26 Leadership Quotes From The Ten Commandments For Business Failure Part 1

One of the best leadership books I have ever read is The Commandments For Business Failure by Donald Keough.  Donald was the president, chief operating office, and a director of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 to 1993.  The insights from his book are brilliant as you will see by reading some of the book’s quotes below.

I will dedicate a series of posts for you to capture as many of his thoughts as possible.  In the final post, I will give you Keough’s list of 10 mistakes.  Every leader can improve from these key learnings.

1. “Businesses are the product and extension of the personal characteristics of its leaders – the lengthened shadows of the men and women who run them.”
2. “As our lives get softer and richer and more comfortable, the temptation to quit taking risks is so great.”
3. “The world belongs to the discontented.” – Oscar Wilde
4. “They (Xerox) ignored the simple truth that to create profits in the long term requires innovation in the short term.”
5. “The way forward will always generate some failures.”
6. “When the conditions around you change, remain inflexible.  Keep on keeping on.  Stand firm.  You will (surely) fail.”
7. “For this is the tragedy of man – circumstances change, but he doesn’t.” – Machiavelli
8. “It was like IBM management was standing on the bank of a river.  No matter how long you stand there, you never see the same river twice – it is in constant motion.”
9. “No one liked television except the American people.”
10. “You can never cost cut your way to profitability.”
11. “Flexibility is a continual, deeply thoughtful process of examining situations and, when warranted, quickly adapting to changing circumstances.”
12. “It’s a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn’t want to hear.” – Dick Cavett
13. “The simple truth is that all progress in an organization has to, by definition, stem from the effort to solve a problem.”
14. “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” – John le Carre
15. “There is a great deal of difference between an environment of creative tension in an organization and a climate of fear.”
16. “I consistently had to make an extra effort to broaden my acquaintances.”
17. “Watch out for bright lights that surround themselves with dim bulbs!”
18. “When the perception of quality in even the most ordinary product is lost, all is lost.”
19. “One cannot know enough about a country or a business situation from a briefing book in the comfort of one’s headquarters offices.”
20. “The best source of information is from your own field force, your local team.”
21. “That was a quality I wanted to emulate, to be trusted.  Not feared.  Not loved.  But trusted.”
22. “Success is more permanent when you achieve it without destroying your principles.” – Walter Cronkite
23. “If a broken window is left unrepaired in a building, soon vandals will break the rest of the windows.”
24. “The nobility and the fragility of the human being.  The distance between the two traits is not that great.”
25. “You cannot build a strong and lasting business on a rotten foundation.”
26. “A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.” – Keough’s father

Check back tomorrow for more from this incredible leader.  What do you think of Keough’s thoughts and The Coca-Cola Company?

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