Max De Pree [Archive.org URL]

As you gain more and more responsibility in organized life, you become more and more of an amateur, because you’re less and less specialized. Because of the complexity of work, you have to count more on others. But that also means you’re more exposed to risk. When you get to be the CEO, nobody gives you a perfect setting in which to make a decision. They only give you gray areas. All the black and white decisions are made elsewhere. So as the black and white choices merge into gray choices, the level of risk rises. You’re also more at risk because you don’t have as much time as you used to. But that’s part of the job — and the risk — of leadership.

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