Motivational Quotes

Leadership

The secret of a leader lies in the tests he has faced over the whole course of his life and the habit of action he develops in meeting those tests.

- Sheehy, Gail

Best Quotes about Leadership

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

Motto

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

Patton, George S.

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

Six traits of effective leaders: 1. Make others feel important 2. Promote a vision 3. Follow the golden rule 4. Admit mistakes 5. Criticize others only in private 6. Stay close to the action Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.

Bovee, Christian Nevell

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

Hennessy, Edward

Who has not served cannot command.

Florio, John

An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

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

Lao-Tzu

Ronald Reagan has held the two most demeaning jobs in the country; President of the United States and radio broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs.

Will, George F.

10.

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

Parker, Dorothy

11.

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

12.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

John F. Kennedy

13.

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

Peters, Thomas J.

14.

I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it.

Truman, Harry S

15.

It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.

Pope John XXIII

16.

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable and which motivates them over the long haul.

Tead, Orway

17.

No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself.

Wilson, Woodrow T.

18.

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

19.

When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.

Bonaparte, Napoleon

20.

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

Lao-Tzu

21.

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

Schwarzkopf, Norman

22.

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!

23.

He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.

Seneca

24.

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

Caine, Mark

25.

True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.

Townsend, Robert

26.

Faith in the ability of a leader is of slight service unless it be united with faith in his justice.

George Goethals

27.

I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion's roar.

Churchill, Winston

28.

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

29.

Those who can command themselves command others.

Hazlitt, William

30.

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

Wanamaker, John

31.

Right or wrong, the customer is always right.

Field, Marshall

32.

Blessed are the people whose leaders can look destiny in the eye without flinching but also without attempting to play God.

Kissinger, Henry

33.

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

Melbourne, Lord

34.

The golden rule for every business man is this: Put yourself in your customer's place.

Marden, Orison Swett

35.

Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone. And acting alone, accept everything alone.

Marcos, Ferdinand E.

36.

A leader knows what's best to do; a manager knows merely how best to do it.

Adelman, Ken

37.

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

Lindner, Robert

38.

A prince should be slow to punish, and quick to reward.

Ovid

39.

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

40.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

Machiavelli, Niccolo

41.

No affection and a great brain, these are the people to command the world.

Disraeli, Benjamin

42.

Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.

Machiavelli, Niccolo

43.

There is no such thing as a perfect leader either in the past or present, in China or elsewhere. If there is one, he is only pretending, like a pig inserting scallions into its nose in an effort to look like an elephant.

Liu Shao-Ch'I

44.

Keep cool and you will command everyone.

Justinian

45.

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

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

46.

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.

Rohn, Jim

47.

I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?

Disraeli, Benjamin

48.

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.

49.

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

Newcomb, Arthur W.

50.

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