"The ability to ask questions – and listen attentively to the answers – is one of the many factors that differentiate management and leadership. Managers tell. They would rather be wrong than be quiet. Leaders listen. They know that growing and developing people is impossible without listening."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Good Feedback Benefits Both Giver and Receiver"

"Numerous studies of North American change and improvement efforts in organizations have shown that major gains in quality, service, or productivity are driven by huge increases in participation and involvement levels throughout those successful organizations."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"Where teams have been effectively organized and led, the list of team outcomes have led to dramatic improvements in productivity, customer service, quality, process management, innovation, cost effectiveness, job satisfaction, morale, and financial performance."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"Effective team leaders develop a group from what it is into the team that it could be. That takes a focus and skill set that is new and different for most team members and leaders."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"A strong team leader knows that his or her job is not to be the main problem solver. That just ensures more upward delegation and an ever-weakening team. Rather, strong team leaders make sure teams — well equipped and supported to solve them — are solving the right problems."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"One of the best indicators of the strength of a team is the "We to Me" ratio. How often do team members and leaders use "we" and "ours" instead of "I", "me" and "mine" in their conversations?"

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"Teamwork allows average people to achieve above average results. That's highly energizing. Strong teams are full of turned-on people who are highly mobilized to keep performing at their full potential."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"Today's highly effective teams have a broad ownership and participation in the team's tasks and how everyone works together to achieve them. Team members and leaders share responsibility for the effectiveness of the team."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"When performance problems arise, they need to be confronted. Like porcupines in love, such discussions are painful for both parties. That's often why managers avoid them. Leaders, however, know that poor performance is like a highly contagious disease. The longer it goes unchecked, the more everyone suffers."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Leaders Handle Performance Problems"

"Leaders spend much less time personally solving problems. They invest their time in making sure that the right problems are being solved."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Leaders Help People to Help Themselves"

"A strong, effective management team. As a manager, we need to ensure that our team is a good example of team effectiveness. That provides a model and authentic team leadership for everyone else."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Leadership Keys to Harnessing the Power of Teams"

"The dozens of team labels and types can be boiled down to two core types: operational teams that work in the business or process and improvement teams that work on the business or process to increase its capabilities and effectiveness. Effective operational teams are a hybrid of both types. They work in the process or business to meet production or service goals while also working on the process or business to expand its performance potential."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "Matching Team Types and Focus"

"As management expert Peter Drucker says, "so much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work." Managers can "empower" or zap employees until their hair is smoking. Yet if those employees are not enabled to make a difference, empowerment will be seen as a way of loading management's failures on employees' backs."

- from Jim Clemmer's article, "That Empower Word Again"