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Doing the right thing on climate change saves money, retains customers, creates new market opportunity and takes you beyond just compliance. It reduces your risk exposure and reduces risk to shareholders - Dr Jonathan Foot, Chief Environmental Officer, EDF Energy, addressing 'Sustainable Development 2010' conference, London (February 2010)

One of the risks if you have people with sustainability job titles is that everybody else just defers – it's a huge mistake. Where sustainability works best is where an organisation's leadership gets it and wants it to happen and enables it to happen – so everyone from the person who sweeps the floor to the finance director feels part of that conversation - Will Day, Chairman, Sustainable Development Commission (2010)

Resource efficiency - it’s about only taking what we need - Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (November 2009)

Business is the force of change. Business is essential to solving the climate crisis, because this is what business is best at: innovating, changing, addressing risks, searching for opportunities. There is no more vital task - Richard Branson

We have an economy that tells us it is cheaper to destroy earth in real time rather than renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet - Paul Hawken, entrepreneur, environmental activist and author (May 2009)

Premium will increasingly be defined in terms of sustainability and environmental compatibility - Dr Norbert Reithofer, Chairman, BMW board, announcing that BMW would pull out of Formula 1 (July 2009)

Business as usual is dead. Green growth is the answer to both our climate and economic problems - Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen (March 2009)

"The ultimate recession": a recession caused not by failed regulation and bankers’ greed, but by very high oil prices, food and water shortages, disappearing forests, accelerating climate change, forced migration and mass civil disruption...The long and the short of it, unfortunately, is this: more politicians still believe that economic recovery depends on continuing to live beyond our means (financially and ecologically) than on learning to live within our means. And that’s why the ultimate "Perfect Storm" recession still looms on the horizon - Jonathon Porritt, www.forumforthefuture.org article 'Living within our means' (21 March 2009)

People changed. They became more frugal and thought about the value of life. There was a change from a materialistic attitude to just valuing your own life. In a way, the bust was a good thing, because it calmed down everything - Hiroko Charles commenting on lessons learned from the Japanese economic downturn of the early 1990s in 'Management Today' (February 2009)

The New Capitalism (arising from the global economic downturn)...those running our biggest commercial businesses will have to be more visible. They’ll have to manifest a genuine understanding not only of the anxieties of their employees but of all taxpayers. Those chief executives who succeed will be those who imbue in their businesses very simple, commonsense standards of decency - Robert Peston, Business Editor, BBC (December 2008)

You would think, wouldn’t you, that protecting the ultimate capital asset upon which all future income depends – in other words this fragile planet – was worth investing in, seriously and urgently. So isn’t now the critical time to be developing these technologies, business models and financial instruments for environmental reasons, above all, but also for economic reasons? - HRH The Prince of Wales addressing May Day network, 1 May 2008

Those who manage their way into a crisis are not necessarily the right people to manage their way out of a crisis - Albert Einstein

Only business can build a low-carbon economy. Business is all about seeing ideas and growing them. Businesses have the resources, the people, the technical skills to make things happen - and they have the channels to market - Tom Delay, Chief Executive, The Carbon Trust (reported in The Times, 25 March 2008)

The less reliant a company is on water and materials, the lower the impact and any disruption to supply arising from extreme climate conditions - Dr Martin Gibson, Programme Director, Envirowise (2008)

In a truly great company profits and cash flow become like blood and water to a healthy body: They are absolutely essential for life but they are not the very point of life - Jim Collins, author Good to Great (2001)

Many people seem to be obsessed with technology. However, if we just made better use of the technologies and management techniques that we already have, we could go a long way to removing many key environmental problems - Dr Martin Gibson, Programme Director, Envirowise (2008)

Sustainability is about profit...it is the opportunity of the century - Ben Clarke, Kraft Foods (2008)

...it is business that can exercise the fastest degree of change by seeing the opportunity rather than the threat - Christopher Hune, MP (2008)

The role of modern business: To provide ever better goods and services in a way that is profitable, ethical and respects the environment, individuals and the communities in which it operates - "Tomorrow's Global Company: Challenges and Choices", report by business led think tank 'Tomorrow's Company' (2007)

Investors want to know how exposed a business is to climate change. The physical risks to Tesco are clear, but could be far-reaching. Freak weather in the past few months has disrupted our supply lines in Hungary, Bangladesh and Korea. Any responsible board of directors should be planning ahead, thinking through these risks, and presenting them in a clear, transparent way - Sir Terry Leahy, CEO, Tesco (2007)

A product which is unceremoniously wasted to landfill at end of life surely can't be considered good design! - Neil Tierney, Director, Lightweight Medical (2007)

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently - Warren Edward Buffet (US stock broker, US representative, self-made billionnaire and philanthropist)

There is no business on a dead planet - David Brower, conservationist (USA)

Climate change is a key driver for us so reducing energy, packaging and waste are big priorities for our business - J Sainsbury plc (Corporate Responsibility Report 2007)

I'm of the firm belief that carbon is very much equated to money. If you are emitting carbon, somewhere down the line you are spending money to do that - Dr Martin Blake, Head of Social Responsibility and Sustainability, Royal Mail (The ENDS Report, May 2007)

It's not enough simply to wear the badge of corporate responsibility. Business must accept that real change is the only response to climate change and other environmental crises - Jonathon Porritt (2007)

Cutting carbon in the supply chain is the next critical stage in the business contribution to reduce carbon emissions to tackle climate change and, represents a significant commercial opportunity - Tom Delay, Chief Executive, The Carbon Trust (2007)

Today, the UK must be the pioneer of a new model of economic change, that integrates social and environmental consideration. This is not just a question of values and moral duty. It is about our economy’s capacity to sustain itself - David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, addressing FTSE4Good 5th Anniversary event (February 2007)

Economic dynamism can be combined with environmental and social responsibility. High financial returns can go hand in hand with respect for human rights, and the preservation of the planet’s natural resources - David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, addressing FTSE4Good 5th Anniversary event (February 2007)

Turning every business into an environmental industry will involve applying new principles...first, we need to make more with less...second, we need to design out waste...third, we must begin to decarbonise our energy supply - David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, addressing Environmental Industries Commission conference, London (November 2006)

We believe responsible business can be profitable business - Stuart Rose, M&S Chief Executive, announcing 5-year plan to make the company carbon neutral (January 2007)

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work - Aristotle

I'm a great believer in the Arsene Wenger school of management - which is, you don't worry about the opposition, you just get your own act together - David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on need to tackle climate change (December 2006)

Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him - Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915)

In the future, every industry should be an environmental industry. In a world where energy and carbon emissions are constrained, every business must take resource productivity seriously - David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2006)

Going low-carbon is the only option for a profitable, future-proof business - Environment Agency (UK) 2006

Every economic threat also represents an inspiring challenge to those who are bold and creative enough to rise up to it. Investment in the technologies and products and the new energy infrastructure that will shape the low carbon future offers a huge opportunity to businesses large and small around the world - Nancy Skinner, Director, The Climate Group, USA (2005)

We believe it's in business's interest to become more sustainable... this will become a must-have rather than a nice-to-have issue, going forward. We want to build our brand round that position - John Duggan, CEO, Gazeley (2006)

We do not believe that you can be ‘half responsible’ or pick and choose the convenient areas to be responsible in – Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodaphone, 2006 Corporate Responsibility Report

...the virtues of a strong corporate eco-efficiency policy can be significant from a financial perspective - conclusion in "The Economic Value of Corporate Eco-Efficiency" 2005 Academy of Management Conference Paper by Guenster, Derwall, Bauer and Koedijk (2005)

Businesses should prepare for a second industrial revolution... ...carbon will become part of the daily currency of business – Dr Gary Felgate, Director of Business Delivery, The Carbon Trust (October 2004)

Companies that understand their links with the communities they operate in, and their impact on the environment, are most likely to prosper in the long-term - Sir Digby Jones, Director General of the CBI (January 2006)

I waited far too long, being optimistic rather than realistic. I also failed to do my homework - Gordon Clark, founder of Clark Foam the California-based surf board factory closed down in 2005 over controversy surrounding toxic chemicals affecting employees and the local environment

The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective - Warren Edward Buffet (US stock broker, US representative, self-made billionnaire and philanthropist)

Being a good steward of the environment and our communities, and being an efficient and profitable business, are not mutually exclusive. In fact they are one and the same - Lee Scott, Chief Executive, Wal-Mart (October 2005)

There is a simple rule about the environment. If there is waste or pollution, someone along the line pays for it - Lee Scott, Chief Executive, Wal-Mart (October 2005)

Climate change doesn't cause hurricanes, but hot ocean water makes them more powerful. Climate change doesn't cause rainfall, but it can increase the frequency and severity of heavy flooding. Climate change doesn't cause droughts, but it makes droughts longer. We believe every company has a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gases as quickly as it can - Lee Scott, Chief Executive, Wal-Mart (October 2005)

Investors are particularly interested in our management of environmental impacts, and how we measure fuel consumption, emissions, energy waste and water usage. We are now focusing on developing our group business to deliver long-term strategic benefit and shareholder value by maximising synergies that sustainable development provides - Jane Ashton, Sustainable Tourism Manager, First Choice (2005)

What a business produces, how it buys and sells, how it affects the environment, how it recruits, trains and develops its own people, how it invests in the community and respects the rights of people - all these add together to form the impact of that business on society - Business in the Community (2000)

Cost-effective, attractive to business partners, environmentally friendly, easy access to a wide range of guidance and support - it makes good business sense to implement and maintain a robust and effective environmental management system - Elliot Morley, Environment Minister (January 2006)

Forward thinking companies that adapt positively to the sustainable business agenda will be at the forefront of resource productivity, reducing waste and of environmental reporting. They and their management teams make things happen ahead of their competitors - Michael Meacher, Environment Minister (addressing ENVEC, October 2002)

Tomorrow's company recognises the critical importance of achieving environmental sustainability in the interests of all stakeholders and accepts the challenge this poses. Yesterday's companies view environmental concerns as peripheral and react defensively when issues arise - The 'Tomorrow's Company' Inquiry report (1995)

How to overcome the idea that to talk about the environment is to talk in an unbusinesslike way: ...the way to change attitudes is to keep asking obvious open questions.
Where does success come from?
Where is success likely to come from in the future?
What are the most significant forces for change that will shape the environment that businesses operate in?
What needs that are unmet today will offer opportunities to companies tomorrow?
- Mark Goyder, Director, Tomorrow's Company (think tank) (2005)

We are now going through a sustainability revolution that will rival the agricultural and industrial revolutions in the way it will transform society.....Innovation and creativity will be needed to develop radical, new products and processes that are less damaging to the environment and generate new businesses and jobs - Department of Trade & Industry, London, May 1999

In a rapidly changing, unpredictable world; in an economy where knowledge work is all-important, where every company has to build its licence to operate on foundations of trust, and where technology and international communications makes everything visible, leadership and relationships are the only consistent building blocks of success - www.tomorrowscompany.com

Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times - Niccolo Machiavelli, Italian Statesman and Political Philosopher (1469 - 1527)

Everyone must be clear that business as usual is not an option. Most of us live in buildings erected long before we were born and our successors will have to live with the environmental consequences of the buildings we construct today. It is vital that we minimise harmful impacts for those who come after us - Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2003

Reputation is built on a complex base of intangible attributes such as reliability, quality, honesty, trust, social and environmental responsibility and credibility... ...There is clear evidence that a good reputation gains a company more customers, better employees, more investors, improved access to credit, and greater credibility with government - The Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, London (1996)

The rewards that will flow from a successful shift to a low carbon economy are high. Neither governments nor business can afford to let these opportunities pass them by - Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2005)

In the UK what we've found is that even businesses which prided themselves already on their efficient management find that a really beady-eyed scrutiny of their resource management, with an eye to environmental best-practice and long term sustainability, produce fresh efficiency and fresh savings that actually shock those in the company - Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, addressing National Press Club, Canberra, Australia (April 2004)

A sustainable business is resource efficient, respects the environment and is a good neighbour - Sustainable Business Team, Government Office for the South West, UK, 2000

Sustainability underpins future profits - Sir Neville Simms, CEO, Carillion

If sustainability is going to take hold in the corporate sector in a big way - and we need it to - it will be when it produces big profits and faster growth. It won't happen because of an optional executive commitment to an abstract concept. It will happen because sustainability is a great business strategy. And it is - Paul Gilding, founding partner of Ecos Corporation

'Dematerialisation' is the name of the game: more economic value out of less 'stuff' in. There are significant cost savings to be had for companies that set about systematically reducing their impact on the natural world and human health. This should be as important a driver of performance, at board level, as health and safety has been over the last 15 years - Sustainability matrix for the use of chemicals in society - 'Coming Clean' supplement to Green Futures (September/October 2005)

Think about it...if we throw it away, we had to buy it first. So we pay twice, once to get it, once to have it taken away. What if we reverse that cycle? What if our suppliers send us less, and everything they send us has value as a recycled product? No waste, and we get paid instead - Lee Scott, Chief Executive, Wal-Mart (October 2005)

People feel that they have done their bit when they recycle... reducing resource use is more important and more rewarding - Dr Martin Gibson, Programme Director, Envirowise (2008)

The cost of your waste is not so much the cost of getting rid of it as the value of what you are getting rid of - Environment Agency (2001)

Sustainability is probably the most important cross-cutting issue. A construction industry that has properly embraced sustainability will be a safer industry and one that is less wasteful - Accelerating Change

We have a basic notion that unless we find a solution for environmental problems, we will not achieve sustainable growth in the coming years - Hiroyuki Watanabe, Managing Director, Toyota, 2001

Companies not interested in sustainable development issues will not survive long - Malcolm Brinded, Chairman of Shell UK, 1999

Good environmentalism is good economics - Barber Conable (1922- 2003), former President of the World Bank

A country that runs on energy cannot afford to waste it - Bruce Hannon

Do less, with less - Viridian design manifesto

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear - William Shakespeare

Dig the well before you are thirsty - Chinese proverb

More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause - Jim Cathcart

Start with the end in mind - leader's proverb

Engineers make things work, managers make things happen, so we need both - unattributable

It is easier to do a job right than explain why you didn't - Martin Van Buren

It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change - Charles Darwin

To cope with a changing world, an entity must develop the capacity of shifting and changing - of developing new skills and attitudes; in short, the capability of learning - A De Gues, The Living Company

Ignorance is always afraid of change - Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st prime minister of India (1889 - 1964)

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory - Dr W Edwards Deming, American management and total quality guru (1900 - 1993)

Hire the best. Pay them fairly. Communicate frequently. Provide challenges and rewards. Believe in them. Get out of their way and they'll knock your socks off - Mary Ann Allison

The things that get rewarded, get done - Michael LeBoeuf

Business and the environment: Who Cares, Wins - unattributable

Caring is a powerful business advantage - Scott Johnson

Risk management is about getting the business strategy right - Ken Lever, Group Finance Director, Tomkins (2005)

Financial institutions are recognizing the need for strong risk management governance, now more than ever - Jack Ribeiro, managing partner of Deloitte's Global Financial Services Industry practice (2004)

Progressive companies regard climate change as an opportunity rather than a threat - Tom Delay, Chief Executive, The Carbon Trust (2003)

There is no security on this earth, only opportunity - General Douglas McArthur

Business and the environment: Wasting resources costs the earth - and lowers your competitive edge - Sustainable Business Team, Government Office for the South West, UK, 2000

Waste: Any cost which does not produce value to our customers - Interface Inc.

The best and most evolved technologies are those that do not destroy the very base on which we live - Vandana Shiva (physicist, ecologist, activist, editor and writer)

(Waste = Loss): The first rule of business is to survive and the guiding principle of business economics is not the maximisation of profit, it is the avoidance of loss - Peter Drucker

The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager - Peter Drucker

As a manager the important thing is not what happens when you are there, but what happens when you are not there - Ken Blanchard

Taking the approach of 'treating others as we would wish to be treated ourselves' is the 'golden rule' for strengthening and improving relationships between everyone at all levels in the organisation - 'Resource Efficiency & Corporate Responsibility - Managing Change' guide, www.oursouthwest.com

Be generous with the credit for your achievements. The more other people feel that they are gaining from your success, the more they will continue to help and others will want to join in - Octavius Black, Managing Director, The Mind Gym (2006)

Things work out best for the people who make the best out of the way things work out - anonymous

"Worst Value" is buying cheap so you'll need to buy twice and pay double - purchasing manager's proverb

There is less to fear from outside competition than from inside inefficiency, discourtesy and bad service - anonymous

Thirty years ago, about 80% of a company's assets resided in its plant and equipment, with 20% in the knowledge of its people. Today, the reverse is true. The knowledge of our staff is our principal asset - Susan Rice, Director of Scottish and Southern Energy (2005)

Most bosses know instinctively that their power depends more on employee's compliance than on threats or sanctions - Fernanda Bartolme

Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success - Henry Ford

The secret of success is consistency of purpose - Benjamin Disraeli

Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like it - Sam Ewing

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is liking what you get - anonymous

I don't get put off when people are negative, it spurs me on. If you don't try something, then you have failed yourself - Alexander Amosu, entrepreneur (2003)

Being satisfied with the status quo means you are not making progress - Katsuaki Watanabe, President, Toyota (2006)

One way to become enthusiastic is to look for the plus sign. To make progress in any difficult situation, you have to start with what's right about it and build on that - Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993), preacher and author of The Power of Positive Thinking

Wherever you see a successful business, someone made a courageous decision - Peter Drucker

To open a business is very easy; to keep it open is very difficult - Chinese proverb

Somehow, when everything is too easy it's not necessarily the right recipe for success - Debbie Moore, founder, Pineapple dance and fashion company

We can constantly make new things but we can't make a new world - Kentaro Matsuura

For a successful entrepreneur it can mean extreme wealth. But with extreme wealth comes extreme responsibility - Richard Branson

Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn't always have to be their top priority - William Arthur Ward

Few people do business well who do nothing else - Lord Chesterfield

The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work - Agha Hasan Abedi, founder, Bank of Credit and Commerce International, Luxembourg

A generation ago, the image was that you had to trample everyone else down to succeed; but I don't believe that makes good business sense - Richard Branson (2006)

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business - Henry Ford

You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do - Henry Ford

Businesses that grow by development and improvement do not die. But when a business ceases to be creative, when it believes it has reached perfection and needs to do nothing but produce no improvement, no development, it is done - Henry Ford

A product is a symbol of a company's capabilities. It is a result of all the decisions made before, during and after the design phase - Philips

It is not the employer who pays wages; he only handles the money. It is the product that pays wages - Henry Ford

All lasting business is built on friendship - Alfred A. Montapert

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning - Bill Gates

The day you stop learning is the day you stop earning - unattributable

The more an idea is developed, the more concise becomes its expression; the more a tree is pruned, the better is the fruit - Alfred Bougeart

If you do it just for the money, you won't succeed - unattributable

Improve your business, your life, your relationships, your finances and your health. When you do the whole world improves - Mark Victor Hansen

As more companies look inwards and ask themselves 'why are we here?' it is important to ensure that the objectives of sustainable development, in its very widest sense, are built into the answer - BT "Changing Values" (1998)

If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just - Anita Roddick, Founder and managing director, Body Shop (1942 - 2007)

Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory - Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993), preacher and author of The Power of Positive Thinking

Sometimes, the hardest decision made is the right thing to do - Yanny Natashah

It's the behaviour of your company and its people that form your reputation, and your reputation is your brand - Dave Allen, CEO, Enterpise IG (global brand agency)

Conducting your business in a socially responsible way is good business. It means that you can attract better employees and that customers will know what you stand for and like you for it - M. Anthony Burns

Corporate social responsibility is there to repair something you shouldn't be doing in the first place. To use it for brand enhancement is, therefore, risky - Alan Knight, Head of CSR, Kingfisher, 2003

The emphasis placed by more and more companies on corporate social responsibility symbolises the recognition that prosperity is best achieved in an inclusive society - Tony Blair addressing investment bank Goldman Sachs, 22 March 2004

Fifteen years ago, if you said business will help save the environment people would have laughed at you. Today, I believe this is a serious proposition - Tony Blair, Green Alliance CBI Conference, October 2000

Sustainable development is critically dependent on the activities of business throughout the world. On the one hand, businesses are the dynamos of society, providing most of the goods and services we need, innovating to create new opportunities and possibilities, and providing most of the jobs and employment in the world. On the other hand, they have been responsible for much of the pollution and depletion of natural resources in the world, and have sometimes been bad employers and bad neighbours in the communities in which they operate. The challenge for businesses in the twenty-first century is therefore to find ways of operating as good employers and good neighbours and in ways that minimise pollution and depletion of resources - UK Sustainable Development Commission (2004)

Customers notice when the standard of service falls below their expectation, but they also notice when it rises above them - Gordon Gatiss (TQM Consultant)

A happy customer leads to three referrals, an unsatisfied customer will tell ten or more people - marketing law

I want to work for a company that contributes to and is part of the community. I want something not just to invest in. I want something to believe in - Anita Roddick, Founder and managing director, Body Shop (1942 - 2007)

Corporations are social institutions. If they don't serve society, they have no business existing - Henry Mintzberg, Management Expert

Smart companies are beginning to recognise that the move towards accountability for human rights is strong and unstoppable. Those companies that fail to move from rhetoric to meaningful action will suffer damage to their reputation and financial bottom line, sooner or later - Christopher Avery, author "Business and Human Rights" (2000)

If you don't do it excellently, don't do it at all. Because if it's not excellent, it won't be profitable or fun, and if you're not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there? - Robert Townsend

Designers are inherently optimistic people who try to make the world a better place - William McDonough, architect

Profits are like breathing. You have to have them. But who would stay alive just to breathe? - Maurice Mascaranhas

Profit is not the proper end and aim of management - it is what makes all of the proper ends and aims possible - David Packard (founder of Hewlett-Packard)

Profit in business comes from repeat customers, customers that boast about your project or service, and that bring friends with them - Dr W Edwards Deming, American management and total quality guru (1900 - 1993)

What we need to do is learn to work in the system, by which I mean that everybody, every team, every platform, every division, every component is there not for individual competitive profit or recognition, but for contribution to the system as a whole on a win-win basis - Dr W Edwards Deming, American management and total quality guru (1900 - 1993)

It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the things it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot, it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it is well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better - John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Goodness is the only investment that never fails - Henry David Thoreau, American writer (1817-1862)

Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art - Andy Warhol

A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts - Richard Branson

We spend most of our lives working. So why do so few people have a good time doing it? - Richard Branson

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going - Jim Ryun

If the muscle is strong but the motivation is weak, you still won't achieve your goals - Eileen Shapiro

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit - Aristotle

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you - Henry Ward Beecher

Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things - Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese warrior and strategist (1584 - 1645)

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later - O G Mandino

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least - Goethe

The people who make a difference are not the ones with the credentials, but the ones with the concern - Max Lacado

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits - Thomas Edison

To 'consult' is to seek another's advice on a course already decided upon - Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)

When companies do their own surveying, they tend to get the answers they want, accurate or not - Richard Hamermesh

Inspirational leadership connects to a highly motivated workforce which, in turn, means inspirational results - Nigel Crouch, Senior Industrialist, DTI (2006)

Great companies have leaders all over, not just at the top - Rob Goffee, Professor of Organisational Behaviour, London Business School (2006)

Leaders look to the future, not just the bottom line - unattributable

If we all take responsibility for leadership that enables each other to flourish, our organisation will succeed beyond measure - unattributable

(Requirements of future leaders) A passion for continual learning, a refined, discerning ear for the moral and ethical consequences of their actions, and an understanding of the purposes of work and human organisations - Warren Bennis, Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California

Learning to be an effective leader is no different than learning to be an effective person. And that's the hard part - Warren Bennis, Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California

A leader is a dealer in hope - Napoleon

If leadership is only the exercise of power, the result is damage to both the leader and the led - anonymous

The executive art is nine-tenths inducing those who have authority to use it in taking pertinent action - Chester Barnard, The functions of the executive (1938)

If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader - Dolly Parton

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity - General Patton

If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn't thinking - General Patton

You can buy a person's hands but you can't buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is - Stephen Covey

The capacity to show consideration is being seen increasingly as a worktime asset - Richard Reeves, Director, Intelligence Agency, writing in 'Management Today' (January 2006)

An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness - Elbert Hubbard

What you manage in business is people - Harold Geneen, former President and Chief Executive, ITT

The culture of an organisation is defined by what people do when no-one is looking (!) - unattributable

A compromise will always be more expensive than either of the options it's compromising - unattributable

The importance of money flows from it being a link between the present and the future - John Maynard Keynes

Most of the things we decide are not what we know to be the best. We say yes, merely because we are driven into a corner and must say something - Frank Crane

It's not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It's because we dare not venture that they are difficult - Seneca (4 BC-65 AD)

If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play - John Cleese

Leadership is about showing the way, by going in advance, and influencing the behaviour of others. It refers to introducing new business behaviour, practices, or technologies, which demonstrate that sustainable development is possible – Forum for the Future report ‘Corporate leadership today and tomorrow’ (2003)

The leaders of tomorrow will have moved on from being a 'good neighbour' to being ‘a caring and enabling partner’.....They will have understood their local social and economic footprint and will be actively engaged in local partnerships in order to reduce it. Working with a whole range of local groups and organisations they will both encourage and enable by offering their skills, time, and passion – Forum for the Future report ‘Corporate leadership today and tomorrow’ (2003)

Leadership is getting others to do what you want them to do because they want to do it - General Eisenhower

Leadership is practised not so much in words as in attitude and in actions - Harold Geneen, former President and Chief Executive, ITT

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant - Max DePree

I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers - Ralph Nader

Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting someone else to do the work - John G Pollard

You do not lead by hitting people over the head, that's assault, not leadership - General Eisenhower

When the leader's work is done, the people say we did it ourselves - Lau Tzu

Managers do things right, leaders do the right things - unattributable

People work in the system. Management creates the system - Dr W Edwards Deming, American management and total quality guru (1900 - 1993)

The biggest enemy of management is indifference. It’s when people don’t give a damn – Carlos Ghosin, President of Nissan and Chief Executive of Renault (May 2005)

Praise does wonders for the sense of hearing - Bits & Pieces

Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight - Henry Luce, Founder, "Time" and "Fortune" magazine

The industrial landscape is already littered with remains of once successful companies that could not adapt their strategic vision to altered conditions of competition - Abernathy

Success requires just two ingredients, vision and hard work - unattributable

Success is that old ABC - ability, breaks and courage - Charles Luckman, manufacturing executive and architect

If you use your skill and imagination to see how much you can give for a dollar, instead of how little you can give for a dollar, you are bound to succeed - Henry Ford

Getting ready is the secret of success - Henry Ford

It is not the situation but your reaction to the situation which determines success - Gordon Gatiss (TQM Consultant)

The successful man is the one who finds out what is the matter with his business before his competitors do - Roy L Smith

In difficult circumstances, teams either separate or come closer together, it's as simple as that - Ron Dennis, Team Principal, McLaren Mercedes Formula One team (March 2008)

The enemy of stability can be complacency - Ross Brawn (2003), Technical Director, Ferrari Formula One team

If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them - Will Rogers

If you think consensus is expensive, try conflict! - unattributable

If you think training is expensive, try ignorance - Roy Crock (founder of McDonalds)

Training and development: The best development programmes change the way people see themselves - Jon Bright, Regional Director, Government Office for the South West (2008)

It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained - Queen Elizabeth II

The more I train the more I realize I have more speed in me - Leroy Burrell

Hire character. Train skill - Peter Schutz

Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners - Jimmy Stewart

The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying customers - John Egan

Put all your eggs in the one basket, and watch that basket! - Mark Twain

A man trying to sell a blind horse always praises its feet - German proverb

Every wall is a door - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

It is much more difficult to measure non-performance than performance. Performance stands out like a ton of diamonds. Non-performance can almost always be explained away - Harold Geneen, former President and Chief Executive, ITT

Measure what is important, don't make important what you can measure - Robert McNamara, US Defence Secretary (1960s)

I think it is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises, but only performance is reality - Harold Geneen, former President and Chief Executive, ITT

Sustainable development is an optimisation process that takes into account all relevant economic, environmental and social issues. It is not rocket science. It is far more complicated and important than rocket science. Everyone in every society has a role to play, but the Facilities Management profession, with its immense influence to affect the way buildings and businesses operate, has an opportunity to make a difference. Doing so will benefit the profession and the society it serves through the creation of a virtuous circle of events, and thereby, helping to accelerate our progress towards sustainable development - Beyond 2000: A sustainable vision for FM, Jim Ure, Dave Hampton & Sonny Masero (1998)

Almost all systems of economic thought are premised on the idea of continued economic growth, which would be fine and dandy if we lived on an infinite planet, but there's this small, niggling, inconvenient fact that the planet is, in fact, finite, and that, unlike economic theory, it is governed by physical and biological reality - George Monbiot

Information is the seed for an idea, and only grows when it's watered - Heinz V Bergen

We may affirm that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion - George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

We always plan too much and always think too little - Joseph Schumper

A little neglect may breed mischief.... for the want of a nail, a shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse, the rider was lost - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

The one who adapts his policy to the times prospers, and likewise the one whose policy clashes with the demands of the times does not - Niccolo Machiavelli

The best companies have stimulating workplaces where their staff feel motivated and valued - Sunday Times 24 March 2002: "100 best companies to work for" supplement

Convenience sacrifices quality - unattributable

A perfect overall impression is the sum of many perfect details - Werner Zimmerman, Head of Quality Assurance, Audi (2010)

Remember: the average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top - unattributable

Quality begins on the inside... and then works its way out - Bob Moawad

When it comes to your product or project, people will take quality as seriously as you do, or more so - Philip Crosby

Quality is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort - John Ruskin (1819-1900)

If there is no worker involvement, there is no quality system - Lloyd Dobens

The quality of an organisation can never exceed the quality of the minds that make it up - Harold McAlindon

Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten - Gucci family slogan

Quality, quality, quality: never waver from it, even when you don't see how you can afford to keep it up. When you compromise, you become a commodity and then you die - Gary Hirshberg, founder, Stonyfield Farm Yogurt

It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters - Seneca (4 BC-65 AD)

The quality of our expectations determines the quality of our actions - Andre Godin

...sustainable development is best seen in quality terms, but quality defined as 'maximising the value added to society resulting from the creation, use and disposal of products' - Derek Deighton, Coordinator, North West Engineering Institutions (2005)

Happiness does not require an expanding economy - John Kenneth Galbraith, Economist (1908 - 2006)

Excellent firms don't believe in excellence, only in constant improvement and constant change - Tom Peters

To aim at excellence, our reputation, and friends, and all must be ventured; to aim at the average we run no risk and provide little service - Oliver Goldsmith

It is not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and then do your best - Dr W Edwards Deming, American management and total quality guru (1900 - 1993)

A stumble may prevent a fall - English Proverb

Measure twice, cut once - carpenter's proverb

Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilise existing material to the best advantage - Jawaharlal Nehru, 1st prime minister of India (1889 - 1964)

I often say that when you can measure something that you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it - Lord Kelvin

No matter what happens, there's always somebody who knew it would - Lonny Starr

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are - Bertold Brecht

When the rate of change inside an organisation is slower than the rate of change outside the organisation, the end is in sight - John Welsh, Chairman, General Electric

An organisation that is strong and stable and is ready to commit time, money, and patience will be more apt to reap rewards than the quick-hitting opportunist - Richard Miller (The Direct Marketing Handbook)

When a person with experience meets a person with money, the person with experience will get the money. And the person with money will get some experience - Leonard Lauder

If you want truly to understand something, try to change it - Kurt Lewin

Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand - Putt's Law

A sound man is good at salvage, at seeing nothing is lost - Lau Tzu (500 B.C)

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt

Work bears a particular mark of man and of humanity, the mark of a person operating within a community of persons - Pope John Paul II (1920 - 2005)

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Other quotes:-

Sustainable development, climate change & sustainability in general

The natural environment

People matter too

Miscellaneous wisdom & wit