Ben Horowitz on Priorities Quotes

"You can't prioritize everything; if you have three priorities, you have none."

"When you are scaling, the priority shifts from doing the work to building the machine that does the work."

"Prioritize the long-term health of the organization over short-term optics."

"Training is the boss's job; it's a top priority because it's the highest leverage activity you can perform."

"Execution is the priority. Great ideas are easy, but doing the work is the hard thing."

"The priority in hiring should be finding people who are obsessed with the problem you are solving."

"Hiring for lack of weakness is not the same as hiring for strength. Priority should be on what they can do, not what they can't."

"Take care of the people, the products, and the profits—in that order."

"If you don't prioritize training, you are effectively saying you don't care about the quality of the work."

"The leader's priority is to be the one who stays calm when everyone else is panicking."

"You must prioritize the culture because it is the collective behavior of your company."

"Culture is not a set of values; it is the priority of behaviors you reward."

"Focus on where you are going rather than on what you are trying to avoid."

"The most important thing for a CEO is to manage their own psychology. That is the top priority."

"Focusing on the output without focusing on the process is a recipe for failure."

"If you are going to eat a shit sandwich, don't nibble. Do the hard thing first."

"The priority in communication is clarity. Ambiguity is the enemy of execution."

"In wartime, the company is fighting for its life, and the CEO must prioritize survival above all else."

"Wartime CEOs do not have the luxury of consensus; they prioritize speed and accuracy."

"In peacetime, you prioritize the big picture; in wartime, you prioritize the next inch."

"The CEO’s first priority is to define the 'what' and the 'why' of the organization."

"The priority is the struggle. Embrace it, because that is where the greatness comes from."

"Giving feedback is a priority because it’s the only way to keep the culture from degrading."

"The priority should always be the mission, not the politics of the office."

"The most important move is to focus on the one thing that will make the biggest difference."

"Peacetime CEO knows that as long as the company follows the core mission, its priority is to expand the market."

"When things go wrong, the priority is to tell the truth to your employees. They can handle the truth."

"The highest priority for a leader is ensuring everyone knows exactly what the goal is."

"If you don't prioritize your own time, someone else will prioritize it for you."

"The priority is to build a company where people want to work, even when things are going badly."

"The first rule of management is that if you don't take care of the people, the products and profits won't matter."

"The CEO must prioritize the removal of obstacles that prevent the team from winning."