James Hunter Quotes

If I sang the way I talk it would sound like "Tommy Steele sings Muddy Waters!"

Our top-down pyramid style of management is a very old concept borrowed from centuries of war and monarchies.

Power: The ability to force or coerce someone to do your will, even if they would choose not to, because of your position or your might.

Authority: The skill of getting people to willingly do your will, because of your personal influence.

You can get a few seasons out of power, even accomplish some things, but over time power can be very damaging to relationships.

My absolute favorite song I've ever written is "This Is Where We Came In." It's a nudge at younger listeners, cause at one time you could go into a cinema halfway through a film and then stay through and pick up where you left off.

Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits become our character, and our character becomes our destiny.

For me, hearing the term 'apply yourself' was like a crucifix to Bella Lugosi's Dracula. 'Ahhh, it burns!'

As leaders we do not create growth. The best we can do is create an environment that is conducive to growth. It is like planting a garden. You do not cause the seeds to grow. To grow is their natural purpose in life.

Leaders who do not hold their people accountable to a set standard are, in effect, thieves and liars. Thieves because they are stealing from the stockholder who pays them to hold people accountable, and liars because they pretend that everything is OK with their people when in fact everything is not OK.

I am quite a slow writer. I can only work under pressure; I wait until the last minute.

Who then is the greatest leader? The one who has served the most.

Leadership is not about personality, possessions, or charisma, but all about who you are as a person. I used to believe that leadership was about style but now I know that leadership is about substance, namely character.

Because I'm English, I try not to make any purely American references, because I want to limit how much I'm pretending to be American.

I'm conscious enough that how I'm singing is not my own accent.

(A manager) once confided in me she liked to picture in her mind's eye that every employee was wearing one of those sandwich billboard signs. On the front side, the sign would read 'Appreciate Me' and on the back side 'Make Me Feel Important.'

To have a healthy and thriving business, there must be healthy relationships with the C.E.O.S. in the organization and I'm not referring to the Chief Executive Offficers. I am talking about the Customers, the Employees, the Owner (or stockholders), and the Suppliers.

There is great joy in leading with authority, which is serving others by meeting their legitimate needs.

We must never forget that people buy into the leader before they buy into a mission statement.

Authority is always built on service and sacrifice.

But now was not the time for second-guessing, nor was it the time for compassion. Now was the time for death, quick and brutal and terrible.

A seagull manager is one who periodically flies into the area, makes a lot of noise, dumps on the people, maybe eats their lunch, and flies away.

A rut ... is little more than a coffin with the ends kicked out.

While everyone's focusing on keeping the boss happy, who's focusing on keeping the customer happy?

It is a shame that so many leaders spend their time pondering their rights as leaders instead of their awesome responsibilities as leaders.