“Whenever smart and well-intentioned people avoid confronting obstacles, they disempower employees and undermine change.”

—  John P. Kotter

Source: Leading Change, 1996, p. 10

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Whenever smart and well-intentioned people avoid confronting obstacles, they disempower employees and undermine change." by John P. Kotter?
John P. Kotter photo
John P. Kotter 26
author of The heart of Change 1947

Related quotes

Dick Armey photo

“America’s Christian conservative movement is confronted with this divide: small-government advocates who want to practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government versus big-government sympathizers who want to impose their version of 'righteousness' on others through the hammer of law…. Our movement must avoid the temptations of power and those who would twist the good intentions of Christian voters to support policies that undermine freedom and grow government.”

Dick Armey (1940) American politician

Christians and Big Government - Why faith requires freedom http://www.freedomworks.org/processor/printer.php?issue_id=2731|, 12 October 2006

“The rule of progress is, take the path regardless of the obstacles while the rule of stagnation is, avoid the path with regard to the obstacles.”

- Goa
Jacques Delors photo

“Politicians who attack the dream of a federal Europe are racist bigots intent on undermining the Continent's freedom and peace.”

Jacques Delors (1925) French economist and politician

Speech to the European Parliament (4 May 1994), quoted in The Times (5 May 1994), p. 1
President of the European Commission

Robert Hunter (author) photo

“The greatest obstacle that confronted Tolstoy lies rooted deep in the soul of man. It is the fear of poverty and the dread of want which”

Robert Hunter (author) (1874–1942) American sociologist, author, golf course architect

Source: Why We Fail as Christians (1919), p. 60
Context: The greatest obstacle that confronted Tolstoy lies rooted deep in the soul of man. It is the fear of poverty and the dread of want which ages of struggle with man and beast and with all the adverse elements of nature has bred in us. Surely history teaches us too well the nature and character of man for us to believe readily that there are many fathers and mothers who would ever consent to become Christians on the conditions set forth by Tolstoy.... who to day would fail to condemn unreservedly any father who would take his babies from a comfortable home to live hungry and shelterless in the forests and fields. From the dawn of the world the chief duty of a parent has been to keep his family secure from want.

Donald J. Trump photo

“People don't know how great you are. People don't know how smart you are. These are the smart people. These are the smart people. These are really the smart people. And they never like to say it, but I say it. And I'm a smart person. These are the smart. We have the smartest people. We have the smartest people. And they know it. Some say it, but they hate to say it. But we have the smartest people.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

Council Bluffs, Iowa, quoted in * 2016-09-29
Donald Trump's Bizarre Speech: 'You Are The Smartest People'
Leading Britain's Conversation
https://www.lbc.co.uk/politics/us-election/donald-trump/donald-trumps-bizarre-speech-smartest-people/
2016, September 2016

Aron Ra photo

““How do you reconcile materialism with idealism?” Whenever I hear a philosophical question like that, I think “Here we go. We’re going to use smoke and mirrors to change the subject and thus avoid it.””

Aron Ra (1962) Aron Ra is an atheist activist and the host of the Ra-Men Podcast

Patheos, Philosophistry http://www.patheos.com/blogs/reasonadvocates/2017/04/12/philosophistry/ (April 12, 2017)

“It bodes well for the future that young people are thinking so intently about political issues.”

Jo Cox (1974–2016) UK politician

On a return visit to their former school, Heckmondwike Grammar School — Emmerdale actress Tracy Brabin and Labour politician Jo Cox return to Heckmondwike Grammar School http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-news/emmerdale-actress-tracy-brabin-labour-7818688 (23 September 2014)

Thomas Jefferson photo

“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to Richard Price (8 January 1789)
1780s

David Levithan photo

“If smart people are parodying it, that's a sure sign that some less smart people are believing it.”

David Levithan book Every Day

Source: Every Day

Related topics