Quote

Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it.

Donald Rumsfeld

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Donald Rumsfeld
Age: 88 †
Born: 1932
Born: July 9
Died: 2021
Died: June 29
Author
Businessperson
Diplomat
Former U.S. Secretary Of Defense
Military Officer
Politician
Chicago
Illinois
Donald Henry Rumsfeld
Matter
Structure
Bottlenecks
Pressure
Delegation
Decision
Delegate
Responsibility
Delegates
Force
Resist
President
Reverse
Problem
Add
Find
Areas
Bottleneck

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Don't do or say things you would not like to see on the front page of The Washington Post.
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A large number of people to begin crawling through those tunnels and caves looking for the bad folks.
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I'm glad you asked. It has nothing to do with oil, literally nothing to do with oil.
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Look for what's missing. Many advisors can tell a President how to improve what's proposed or what's gone amiss. Few are able to see what isn't there.
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I tend over the years to have developed a certain hesitancy about believing that headlines tell the whole story.
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[on Osama bin Laden] He is either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.
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A terrorist can attack any time, any place using any technique and you can't defend everywhere against every technique at every moment.
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Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading.
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If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger.
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You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.
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If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't I'll just respond cleverly.
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Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.
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Don't automatically obey Presidential directives if you disagree or if you suspect he hasn't considered key aspects of the issue.
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