Peter Drucker and Robert Greenleaf had known each other for many years before Greenleaf published The Servant as Leader in 1970.
The two men taught together when Greenleaf led the “Bell Humanities Program” – an innovative, multidisciplinary executive education program at AT&T during the 1950’s.
As Drucker and Greenleaf collaborated professionally, they became good friends. Bob and Esther Greenleaf enjoyed spending time with Peter and Doris Drucker when they were neighbors in New Jersey.
Drucker was a man who chose his words carefully.* So it is no doubt with care that Drucker once called Greenleaf “the wisest man I ever met.”
In celebration of their friendship, here are 10 great quotes from Greenleaf’s friend, Drucker.
- “Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.”
- “Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.”
- “The key to greatness is to look for people’s potential and spend time developing it.”
- “Accept the fact that we have to treat almost anybody as a volunteer.”
- “Leadership is defined by results, not by attributes.”
- “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.”
- “There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.”
- “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”
- “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
- “Making a living is no longer enough. Work also has to make a life.”
Do any of these quotes resonate with you specially? Are there other Drucker quotes you would add?
Let us know.
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* Remember not to describe Drucker as a guru: “I have been saying for many years, that we are using the word ‘guru’ only because ‘charlatan’ is too long to fit into a headline.” – Peter Drucker