Business Quote by Steve Ballmer
“When you're running a company, you have employees - lots of them - that can interrupt your schedule. You have customers that can interrupt your schedule. You have a certain obligation to wave the flag because people expect to get out and wave the flag. The number of ways that others can command your time is high. At this stage, I get to pick and choose a little more. Not that there aren't some things that have to be done, but I get a little more control over my time.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview, 2005, Business Leadership
Leaders must balance interruptions from staff and customers while gaining greater control over their schedule as they rise.
In simple terms: Leaders juggle demands and gain time control.
Key Takeaway
Prioritize tasks and set boundaries.
Themes
leadership
time management
prioritization
Mood
determined
reflective
Type
advice
leadership
When to use this quote
- executive meetings
- customer service
- project planning
Key Concepts
authority
delegation
focus
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you decide which interruptions to accept?
- What boundaries protect your core work?
A Different Perspective
Too many interruptions can still overwhelm without clear delegation.
![“[Apple and RIM] are probably restricted, in some sense, to a certain maximum. ... If you want to reach more people than that, you sort-of have to separate the hardware and the software issue.” quote by Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a34/steve-ballmer-3273_apple_apple-and-rim-are-probably-restricted-in_174230.jpg)
![“I don't think there is one size that fits all [] I've been to too many meetings with journalists who spent the first 10 minutes of the meeting setting up iPad to look like a laptop.” quote by Steve Ballmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/248/steve-ballmer-3273_firsts_i-don-t-think-there-is-one-size-that-fit_198460.jpg)
![“[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)
