Motivational Quotes

Leadership

The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive.

- Batten, Joe

Best Quotes about Leadership

Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

Lombardi, Vince

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.

Lao-Tzu

Time and money spent in helping men to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.

Ford, Henry

Our chief want in life is somebody who will make us do what we can.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers. Source Unknown Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.

The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

Bennis, Warren

Each person must decide for himself what he wants each day. As a leader, I will expose you to the options and the likely consequences of those options. I'll even share my opinion if asked, but I'll never confuse it with the opinion, which simply doesn't exist.

Dyer, Wayne

When the leadership is right and the time is right, the people can always be counted upon to follow -- to the end at all costs.

Seymour, Harold J.

A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn't go by yourself.

Barker, Joel A.

10.

A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. A boss is interested in himself or herself, a leader is interested in the group.

Ewing, Russell H.

11.

When a blind man bears the standard, pity those who follow.

Proverb, French

12.

The lead dog gets the best view. The rest of the dogs view is butt ugly. Of course, the lead dog is also the first to fall into the ravine.

Saunders, Richard

13.

To lead people walk behind them.

Lao-Tzu

14.

An army of deer would be more formidable commanded by a lion, than an army of lions commanded by a stag.

Proverb

15.

One secret of leadership is that the mind of a leader never turns off. Leaders even when they are sightseers or spectators, are active; not passive observers.

Humes, James

16.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

Maxwell, John C.

17.

Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.

Landry, Tom

18.

You cannot antagonize and influence at the same time.

Knox, John

19.

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

Peters, Thomas J.

20.

I don't think that a leader can control to any great extent his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction.

Nixon, Richard M.

21.

The world of the 90s and beyond will belong to managers or those who make the numbers dance, as we used to say, or those who are conversant with all the business jargon we used to sound smart. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders -- people who not only have an enormous amount of energy but who can energize those whom they lead.

Welch, John

22.

All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

Galbraith, John Kenneth

23.

Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.

Humphrey, Hubert H.

24.

The person who renders loyal service in a humble capacity will be chosen for higher responsibilities, just as the biblical servant who multiplied the one pound given him by his master was made ruler over ten cities...

Forbes, B. C.

25.

I don't believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them.

Geneen, Harold S.

26.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

Patton, George S.

27.

He is the richest man who enriches his country most; in whom the people feel richest and proudest; who gives himself with his money; who opens the doors of opportunity widest to those about him; who is ears to the deaf; eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. Such a man makes every acre of land in his community worth more, and makes richer every man who lives near him.

Marden, Orison Swett

28.

Ethics must begin at the top of an organization. It is a leadership issue and the chief executive must set the example.

Hennessy, Edward

29.

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

Diderot, Denis

30.

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such.

Maurois, Andre

31.

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.

Peter Drucker

32.

Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got. Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players.

Bird, Larry

33.

Leadership is not a position. You are not a leader because you have the title of manager. Leadership is something that we earn from followers on a day to day basis.

The EMS Manager Newsletter

34.

A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.

Meir, Golda

35.

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

Roosevelt, Theodore

36.

There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two.

Brecht, Bertolt

37.

Perhaps in His wisdom the Almighty is trying to show us that a leader may chart the way, may point out the road to lasting peace, but that many leaders and many peoples must do the building.

Roosevelt, Eleanor

38.

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says I; The leader says WE. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, GO; the leader says lets, GO!

Selfridge, H. Gordon

39.

When a customer enters my store, forget me. He is king.

Wanamaker, John

40.

The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.

Lombardi, Vince

41.

You can lead a whore to culture but you can't make her think.

Parker, Dorothy

42.

Do what is right, not what you think the high headquarters wants or what you think will make you look good.

Schwarzkopf, Norman

43.

Popularity is not leadership.

Marcinko, Richard

44.

Who has not served cannot command.

Florio, John

45.

It's important for the explorer to be willing to be led astray.

Oech, Roger Von

46.

Management is nothing more than motivating other people.

Lee Iacocca

47.

That is no use at all. What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.

Melbourne, Lord

48.

I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.

Tutu, Bishop Desmond

49.

Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.

Lombardi, Vince

50.

Great leaders understand human behavior rather than the cybernetics of any function.

Schorr, James