Alfred P. Sloan

"The executive must balance the tension between stability and innovation."

"Market success is not about being the biggest; it's about being the most valued."

"The cost of indecision is often higher than the cost of a wrong decision made boldly."

"A company's reputation is built over decades and lost in a moment of neglect."

"The leader who cannot inspire passion is merely pushing people, not leading them."

"The most dangerous assumption is that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow."

"Success requires the willingness to be misunderstood by the many to serve the few who matter."

"The organization that fears failure will never achieve anything worth achieving."

"The executive's responsibility extends beyond profit to the character of how that profit was earned."

"In business, as in life, what you do when no one is watching defines your true character."

"The market is a harsh teacher, but it teaches lessons that last."

"Innovation without strategy is chaos; strategy without innovation is stagnation."

"A company is only as strong as the weakest decision made by its management."

"The future belongs to those who can see it coming and prepare for it while others are comfortable."

"Profit is the reward for solving problems better than anyone else."

"The executive must read the market like a poet reads the human heart—with sensitivity and insight."

"What matters most is not what you achieve, but the principles you maintain while achieving it."

"The strength of an organization is directly proportional to the diversity of thought it tolerates."

"Market leadership is a position you must earn anew every single day."

"The company that cannot change will not survive; the company that changes without direction will not prosper."

"An organization's culture is not something you create once; it is something you defend constantly."

"The best business decisions come from balancing data with intuition."

"The executive who believes he has all the answers is bankrupt of the most valuable resource: curiosity."

"Complacency is the luxury of companies that do not fear their competition."

"The market does not care about your history; it only cares about your future."

"A leader's legacy is not measured by what he accomplished, but by what those he led accomplish after him."

"The organization that listens to its customers but ignores its competitors will be surprised."

"Success in business is 10% inspiration and 90% implementation of that inspiration."

"The executive must have the courage to make decisions with incomplete information."

"The difference between a good company and a great one is the difference between survival and vision."