Tom Peters's Quotes

As far as I'm concerned, the first business leader who was able to establish a cult of personality around his tenure was Lee Iacocca.

Design is so critical it should be on the agenda of every meeting in every single department.

Everyone has a chance to learn, improve, and build up their skills.

I don't want the 35-year-olds in my audience to think of me as as 'pops' giving the kind of advice that only 65-year-olds can understand.

I know it sounds crazy, but you've got to let what you're going to do find you, rather than you pursuing it.

If your company has a clean-desk policy, the company is nuts and you're nuts to stay there.

Leaders understand the ultimate power of relationships.

One simply cannot pay tribute to Stephen Covey without saying at the outset that he was a lovely human being.

South Africa has all the tools to compete in the new global village - an eager workforce, ready to take on any challenge.

Statistically and emotionally, I believe that the way I can be of help to society is by doing what I know and what I've been good at.

The top athletes are consummate pros who work obsessively at their craft. Approach yours the same way.

Winners must learn to relish change with the same enthusiasm and energy that we have resisted it in the past.

Stop being conned by the old mantra that says, 'Leaders are cool, managers are dweebs.' Instead, follow the Peters Principle: Leaders are cool. Managers are cool too!

For the blue-collar worker, the driving force behind change was factory automation using programmable machine tools. For the office worker, it's office automation using computer technology: enterprise-resource-planning systems, groupware, intranets, extranets, expert systems, the Web, and e-commerce.

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

The workplace revolution that transformed the lives of blue-collar workers in the 1970s and 1980s is finally reaching the offices and cubicles of the white-collar workers.

Today brands are everything, and all kinds of products and services - from accounting firms to sneaker makers to restaurants - are figuring out how to transcend the narrow boundaries of their categories and become a brand surrounded by a Tommy Hilfiger-like buzz.

Celebrate what you want to see more of.

If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade.

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

Almost all quality improvement comes via simplification of design, manufacturing... layout, processes, and procedures.

Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders.

If you're not confused, you're not paying attention.

Excellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change.

Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.

The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.