Cynthia Montgomery

If you ask young men what they want to accomplish by the time they are 40, the answers you get fall into two distinct categories. There are those—the great majority—who will respond in terms of what they want to have. This is especially true of graduate students of business administration. There are some men, however, who will answer in terms of the kind of men they hope to be. These are the only ones who have a clear idea of where they are going

Theseus was willing to change over every part of his ship to preserve its seaworthiness. As a strategist, you must be willing to replace virtually every component of your business to extend its relevance and future

executives don’t get paid to be right. They get paid to be effective

On the way home, if the person sitting next to you on the plane asks what you do, simply say: ‘I’m a guardian of organizational purpose

In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are

While it can be painful when it happens, in the long run I wouldn’t want to lead a company that didn’t reinvent itself

Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility

I was very good at motivating and communicating with people. I used to give speeches in the cafeteria so that everyone would know what we were doing

What would my business be like without a strategist?”

A vision is what you want your business to be at some point in the future