The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.

Mary Kay Ash’s line distills a core principle of organizational leadership: a team’s pace, urgency, and standards tend to mirror those modeled by the person in charge. “Speed” here is less about haste than about momentum—how quickly decisions are made, how promptly commitments are honored, and how consistently priorities are acted upon. By calling the team a “gang,” the quote emphasizes group behavior and social contagion: norms spread through example. The implication is both empowering and cautionary—leaders can accelerate performance by modeling energy and follow-through, but they can just as easily slow an organization through hesitation, procrastination, or mixed signals.