Marvin Bower Quotes

#1. There is no such thing as business ethics. There is only one kind
you have to adhere to the highest standards.

Marvin Bower

#2. The course of business shapes public opinion.

Marvin Bower

#3. If you are not willing to take pain to live by your principles, there is no point in having principles.

Marvin Bower

#4. A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence.

Marvin Bower

#5. Decisions should be based on facts, objectively considered.

Marvin Bower

#6. Convinced that behavior and conduct are every bit as important as skills and expertise, I sought to build the firm into an enduring, values-based institution.

Marvin Bower

#7. Leading fosters a working atmosphere that stimulates an open exchange of ideas and fosters dissent. People should show a genuine concern for one another and treat one another with fairness, as peers and friends. With such an atmosphere it should be a pleasure to come to work.

Marvin Bower

#8. I believe that leaders and leadership teams working together in a proper design will run the business more effectively than by hierarchical, command-and-control managing. But I can't prove that. And there are no models.

Marvin Bower

#9. People should be judged on the basis of their performance, not nationality, personality, education, or personal traits and skills.

Marvin Bower

#10. Basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation and timing.

Marvin Bower

#11. A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge.

Marvin Bower

#12. The difference between a leadership and a command company can be very great indeed, because in a hierarchical situation, people who have concerns about reactions against themselves would simply not put forward negative information.

Marvin Bower