David Maister Quotes

• Professional is not a label you give yourself - it's a description you hope others will apply to you.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Giving, Labels

  62 Copy quote

• What you do with your billable time determines your current income, but what you do with your non-billable time determines your future.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Income, Professionalism

  48 Copy quote

• Believe passionately in what you do, and never knowingly compromise your standards and values. Act like a true professional, aiming for true excellence, and the money will follow.

  David Maister

  Believe, Excellence, Compromise

  69 Copy quote

• Your task as a leader is to help others to succeed, not to strive only for your own success. If I don't trust your motives, nothing else will matter -because my primary concern is your integrity.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Integrity, Helping Others

  26 Copy quote

• If your clients aren't actively telling their friends about you, maybe your work isn't as great as you think it is.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Thinking, Clients

  15 Copy quote

• Focus on being the best you can at what you want to do.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Focus, Want

  26 Copy quote

• Success comes from doing what you enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, how can it be called success?

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Professionalism, Enjoy

  15 Copy quote

• I will accept your influence, guidance and direction if (and only if) I believe that you and I share similar goals.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Believe, Ifs And

  25 Copy quote

• Left untended, knowledge and skill, like all assets, depreciate in value surprisingly quickly.

  David Maister

  Skills, Assets, Depreciate

  13 Copy quote

• More than any other factor, it is the people we have to deal with that determine the quality of our work lives.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, People, Quality

  12 Copy quote

• What do I have to do to earn and deserve the key relationships that are going to get me where I want to go?

  David Maister

  Keys, Want, Deserve

  10 Copy quote

• Truly visionary and successful companies have discovered that there is no conflict between the pursuit of profit and having a pursuit beyond profit.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Successful, Visionaries

  11 Copy quote

• A true professional feels no pressure to run up a client's bill, knowing that any reduction in revenues caused by being efficient will be more than recompensed by the reputation earned for being honest and trustworthy.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Running, Knowing

  11 Copy quote

• Don't get stampeded by what people around you value. The task is to figure out what YOU value - and value highly enough to throw yourself into with unqualified passion.

  David Maister

  Passion, People, Tasks

  10 Copy quote

• Before a leader can be accepted, let alone succeed, autonomous professionals must agree to be influenced by that person.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Leader, Succeed

  4 Copy quote

• Whether or not your values are operational is crucially determined by whether or not there are consequences for noncompliance.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Determined, Professionalism

  9 Copy quote

• What is important is what inspires persistence and determination- in other words what you care about.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Determination, Persistence

  8 Copy quote

• I will not accept your guidance and critique unless you are supportive and nurturing. On the other hand, you need to be continually demanding.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Hands, Supportive

  12 Copy quote

• Professionals have to decide on which subjects they are prepared to give nagging rights

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Rights, Giving

  10 Copy quote

• The courage to care about your people, your clients, and your career.

  David Maister

  Careers, People, Care

  4 Copy quote

• The noble path does win but only if you are prepared to make the investment over a long period of time.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Winning, Long

  7 Copy quote

• You cannot and should not try to please everyone. Make sure that the right people like you, and it will be expected that others will not. That's how the world works.

  David Maister

  People, Trying, World

  4 Copy quote

• No one can manage you if you don't give them permission to do so. But if you are interested in accomplishing as much as you are capable of, then I believe there are good reasons to grant that permission.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Believe, Giving

  7 Copy quote

• Stop teaching students that they are the best and the brightest.

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Teaching, Students

  4 Copy quote

• When did you feel most fulfilled? When did you impress yourself, or otherwise feel most proud of yourself?

  David Maister

  Inspiring, Proud, Professionalism

  4 Copy quote

You May Also Like:

Scott Bedbury

Lawrence Bossidy

Michael Gerber

Lou Gerstner

George S. Clason

Marcus Buckingham

Ken Blanchard

James C. Collins