Motivational Quotes

Leadership

A good leader needs to have a compass in his head and a bar of steel in his heart.

- Townsend, Robert

Best Quotes about Leadership

Education is the mother of leadership.

Willkie, Wendell L.

The wicked leader is he who the people despise. The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, We did it ourselves.

Lao-Tzu

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.

Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

Kissinger, Henry

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

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

Cervantes, Miguel De

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

Hennessy, Edward

Search others for their virtue, and yourself for your vices.

Fuller, R. Buckminster

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

10.

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.

11.

The well being of the people is the supreme law.

12.

Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.

Bennis, Warren

13.

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.

14.

Outstanding leaders appeal to the hearts of their followers -- not their minds.

15.

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

Lao-Tzu

16.

Leadership is like the old galley ships. 100s are rowing, but only one (the captain) knows where they are going

17.

Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.

Bennis, Warren

18.

The world cannot be governed without juggling.

Selden, John

19.

The wise man who is not heeded is counted a fool, and the fool who proclaims the general folly first and loudest passes for a prophet and F?hrer, and sometimes it is luckily the other way round as well, or else mankind would long since have perished of stupidity.

Jung, Carl

20.

The minute a person whose word means a great deal to others dare to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow.

Anderson, Marian

21.

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

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.

Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too.

Half, Robert

24.

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

25.

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

Marden, Orison Swett

26.

Every ruler is harsh whose laws are new.

Aeschylus

27.

Leadership must be established from the top down.

Nunn, Sam

28.

Eagles don't flock, you have to find them one at a time.

Perot, H. Ross

29.

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

Parker, Dorothy

30.

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

Townsend, Robert

31.

The person who has no enemies has no followers.

Piatt, Don

32.

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

33.

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.

Lippmann, Walter

34.

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

35.

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

36.

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

Eisenhower, Dwight D.

37.

The crowd gives the leader new strength.

Evenius

38.

Management is nothing more than motivating other people.

Lee Iacocca

39.

Morale is faith in the man at the top.

Johnston, Albert Sidney

40.

We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

41.

A crown, golden in show is but a wreath of thorns.

Milton, John

42.

A leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people or improve the system they live under.

Ervin, Sam

43.

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.

44.

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.

45.

To lead people walk behind them.

Lao-Tzu

46.

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

47.

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

Meir, Golda

48.

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

George Goethals

49.

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

Ovid

50.

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