Motivational Quotes

Leadership

You do not lead by hitting people over the head -- that's assault, not leadership.

- Eisenhower, Dwight D.

Best Quotes about Leadership

It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities. For there is a new world to be won.

Kennedy, John F.

Most of the ladies and gentlemen who mourn the passing of the nation's leaders wouldn't know a leader if they saw one. If they had the bad luck to come across a leader, they would find out that he might demand something from them, and this impertinence would put an abrupt and indignant end to their wish for his return.

Lapham, Lewis H.

Every ruler is harsh whose laws are new.

Aeschylus

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.

It is a great pity when the one who should be the head figure is a mere figure head.

Spurgeon, Charles Haddon

The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.

Rockefeller, John D.

Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.

Walters, J. Donald

When the best leader's work is done the people say, We did it ourselves.

Lao-Tzu

The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.

Parrish, Amos

10.

When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

11.

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

12.

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

Ford, Henry

13.

The successful man doesn't use others, other people use the successful man, for above all the success is of service.

Caine, Mark

14.

A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership in the world.

Updike, John

15.

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

16.

Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

17.

A leader has been defined as one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

18.

Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so.

Carlyle, Thomas

19.

When we think we lead we are most led.

Byron, Lord

20.

The best leaders... almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.

Peters, Thomas J.

21.

Leadership is action, not position.

Mcgannon, Donald H.

22.

The right man comes at the right time.

Proverb, Italian

23.

The well being of the people is the supreme law.

24.

Impatience is the cause of most of our irregularities and extravagances Command by obeying.

Motto

25.

If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.

Thatcher, Margaret

26.

The world cannot be governed without juggling.

Selden, John

27.

The leader seeks to communicate his vision to his followers. He captures their attention with his optimistic intuition of possible solutions to their needs. He influences them by the dynamism of his faith. He demonstrates confidence that the challenge can be met, the need resolved, the crisis overcome.

Haggai, John

28.

There is no necessary connection between the desire to lead and the ability to lead, and even less the ability to lead somewhere that will be to the advantage of the led

Evans, Bergen

29.

People try so hard to believe in leaders now, pitifully hard. But we no sooner get a popular reformer or politician or soldier or writer or philosopher --a Roosevelt, a Tolstoy, a Wood, a Shaw, a Nietzsche, than the cross-currents of criticism wash him away. My Lord, no man can stand prominence these days. It's the surest path to obscurity. People get sick of hearing the same name over and over.

30.

If you want to be comfortable -- take an easy job. If you aspire to leadership, take off your coat.

31.

It is a characteristic of all movements and crusades that the psychopathic element rises to the top.

Lindner, Robert

32.

Do your best to be the lead dog otherwise the view never changes.

33.

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

34.

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.

Rohn, Jim

35.

The person who has no enemies has no followers.

Piatt, Don

36.

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

37.

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

38.

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

Schwarzkopf, Norman

39.

Popularity is not leadership.

Marcinko, Richard

40.

'Tis a dainty thing to command, though 'twere but a flock of sheep.

Cervantes, Miguel De

41.

It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead -- and find no one there.

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

42.

Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader.

Newcomb, Arthur W.

43.

Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done.

Packard, Vance

44.

Leadership is a serving relationship that has the effect of facilitating human development.

Ward, Ted

45.

There is great force hidden in a gentle command.

Herbert, George

46.

It is the Vague and Elusive. Meet it and you will not see its head. Follow it and you will not see its back.

Lao-Tzu

47.

The chief executive who knows his strengths and weaknesses as a leader is likely to be far more effective than the one who remains blind to them. He also is on the road to humility -- that priceless attitude of openness to life that can help a manager absorb mistakes, failures, or personal shortcomings.

Adair, John

48.

Certainly a leader needs a clear vision of the organization and where it is going, but a vision is of little value unless it is shared in a way so as to generate enthusiasm and commitment. Leadership and communication are inseparable.

Taylor, Claude

49.

In really good companies, you have to lead. You have to come up with big ideas and express them forcefully. I have always been encouraged -- or sometimes forced -- to confront the very natural fear of being wrong. I was constantly pushed to find out what I really thought and then to speak up. Over time, I came to see that waiting to discover which way the wind was blowing is an excellent way to learn how to be a follower.

Enrico, Roger

50.

Leadership has to do with direction. Management has to do with the speed, coordination and logistics in going in that direction. The WORKERS are chopping their way through the jungle. The MANAGERS are coordinating, making sure the tools are sharp, etc. The LEADERS climb a tree and shout Wrong jungle!! The MANAGERS shout back Be quiet! We're making progress!