Leadership Quotes
82 hand-picked lines on leadership
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
— Steve Jobs →
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
— Warren Bennis →
“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”
— Henry Kissinger →
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.”
— Jack Welch →
“Good leaders must first become good servants.”
— Robert Greenleaf →
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
— Booker T. Washington →
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
— Ralph Nader →
“A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune.”
— Arnold H. Glasow →
“Earn your leadership every day.”
— Michael Jordan →
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude.”
— Jim Rohn →
“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.”
— Tony Blair →
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
— Peter Drucker →
“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”
— Rosalynn Carter →
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
— John F. Kennedy →
“A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.”
— M.D. Arnold →
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”
— Lao Tzu →
“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”
— Peter Drucker →
“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”
— Ray Kroc →
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
— Ronald Reagan →
“Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.”
— Brian Tracy →
“Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
— George S. Patton →
“Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge.”
— Simon Sinek →
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”
— Kenneth Blanchard →
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
— Martin Luther King Jr. →
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
— Mother Teresa →
“Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves.”
— Anonymous →
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”
— Harvey S. Firestone →
“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel.”
— Sam Walton →
“You manage things; you lead people.”
— Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper →
“Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.”
— Bill Bradley →
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
— Bill Gates →
“You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.”
— Ken Kesey →
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
— Alexander the Great →
“Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar.”
— Orrin Woodward →
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
— John Quincy Adams →
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
— Albert Schweitzer →
“Be an example to your men, in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself.”
— Erwin Rommel →
“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; kind, but not weak; bold, but not bully.”
— Jim Rohn →
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front.”
— Nelson Mandela →
“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
— Max Lucado →
“There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them.”
— Alexandre Ledru-Rollin →
“The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower →
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision.”
— Theodore Hesburgh →
“Leadership is the ability to get extraordinary achievement from ordinary people.”
— Brian Tracy →
“A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe →
“Almost all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
— Abraham Lincoln →
“Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“A leader's job is not to do the work for others, it's to help others figure out how to do it themselves.”
— Simon Sinek →
“Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.”
— Dianne Feinstein →
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
— Jack Welch →
“A leader's role is not to control people or stay on top of things, but rather to guide, energize and excite.”
— Jack Welch →
“Leadership is influence — nothing more, nothing less.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“The speed of the boss is the speed of the team.”
— Lee Iacocca →
“Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.”
— Robert Louis Stevenson →
“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority.”
— Ronald Reagan →
“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”
— Andrew Carnegie →
“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born.”
— Warren G. Bennis →
“Leadership is not about a title or designation. It's about impact, influence and inspiration.”
— Robin S. Sharma →
“The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.”
— Brian Tracy →
“A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt →
“Take care of those who work for you and you'll float to greatness on their achievements.”
— H.S.M. Burns →
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower →
“Don't find fault, find a remedy.”
— Henry Ford →
“Leaders should be reliable without being predictable.”
— Max McKeown →
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
— Thomas Jefferson →
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.”
— Margaret Mead →
“Great leaders do not desire to lead but to serve.”
— Myles Munroe →
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt →
“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.”
— John Wooden →
“A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see.”
— Leroy Eimes →
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson →
“Character is the foundation of all great leadership.”
— Peter Drucker →
“Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it.”
— David Ogilvy →
“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.”
— Theodore Roosevelt →
“Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.”
— George Van Valkenburg →
“A great leader's courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.”
— John C. Maxwell →
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they ought to be.”
— Rosalynn Carter →
“My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to make these great people even better.”
— Steve Jobs →
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
— African Proverb →