Donald Rumsfeld Quotes

Best Quotes by Donald Rumsfeld (Top 10)

Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
Donald Rumsfeld
If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much.
Donald Rumsfeld
Listening to both sides does not necessarily bring about a correct judgment.
Donald Rumsfeld
In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership.
Donald Rumsfeld
Don't speak ill of your predecessors or successors. You didn't walk in their shoes.
Donald Rumsfeld
Think ahead. Don't let day-to-day operations drive out planning.
Donald Rumsfeld
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
Success tends to go not to the person who is error-free, because he also tends to be risk-averse. Rather it goes to the person who recognizes that life is pretty much a percentage business. It isn't making mistakes that's critical; it's correcting them and getting on with the principal task.
Donald Rumsfeld
If the staff lacks policy guidance against which to test decisions, their decisions will be random.
Donald Rumsfeld
Reduce the layers of management. They put distance between the top of an organization and the customers.
Donald Rumsfeld

Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems.
Donald Rumsfeld
Strive to make proposed solutions as self-executing as possible. As the degree of discretion increases, so too does bureaucracy, delay, and expense.
Donald Rumsfeld
You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.
Donald Rumsfeld
You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
Donald Rumsfeld
Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.
Donald Rumsfeld
Know that the amount of criticism you receive may correlate somewhat to the amount of publicity you receive.
Donald Rumsfeld
Arguments of convenience lack integrity and inevitably trip you up.
Donald Rumsfeld
When starting at the bottom, be willing to learn from those at the top.
Donald Rumsfeld
Keep your sense of humor. As General Joe Stillwell said, 'The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of his behind'.
Donald Rumsfeld
Move decisions out to the Cabinet and agencies. Strengthen them by moving responsibility, authority, and accountability their direction.
Donald Rumsfeld