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100 Tweetable Business Culture Quotes From Brilliant Executives

Vala Afshar

Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce

Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce
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My co-author Brad Martin and I recently published a book titled "The Pursuit of Social Business Excellence," where we talked about our incredible company growth, being named one of the top places to work in Boston, and business transformation success based on six critical success factors: culture, people, strategy, process, structure, and technology. Culture is listed first because we both strongly believe that it is the foundation which the other success factors depend on.

Our company's culture is shaped by our ability to listen from the outside, in. We have listed 100 tweetable quotes from current business and management thought leaders, aimed at improving business culture. Most of these brilliant and successful leaders are active on Twitter. We sincerely hope that you learn and benefit from their incredible shared wisdom.

  1. The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity. - @tom_peters

  • Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. ― @BillGates

  • Respect is how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress. - @richardbranson

  • Philanthropy isn't just about big gifts; it's about participation. It's about the grace that comes from working together. @benioff

  • Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.- @simonsinek

  • You can't delegate growth or customer satisfaction. - @JeffImmelt

  • I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you're going to innovate. - Jeff Bezos

  • It's about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment & helping to find a way to innovate. @marissamayer

  • Your brand is your culture. - Tony Hsieh @zappos

  • Purpose must be deliberately conceived and chosen, and then pursued. -@claychristensen

  • Each and every one of us is a leader. Some of us just don't know it yet. - @umairh

  • Success is never accidental. - @jack

  • The time you spend with your best is, quite simply, your most productive time. - @mwbuckingham

  • The day you are not solving problems or are not up to your butt in problems is probably a day you are no longer leading. - Colin Powell

  • If you don't understand people, you don't understand business. - @SimonSinek

  • You absolutely must have the discipline not to hire until you find the right people. - Jim Collins

  • The trick to balance is to not make sacrificing important things become the norm. - @simonsinek

  • A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. - @richardbranson

  • As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. - @BillGates

  • Life is a helluva lot more fun if you say yes rather than no. - @richardbranson

  • To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings. - @RosabethKanter

  • We strive always to have a beginner's mind. - @benioff

  • Power is the ability to get things done. - @RosabethKanter

  • When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling you you're nuts. - @LarryEllison

  • It is crucial to recognize, reward, and celebrate accomplishments. - @RosabethKanter

  • The best strategy is a balance between having a deliberate one, and a flexible, or emergent strategy. - @claychristensen

  • Every moment wasted looking back, keeps us from moving forward. - @HillaryClinton

  • Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield. - @mwbuckingham

  • The drive for progress doesn't wait for the external world to say "It's time to change." - Jim Collins

  • We believe that customer service shouldn't be just a department; it should be the entire company. - Tony Hsieh @zappos

  • In this world and the world of tomorrow, we must go forward together or not at all. -- @HillaryClinton

  • Always focus on the front windshield and not the review mirror. - Colin Powell

  • Let go of certainty. The opposite isn't uncertainty. It's openness, curiosity & willingness to embrace paradox. - @tonyschwartz

  • Great companies foster a productive tension between continuity and change. - Jim Collins

  • Everyone has an idea but it's really about executing the idea and attracting other people to help you work on the idea. - @jack

  • The path to success is to take massive, determined action. - @tonyrobbins

  • An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage. - @jack_welch

  • There needs to be conviction and action behind rules. - @claychristensen

  • Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. - Lou Holtz

  • The job is not the work. - Seth Godin @thisissethsblog

  • Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late. - Seth Godin @thisissethsblog

  • The difference between a pebble and a mountain lies in whom you ask to move it. - @mwbuckingham

  • Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be. - @jack_welch

  • You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over. - @richardbranson

  • If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near. - @jack_welch

  • When you become a leader success is all about growing others. - @jack_welch

  • Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another. - Seth Godin @thisissethsblog

  • It is your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny. - @tonyrobbins

  • You can never rise higher than your expectations of yourself. Expect the best! - @briantracy

  • Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose. - @BillGates

  • The more you teach positive ideas to others, the better you learn them yourself - @briantracy

  • Obsess over customers. - Jeff Bezos

  • Our culture is friendly and intense, but if push comes to shove we'll settle for intense. - Jeff Bezos

  • Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it. - @mcuban

  • Treat your customers like they own you. Because they do. - @mcuban

  • More people will like you if you believe that people are good until proven bad. - @GuyKawasaki

  • The ultimate challenge is to accept ourselves exactly as we are, but never stop trying to learn and grow. - @tonyschwartz

  • A penguin cannot become a giraffe, so just be the best penguin you can be. - @garyvee

  • There is no such thing as a minor lapse of integrity. - @tom_peters

  • Expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, be the unexpected. - @jack

  • Decide what you want, and then act as if it were impossible to fail - @briantracy

  • Celebrate what you want to see more of. - @tom_peters

  • Those who lead by example and demonstrate passion for what they do make it much easier for their followers to do the same. - @coachgoldsmith

  • The best knowledge workers are working for more than money. - @coachgoldsmith

  • It's always good to be underestimated. - @realDonaldTrump

  • Simple and to the point is always the best way to get your point across. - @GuyKawsaki

  • If we really want to be effective with communication, we have to humanize our brands. -@amyjomartin

  • Pursuing your passions makes you more interesting, and interesting people are enchanting. - @GuyKawasaki

  • Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier. - Colin Powell

  • Legacy is greater than currency. - @garyvee

  • Small groups of people can have a really huge impact - Larry Page

  • Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction. - @WarrenBuffett

  • Everyone has an idea. But it's really about executing the idea & attracting other people to help you work on the idea. - @jack

  • Time is priceless. Spend it with people you have high value and energy exchange rates with. - @amyjomartin

  • Onlyness is that thing that only one particular person can bring to a situation. - @nilofer

  • We should be focusing on building the things that don't exist. - Larry Page

  • Money motivates neither the best people nor the best in people. Purpose does. - @nilofer

  • Differences can be a strength. - @condoleezzarice

  • Confidence + Competence + Character = Success - @CFCrowell

  • Failures are great learning tools -- but they must be kept to a minimum. - @JeffImmelt

  • Leaders inspire us because they bring out the best in us. - @umairh

  • Since fear is mostly about ignorance, the best part is that it's as temporary as you choose. - @comaford

  • Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. - @warrenbuffett

  • When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place - Mark Zuckerberg @finkd

  • As a leader, you have to be authentic and constantly connecting with employees - @JeffImmelt

  • When it comes to success in business, an MBA degree is optional. But a GSD, which is only earned by Getting Stuff Done, is required. - @comaford

  • It's the sustained ability to change that really counts. - @JeffImmelt

  • Change before you have to. - @jack_welch

  • It's through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we've always mapped our path - @MichaelDell

  • Don't try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.― @tonyrobbins

  • What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate. - @realDonaldTrump

  • As long as you are going to be thinking anyway, think big - @realDonaldTrump

  • Too many rules will stifle innovation. - Sergey Brinn

  • Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and are contributing to the good of society - Larry Page

  • In a world that changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. - Mark Zuckerberg @finkd

  • If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade. - @tom_peters

  • A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought. - @WarrenBuffett

  • Speed, distraction, and instant gratification are the enemies of nearly everything that matters most in our lives. - @tonyschwartz

  • You beat burnout by knowing what it is you're giving up that makes you resentful.- @marissamayer

  • Attention is a precious commodity. - @briansolis

    • Vala Afshar - Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce

    Chief Digital Evangelist, Salesforce

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