“Leadership is not driving the train, it’s laying the track” is an adage about leadership that became popular in 2013-14. “Always remember you’re not driving the train. you’re laying the track” was credited to Edwin Catmull, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios, on Twitter on June 27, 2013.
 
“The real trick to leadership is not driving the train. It’s laying the track” was cited on Twitter on April 30, 2014.
 
   
Twitter
Isaac Hepworth
‏@isaach
“always remember you’re not driving the train. you’re laying the track”—ed catmull on leadership
1:08 PM - 27 Jun 2013
 
Twitter
Mandy Sellers
‏@mandysellers
“The real trick to leadership is not driving the train. It’s laying the track.” http://tmblr.co/Z1PPPx1EY6qD_
9:34 AM - 30 Apr 2014
 
Read Creativity Inc.
May 1, 2014
Creativity Inc – Ed Catmull
(...)
I’ve always been intrigued, for example, by the way that many people use the analogy of a train to describe their companies. Massive and powerful, the train moves inexorably down the track, over mountains and across vast plains, through the densest fog and darkest night. When things go wrong, we talk of getting “derailed” and of experiencing a “train wreck.” And I’ve heard people refer to Pixar’s production group as a finely tuned locomotive that they would love the chance to drive. What interests me is the number of people who believe that they have the ability to drive the train and who think that this is the power position—that driving the train is the way to shape their companies’ futures. The truth is, it’s not. Driving the train doesn’t set its course. The real job is laying the track.
   
Twitter
Dave Wiskus
‏@dwiskus
Maybe the subway isn’t the right place for this particular aphorism. pic.twitter.com/wx5zAsLyi7
5:09 PM - 9 May 2014
 
Twitter
Conor Rooney
‏@Conor_Roooney
Leadership doesn’t mean driving the train, it means laying the track down for others
11:42 AM - 1 Jun 2014
 
Twitter
Dark Prophecy
‏@Darkecy
The trick to leadership is not to drive the train, but to lay the track.
12:47 AM - 3 Jun 2014