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I think most Americans understand that we went through a period in which American leadership was judged quite critically internationally.

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Americans are apt to be unduly interested in discovering what average opinion believes average opinion to be.

The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.

A lot of people relate leadership to formalities. They believe that leadership is about being professional and strong and always right and being a booming voice. I just don't buy that. I think that leadership is a soft skill; it's a people skill.

I think leadership is more than just being able to cross the t's and dot the i's. It's about character and integrity and work ethic.

There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.

America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance, and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance, and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.

America is a noisy culture, unlike, say, Finland, which values silence. Individualism, dominant in the U.S. and Germany, promotes the direct, fast-paced style of communication associated with extraversion. Collectivistic societies, such as those in East Asia, value privacy and restraint, qualities more characteristic of introverts.