seeks to do what is “right” – not just expedient – will invariably be inspired with new ideas and useful insights.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Ethics and Innovation
Youth is not a time of life – it is a state of mind; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair – these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
So long as your heart receives a message of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, you are young.
When the wires are all down and all the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you are grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soul.
– Given to MacArthur by John W. Lewis. It is based on a poem written by Samuel Ullman of Birmingham, Alabama.
— John W. Lewis
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Life and Wisdom
There would be no strength in relying on the teachings of others without a basic capacity for self-reliance. To rely upon the strength and resources of others without a firm purpose of one’s own is a sign of weakness.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Education and Mission
Gratitude for blessings is the most exalted of all virtues. The measure of one’s existence is enhanced in proportion to the strength of his spirit of gratitude.
We all feel some degree of gratitude. I have always thought that young people who feel strongly the sense of gratitude are the ones who will grow and accomplish the most.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Life and Wisdom
Perhaps one of the reasons for Matsushita Electric’s success is that I made it a rule as leader of the company to note the strong points of my employees and try to accept their weak points. Of course, since I concentrated so much on their strong points, I sometimes put a person without the necessary abilities in an important post, and this sometimes led to failure. Still, I was ready to accept such failures, for I would rather blunder into mistakes because I believed in the abilities of people than from being constantly wary of their weaknesses. If you become too preoccupied with people’s inadequacies, you cannot get them to work for you without constant anxiety about whether they will fail you or make a grave error. This not only causes immense mental strain; it can also rob your management of boldness and courage, and the business will not grow as you would like it to.
The rule that strong points should be given greater weight than weak points must also be observed by workers vis-à-vis their superiors. If they are ready to respect the strengths of their boss and make up for his weaknesses and inadequacies, they will make excellent workers and reliable cohorts.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Human Resources and Management
Failures in business are caused by self-centeredness, lack of righteousness, ignorance of the sacred mission of business, treating business as a short-sighted profit-making endeavor, and clinging to outmoded practices.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Business Rules and Failure
Not only spiritual peace but material abundance is necessary if the quality of human life is to be better and people are to be happier. You may be spiritually enlightened, but if you are deprived of certain material comforts you will find it hard to survive. And of course, the greatest abundance of material wealth is worthless unless you enjoy fulfillment and a purpose in living. Spiritual peace and material abundance are as inseparable as the two wheels of a cart.
If the spiritual peace offered through the power of religion is added to a paradise of material abundance, human life will be complete. This is where the spirit of real business management lies.
— Konosuke Matsushita
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Life
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine…it’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
— Marianne Williamson
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Ability and Achievement
One of the tests for whether companies are aligning themselves with a broader social engagement is the extent to which the doctrine of shareholder value loses credibility. I don’t think it’s going to be openly repudiated, but I suspect that, gradually, executives will stop making as much reference to it to justify their actions. It privileges one group, one constituency, over all the others, and it carries so much baggage now because it’s been so perverted and linked to short-term profits.
— Daniel Yankelovich
No Comments » Posted by Administrator / Social Responsibility