Business Quote by Ben Horowitz
“In life, everybody faces choices between doing what's popular, easy, and wrong vs. doing what's lonely, difficult, and right. These decisions intensify when you run a company, because the consequences get magnified 1,000 fold. As in life, the excuses for CEOs making the wrong choice are always plentiful.”
About This Quote
Explains the moral dilemma between easy, popular choices and hard, right ones, especially amplified for CEOs whose decisions affect many.
In simple terms: Choosing right over easy is harder for leaders.
Key Takeaway
Prioritize ethical decisions.
Themes
ethics
leadership
decision making
Mood
thoughtful
inspirational
Type
philosophical
motivational
When to use this quote
- executive leadership
- strategic planning
- crisis management
- team culture
Key Concepts
moral dilemmas
corporate responsibility
Questions to Reflect On
- What systems can help leaders choose ethically?
- How can companies support difficult but right decisions?
A Different Perspective
Right choices may be unpopular and costly.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)