“All decisions worthy of being called such result in change. Changes never occur without cost, and the greater the decision, the greater the cost. For this reason, all decisions cause pain and discomfort. An [administrator] who does not understand such should never be placed in a position where he or she must make decisions. When an administrator declares that a decision is good because no one is affected adversely, that [administrator] is either duplicitous or self-deceptive, if not both. A good administrator determines both the benefits and the costs, both the pleasure and the pain, that his actions will cause. He will not shy away from determining what that pain may be… in loss… for those… under his care.”
Alector’s Choice, L.E. Modesitt Jr., 2005; p. 485
“Power is nice, but results count and last longer.” p. 299
“He still was uncomfortable in relying on others, perhaps because he wasn’t certain he had a good feel for what was arrogance and an abuse of position. For a [leader] to insist on doing too much personally was stupid, but so was flaunting power, and easy as it was to say those words, [he] had seen too many [leaders] slide into arrogance. p. 401
