"The first key to leadership is self-control."
Weatherford offers his readers this helpful maxim concerning leadership. The only true test of a person's leadership ability is their success in leading themself. A person with self-control is one who both understands their own motives and looks out for their best interests. Translating these skills to a group allows a person to lead by honoring the needs of the people under their authority.
"Victory did not come to the one who played by the rules; it came to the one who made the rules and imposed them on his enemy."
Since he's writing about Genghis Khan, Weatherford necessarily must consider how brute force leads to success. He notes that an attitude of success and original thought are both necessary in successful leaders. To the successful leader, success is assured because they have developed their own plan for succeeding, rather than attempting to participate in someone else's plan. That's the follower's path.
"Every society produces its own cultural conceits, a set of lies and delusions about itself that thrive in the face of all contrary evidence."
This observation is astute because Weatherford is appealing to human nature. Any group of people is liable to compliment one another and to remain blind to their own shortcomings. This is because positivity is received well. Within the group, its difficult to see what everyone in the group cannot do well because you're trapped within the system.
"Although many people can be your helper, no one should be closer to you than your own consciousness."
Weatherford is concerned about what makes strong leaders. In his opinion, the strongest asset of a successful leader is his or her own ability to question themself. The leader must be willing to be wrong in order to be right. This means not allowing other people to dictate expectations because people beneath the leadership will benefit from flattery. The follower is not motivated to challenge leadership and thus risk a strangling from the leader.
