A few excerpts (and highlights I've added), which makes it understandable why it's a great book:
- Aim for a Standard of Performance (which is absolute) vs winning (which is relative to others).
- Focus on process which produces results and not on results.
- Failure is an integral part of success. Knowing when it happens and what to do when it happens is the first step towards success.
- An organization emulates leader’s work ethic.
- A leader must make decisions based on “sound logic”, any reactionary reasons (eg. to prove oneself right or to prove someone wrong) are usually bad. (My note: doubling down on bad choices gets even worse results.)
- Attitude matters as much as talent, sometimes, talented individuals with bad attitude must be let go off.
- Conventional wisdom leads to conventional results.
- A leader cannot be casual in any area of life, all his moves must be well thought of with great attention to detail.
- Teaching is an important part of a leader’s life – Have a passion for teaching, expertise in the subject, communicate clearly, and have persistence.
- Tell people – “I believe in you”. (My note: these are the four most important words you can tell your team.)
No summary does the book justice; it's worth the read.