Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
Obama does seem to have what both FDR and Lincoln had, which is the recognition that you have to hold back at times and then wait to come forward.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Leadership requires patience and strategic timing.
This quote by Doris Kearns Goodwin highlights the essential quality of effective leaders like Obama, FDR, and Lincoln: the ability to exercise restraint and strategically choose the right moment to act. It suggests that true leadership is not just about making decisions quickly, but also about knowing when to wait and how to approach challenges thoughtfully.
Themes
LeadershipPatienceStrategyTimingAction
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a leadership seminar to emphasize the importance of strategic decision-making.
More from Doris Kearns Goodwin
All quotes βWe've got to figure out a way that we give a private sphere for our public leaders. We're not gonna get the best people in public life if we don't do that.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
Once a president gets to the White House, the only audience that is left that really matters is history.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
I am a historian. With the exception of being a wife and mother, it is who I am. And there is nothing I take more seriously.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
Those who knew Lincoln described him as an extraordinarily funny man. Humor was an essential aspect of his temperament. He laughed, he explained, so he did not weep.
Doris Kearns GoodwinRead
Similar quotes
By altering his arrangements and changing his plans, the skillful general keeps the enemy without definite knowledge. By shifting his camp and taking circuitous routes, he prevents the enemy from anticipating his purpose. At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him.
Sun TzuRead
I have tried in my role of being one of the first women at Google, let alone the first woman to have a baby, to really try to set the tone that this is a great place to work for diversity reasons.
Susan WojcickiRead
Leadership flows from inner character and integrity of ambition, which inspires others to lend themselves to your organization's mission.
Frances HesselbeinRead
A coach should never be afraid to ask questions of anyone he could learn from.
Bobby KnightRead
How can any company know if its processes, products, people are safe? Only if everyone is watching and telling the truth. The first part can be assumed; the second cannot.
Margaret HeffernanRead
Not even the King himself has the right to subordinate the interests of his country to his own feelings of love or hatred towards strangers; he is, however, responsible towards God and not to me if he does so, and therefore on this point I am silent.
Otto Von BismarckRead