Sam Altman on Leadership Quotes

"Incentives are superpowers; set them carefully."

"It is much easier to get people to help you with a big, important dream than a small, incremental one."

"Your own belief in the vision is what will attract others to join you."

"Do not let yourself get pushed around. You have to be willful."

"Cultivate a small group of people who believe in you when you don't believe in yourself."

"Intelligence and energy are the two most important characteristics for a founder."

"Surround yourself with people who make you better."

"I think the most important thing is to just have an internal locus of control."

"It is much easier to do a hard startup than an easy startup because people want to help with hard problems."

"The best founders are the ones who can look at a list of 100 urgent things and pick the one that is actually important."

"Effective people are the ones who can identify what needs to happen and then make it happen."

"Ambition is a magnet. When you dream big, you attract the most talented people in the world to help you."

"You have to be able to explain your vision in a way that makes people want to help you."

"Surround yourself with people who have even higher ambitions than you do."

"If you don't believe in your own dream, it is very hard to get anyone else to believe in it."

"Try to surround yourself with people who are smarter than you and who challenge you."

"Get good at communication. It’s the biggest leverage you can have."

"Get good at sales. You have to be able to evangelize your plan to customers, prospective employees, the press, and investors."

"You have to prioritize building a great team. Without the right people, your other priorities won't matter."

"The level of confidence you need to start a company is different from the level you need to scale one."

"Delegation is the only way to scale."

"A great team is the most important thing for a startup."

"You need to have a vision that is large enough to encompass the ambitions of the best people in the world."

"It is much easier to start a hard startup than an easy startup. People want to be part of something that matters."

"The most successful founders have a high degree of self-belief, but they are also very open to being told they are wrong."

"If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities."

"A small group of determined people can change the world."

"I try to spend as much time as possible on the things that only I can do, and delegate or ignore the rest."

"A small team of A-players can change the world."

"Hire for slope, not intercept."

"If you are working on a problem that doesn't matter, it's very hard to get the best people to work with you."