--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I feel for today's leaders. I really do…" description: "\"I feel for today's leaders. I really do. They got to where they are by doing a series of jobs exceptionally well. And that doesn't help them at all wit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/scott-d-anthony-6772_challenges_i-feel-for-today-s-leaders-i-really-do-t_1160864.png" --- # I feel for today's leaders. I really do. They got to where… ![“I feel for today's leaders. I really do. They got to where they are by doing a series of jobs exceptionally well. And that doesn't help them at all with the challenges they now face.” quote by Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/scott-d-anthony-6772_challenges_i-feel-for-today-s-leaders-i-really-do-t_1160864.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/scott-d-anthony-6772_challenges_i-feel-for-today-s-leaders-i-really-do-t_1160864.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e18/scott-d-anthony-6772_challenges_i-feel-for-today-s-leaders-i-really-do-t_1160864.png) > “I feel for today's leaders. I really do. They got to where they are by doing a series of jobs exceptionally well. And that doesn't help them at all with the challenges they now face.” [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leaders excel at past tasks but may lack skills for new, complex problems. **In simple terms:** Success in old roles doesn’t guarantee future effectiveness. Key Takeaway Develop new competencies for emerging challenges. Themes leadership skill gaps adaptation Mood cautious reflective Type advisory analytical When to use this quote - executive transition - industry disruption - technology adoption - crisis management Key Concepts systems thinking continuous learning strategic foresight Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders acquire new skills quickly? - What structures support continuous learning? A Different Perspective Past performance may not translate to future contexts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Challenges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) [Faces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces/) [Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jobs/) [Leader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leader/) [Leaders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaders/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [Letters today, Leaders tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/letters-today-leaders-tomorrow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If the world is to hear the church's voice today, leaders are needed who are authoritative, spiritual, and sacrificial. Sacrificial, because this trait follows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-oswald-sanders/if-the-world-is-to-hear-the-church-s-voice-today-leaders-are-needed/) [J. 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It's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-huggins/to-my-mind-you-cannot-speak-about-the-need-for-leadership-within-our/) [Jackie Huggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-huggins/) > [Every member of the Congress has access to the top leadership. It is not a question of proximity but if somebody shares a personal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/every-member-of-the-congress-has-access-to-the-top-leadership-it-is/) [Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/) > [Great leaders are really all about this. Leading from the front. Rolling up their sleeves. Being one with the front-line colleagues who get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prakah-iyer/great-leaders-are-really-all-about-this-leading-from-the-front/) [Prakah Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prakah-iyer/) > [You want to believe in leaders, really believe in leaders. You want what they are saying to be truthful, and you want to trust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierce-brosnan/you-want-to-believe-in-leaders-really-believe-in-leaders-you-want/) [Pierce Brosnan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierce-brosnan/) > [There are a lot of people who call themselves teachers or leaders, but they're really just propagandists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mos-def/there-are-a-lot-of-people-who-call-themselves-teachers-or-leaders-but/) [Mos Def](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mos-def/) > [Communication can't always follow the top-down model. With the fluidity of information in business today, leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-badaracco/communication-can-t-always-follow-the-top-down-model-with-the/) [Joseph Badaracco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-badaracco/) > [In the past a leader was a boss. Today's leaders must be partners with their people... they no longer can lead solely based on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/in-the-past-a-leader-was-a-boss-today-s-leaders-must-be-partners-with/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." Ray Kroc "If some of today's leaders don't relearn the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/the-quality-of-a-leader-is-reflected-in-the-standards-they-set-for-2/) [Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/) > [This week we saw progressive business and faith leaders making strong commitments that are moving ahead of what world leaders promised today. The leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumi-naidoo/this-week-we-saw-progressive-business-and-faith-leaders-making-strong/) [Kumi Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumi-naidoo/) > [You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/you-must-lend-an-ear-today-because-we-are-the-leaders-of-tomorrow/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/the-youth-of-today-are-the-leaders-of-tomorrow/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) ## More by Scott D. Anthony > [I think the most important thing to do is to recognize the fundamentally different circumstances of pursuing growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/i-think-the-most-important-thing-to-do-is-to-recognize-the/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Document, evaluate, focus, test.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/document-evaluate-focus-test/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [It's very easy to skip steps when documenting an idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/it-s-very-easy-to-skip-steps-when-documenting-an-idea/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Every leader needs to watch what teenagers or startup companies - or startup companies headed by teenagers - are doing today, because many of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/every-leader-needs-to-watch-what-teenagers-or-startup-companies-or/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [In the strengthening the core job, a leader can draw on their past experiences. After all, in most cases they did the job of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/in-the-strengthening-the-core-job-a-leader-can-draw-on-their-past/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [If you are a large company and you want to do something unique, you almost by definition have to tap onto the core business…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/if-you-are-a-large-company-and-you-want-to-do-something-unique-you/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [You still want to be thoughtful about what you do, no doubt, but you have to learn through trial-and-error experimentation as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/you-still-want-to-be-thoughtful-about-what-you-do-no-doubt-but-you/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [It takes a great deal of humility to recognize you have made a wrong turn on the road to successful innovation, but better to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/it-takes-a-great-deal-of-humility-to-recognize-you-have-made-a-wrong/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [“Creating a new business from scratch is hard, but executives of incumbents have the dual challenge of creating new businesses while simultaneously staving off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/creating-a-new-business-from-scratch-is-hard-but-executives-of/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [The most important thing here is to largely ignore what customers say, and instead watch what they do or track where they spend money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/the-most-important-thing-here-is-to-largely-ignore-what-customers-say/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Make sure that you take the time to think about how other companies might respond to your idea, both those companies already in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/make-sure-that-you-take-the-time-to-think-about-how-other-companies/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Aside from the equivalent of blowing up the lab or letting a pathogen escape, the only failure is spending too long or too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/aside-from-the-equivalent-of-blowing-up-the-lab-or-letting-a-pathogen/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Mucken Singh works VERY hard on his brawler's physique!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/mucken-singh-works-very-hard-on-his-brawler-s-physique/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Most startup companies have two people, and they figure out creative ways to swarm problems. They move faster and have more impact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/most-startup-companies-have-two-people-and-they-figure-out-creative/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) > [Three of our core corporate values are inclusiveness, collaboration, and humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-d-anthony/three-of-our-core-corporate-values-are-inclusiveness-collaboration/) [Scott D. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) [Explore all 97 Scott D. Anthony quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-d-anthony/) ## More Challenges quotes > [I know for my wife and I, we always loved the idea of being young parents. It is an incredibly inspiring and challenging job…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hanson/i-know-for-my-wife-and-i-we-always-loved-the-idea-of-being-young/) [Taylor Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hanson/) > [Our biggest challenge is to eliminate the popular perception that economists don't have anything useful to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zandi/our-biggest-challenge-is-to-eliminate-the-popular-perception-that/) [Mark Zandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zandi/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [“Doing the work to transform your dreams into reality is like walking across the earth. It can be that hard, and it can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dragos-bratasanu/doing-the-work-to-transform-your-dreams-into-reality-is-like-walking/) [Dragos Bratasanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dragos-bratasanu/) > [I want to be perceived as a guy who played his best in all facets, not just scoring. A guy who loved challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jordan/i-want-to-be-perceived-as-a-guy-who-played-his-best-in-all-facets-not/) [Michael Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jordan/) > [People in great groups have blinders on. Their work is all they see. They value failures as learning opportunities. They are optimistic, not realistic,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-g-bennis/people-in-great-groups-have-blinders-on-their-work-is-all-they-see/) [Warren G. Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [If, as I anticipate, a wide array of personal, portable information/communication devices becomes increasingly important and widespread for information-intensive users, it will be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-peters/if-as-i-anticipate-a-wide-array-of-personal-portable-information/) [Tom Peters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-peters/) > [“Two powerful, little words I've learned to use when facing challenges, fears, and doubts— so what? ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/two-powerful-little-words-i-ve-learned-to-use-when-facing-challenges/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [It's a challenge to work a character's arc into a format in which you only have a very limited amount of time to grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ginnifer-goodwin/it-s-a-challenge-to-work-a-character-s-arc-into-a-format-in-which-you/) [Ginnifer Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ginnifer-goodwin/) > [I personally think if something's not a challenge, there's no point doing it, because you're not gonna learn much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-personally-think-if-something-s-not-a-challenge-there-s-no-point/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Men want a challenge, but they want a challenge they can win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-gaskell/men-want-a-challenge-but-they-want-a-challenge-they-can-win/) Whitney Gaskell > [Growing up with a parent in the army, I saw firsthand the challenges our service members face when transitioning to new jobs after time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharice-davids/growing-up-with-a-parent-in-the-army-i-saw-firsthand-the-challenges/) [Sharice Davids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharice-davids/) > [Nobody challenges me. I challenge myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakuntala-devi/nobody-challenges-me-i-challenge-myself/) [Shakuntala Devi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakuntala-devi/) > [Challenging is good, like good conversation, yes? Who wants to have dinner with the same old easy listening music sounding friends all the time?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/challenging-is-good-like-good-conversation-yes-who-wants-to-have/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) [Browse all 8,851 Challenges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/challenges/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I feel for today's leaders. I really do. They got to where they are by doing a series of jobs exceptionally well. And that doesn't help them at all with the challenges they now face.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scott D. 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