Top 100 Leadership Quotes

1

The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first.

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.2

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.

3

Cardinal Dolan, of course, has a very, very hard job: trying to hold up Catholic family values in sexually liberal New York City. I'm not saying New York is the Gay Mecca. But it's at least Gay-rusalem.

4

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.

To keep the wrong leader in the wrong place prevents the right leader ...5

To keep the wrong leader in the wrong place prevents the right leader from being in the right place.

6

Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.

7

The greater a man is in power above others, the more he ought to excel them in virtue. None ought to govern who is not better than the governed.

8

I think one of the reasons our court system wants to remove The 10 Commandments is because The 10 Commandments reminds us we are sinners.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects ...9

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

10

Understanding your employee's perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.

11

Never give an order that can't be obeyed.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.12

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no ...13

If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever.

Pride is the fuel of human accomplishment.14

Pride is the fuel of human accomplishment.

15

Originality is so hip and cool, but to be original you must dare to be corny.

16

The intelligent employer encourages challenge, questioning--not blind acceptance and "our Leader knows best" acclaim.

... the self respect of individuals ought to make them demand of ...17

... the self respect of individuals ought to make them demand of their leaders conformity with an agreed-upon code of ethics and moral conduct.

18

You can't treat Russia like a guilty schoolboy who has to put a cross on a piece of paper to show he has done his homework. That kind of language is unacceptable.

19

History is full, down to this day, of the imbecility of kings and governors. They are a class of persons much to be pitied, for they know not what they should do.

20

I must follow them. I am their leader.

21

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

22

Leaders have to act more quickly today. The pressure comes much faster.

23

Change is easy to propose, hard to implement, and especially hard to sustain.

24

We must use collegiality not to level people down but to bring together their strength and creativity.

25

On learning: if you really want alignment, go to a chiropractor.

26

As we seek to eliminate individualism in teaching, we should not eradicate individuality with it.

27

Teaching is a passionate profession.

28

Trust processes as well as people.

29

The economists who have put the spotlight on teacher quality are the ones who most misunderstand it.

30

Teachers are always emotional: by default if they bore us, and by design when they excite us.

31

Standardized personalization=universal right to meaningful learning. Personalized standardization=flexible access to mandated learning.

32

Blame is a change-avoidance strategy.

33

The difference between government and leadership is that leadership has a soul.

34

If I were to command a general to turn into a seagull, and if the general did not obey, that would not be the general's fault. It would be mine.

35

Those who are successfully to lead their fellow-men, should have once possessed the nobler feelings. We have all known individuals whose magnanimity was not likely to be troublesome on any occasion; but then they betrayed their own interests by unwisely omitting the consideration, that such feelings might exist in the breasts of those whom they had to guide and govern: for they themselves cannot even remember the time when in their eyes justice appeared preferable to expediency, the happiness of others to self-interest, or the welfare of a State to the advancement of a party.

36

The most enthusiastic man in a cause is rarely chosen as the leader.

37

All you can do is all you can do, but all you can do is enough.

38

A part of control is learning to correct your own weaknesses. The person doesn't live who was born with everything. Sometimes he has one weak point, generally he has several. The first thing is to know your faults. And then take on a systematic plan of correcting them. You know the old saying about a chain only being as strong as its weakest link. The same can be said in the chain of skills a man forges.

39

I'll never give up on a player regardless of his ability as long as he never gives up on himself. In time he will develop.

40

But it's still a coach's game. Make no mistake. You start at the top. If you don't have a good one at the top, you don't have a cut dog's chance.

41

We live in age of prudence. The leaders of the people now generally follow.

42

The worst wheel of the cart makes the most noise.

43

Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

44

Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.

45

Raw, real human conversation can be the most direct path to greater awareness and stronger relationships, even when it's unrehearsed and clumsy-perhaps especially when it's unrehearsed and clumsy!

46

If I'd had some set idea of a finish line, don't you think I would have crossed it years ago?

47

It's a game of habit, or repetition. You can't play one way in practice and another way in a game. It's a reflex. The game is so quick you don't have time to think.

48

Leadership is about doing what you know is right - even when a growing din of voices around you is trying to convince you to accept what you know to be wrong.

49

What I've really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.

50

Strive for perfection - never be content with mediocrity. You don't win until you conquer the little flaws. You don't beat these great ones until your form is perfect. This is true in all of life. A flaw in a product can ruin a business. A personal failing, a little one, can ruin a person's life. Don't be content with mediocrity - strive to live up to the greatest within you.

51

It doesn't matter what anybody thinks of what I do. The clock doesn't lie.

52

Everything breaks; the only things that last are things you're willing to fix.

53

Personally, I like it much better when someone else does the decision making. That way you have legitimate grounds to whine and complain. I tend to find both whining and complaining quite interesting and amusing, though sometimes--unfortunately--it's hard to choose which one of the two I want to do. Sigh. LIfe can be so tough sometimes.

54

The Republicans tend to choose the candidate who came in second place in the last election, and Democrats tend to move on. Ask President Ed Muskie how it worked out to be the front-runner. Ask President Howard Dean how it worked out.

55

I'd rather have preparation than motivation. Everyone likes to play, but no one likes to practice.

56

The most inspiring leaders are those who... inspire the rest of us to be our best selves and to match our skills with our passions. They give us confidence to pursue our dreams.

57

Presidents, leaders, to be effective have to represent the whole to the parts and to the world outside. They may live in the centre but they must not be the centre. To reinforce the common sense they must be a constant teacher, ever travelling, ever talking, ever listening, the chief missionary of the common cause.

58

Do not bring me your successes; they weaken me. Bring me your problems; they strengthen me.

59

There is no mystery about successful business.... Exclusive attention to the person who is speaking to you.

60

People learn to lead because they care about something.

61

They said it was impossible to touch the third rail of politics, to take on public-sector unions and to reform a pension and health benefits system that was headed to bankruptcy. But with bipartisan leadership, we saved taxpayers $132 billion dollars over 30 years and saved retirees their pensions. We did it.

62

We tend to select top men for their character and capacity, then overload them according to their willingness.

63

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible.

64

My responsibility, our responsibility as lucky Americans, is to try to give back to this country as much as it has given us, as we continue our American journey together.

65

You don't know what you can get away with until you try.

66

Leading in a complex world means recognizing the simple things you can do to make things better.

67

I talked about the need for American leadership, I talked about the importance of the United States to a more peaceful world, a world that has been quite turbulent in recent years, and needs a strong American anchor.

68

If you lead the people with correctness, who will dare not be correct?

69

One's action ought to come out of an achieved stillness: not to be a mere rushing on.

70

There is no mat space for malcontents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate insanely when he wins, nor sulk when he loses. He accepts victory professionally, humbly; he hates defeat, but makes no poor display of it.

71

As much as 80% of adult "success" comes from EQ.

72

In many professions, what used to matter most were abilities associated with the left side of the brain: linear, sequential, spreadsheet kind of faculties. Those still matter, but they're not enough.

73

What's important now are the characteristics of the brain's right hemisphere: artistry, empathy, inventiveness, big-picture thinking. These skills have become first among equals in a whole range of business fields.

74

Football doesn't build character. It eliminates the weak ones.

75

Enthusiasm is something you can't fake, and it has a tremendous effect on everyone around you.

76

There are a few things that you can do that will yield better results than doing a whole lot of other things.

77

People quit people before they quit companies.

78

Don't stifle your career by limiting you knowledge.

79

When you write things down, you commit to doing them. If you simply tell me what you want to do, there is really no commitment to getting it done.

80

You are the chief bucket filler, and the best way to fill buckets is with excellent communication.

81

The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing - building empathy for the people that you're entrusted to help.

82

First, make yourself a reputation for being a creative genius. Second, surround yourself with partners who are better than you are. Third, leave them to go get on with it.

83

Successful charitable fund-raising has much in common with managing a business: It requires leadership, persistence, and creativity.

84

... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social, cultural. Economic determinism is an objectionable creed where men and women espouse it in its communist or capitalist form because it treats human beings as economic units and not as responsible persons.

85

Democrats are going to proudly run on the fact that we turned the economy around. It was our policies under President Obama's leadership through the Recovery Act, through investing in the automobile industry.

86

I think we need the feminine qualities of leadership, which include attention to aesthetics and the environment, nurturing, affection, intuition and the qualities that make people feel safe and cared for.

87

Substance and content over style and hype any day.

88

You cannot cast a vision that has not cast a spell over you.

89

I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much rather go to hell - than go to a homophobic heaven.

90

And the whole world, the whole world that believes in freedom, whether you're talking about personal freedom, economic freedom, religious freedom, they look to the United States for leadership; and you're part of that leadership.

91

Leadership implies movement toward something and convictions provide that direction.

92

The difference between good and great is just a little extra effort.

93

In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man's associates find him guilty of being phony, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.

94

Jamal Crawford reminds me the most of myself, the way he goes to the basket. But they need leadership.

95

The sentiments in Hawaii about Washington's failure of leadership are no different than the rest of the country.

96

If Ralph Nader runs, President Bush is going to be re-elected, and if Ralph Nader doesn't run, President Bush is going to be re-elected. We're going to run on the president's strong and principled leadership and his positive agenda for a second term.

97

The problem is, is that President Bush and the Republican leadership in the Congress have resisted attempts to increase dramatically our fuel economy standards over the last five years.

98

I can give you a six-word formula for success: "Think things through - then follow through."

99

If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway. But men do not need to be actually gathered together in a public meeting or in a street riot, to be subject to the influences of mass psychology. Because man is by nature gregarious he feels himself to be member of a herd, even when he is alone in his room with the curtains drawn.

100

We have voluntarily agreed to let an invisible government sift the data and high-spot the outstanding issues so that our field of choice shall be narrowed to practical proportions. From our leaders and the media they use to reach the public, we accept the evidence and the demarcation of issues bearing upon public questions; from some ethical teacher, be it a minister, a favorite essayist, or merely prevailing opinion, we accept a standardized code of social conduct to which we conform most of the time.

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