Leadership Quotes

“I want to serve the people.”

— Malala Yousafzai

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“The leader who exercises power with honor will work from the inside out, starting with himself.”

— Blaine Lee

“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”

— Thomas Jefferson

“One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”

— Arnold H. Glasow

“Learn to obey before you command.”

— Solon

“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

“Never look encouragingly at the brass except with a short glance to give an important cue.”

— Richard Strauss

“Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”

— Margaret Thatcher

“Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; even as wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church.”

— Ignatius of Antioch

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or get all the credit for doing it.”

— Andrew Carnegie

“A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command.”

— Douglas MacArthur

“Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need and clamor for a leader.”

— Hermann Hesse

“It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

“Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“The eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing.”

— Albert Schweitzer

“If not me, who? And if not now, when?”

— Mikhail Gorbachev

“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life in a great cause.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

“Be sincere, be brief, be seated.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Never give an order that can't be obeyed.”

— Douglas MacArthur

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

— John C. Maxwell

“We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“You have enemies. Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

— Winston Churchill

“You can't just give a speech and expect people to fall down and agree with you.”

— Hillary Clinton

“A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.”

— Arnold H. Glasow

“I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.”

— Desmond Tutu

“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have; the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

— Simon Sinek

“Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

— John F. Kennedy

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli

“I'm not the smartest fellow in the world, but I can sure pick smart colleagues.”

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.”

— Bill Bradley

“Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children.”

— Sitting Bull

“You have enemies. Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

— Winston Churchill

“The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”

— Edward Gibbon

“I always say people first, then money, then things.”

— Suze Orman

“It is not the situation that makes the man, but the man who makes the situation.”

— Frederick William Robertson

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

— Confucius

“The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.”

— Sun Tzu

“Rank does not confer privilege or give power, it imposes responsibility.”

— Peter Drucker

“Don't fight the problem, decide it.”

— George C. Marshall

“When placed in command, take charge.”

— Norman Schwarzkopf

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

— Confucius

“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.”

— Vince Lombardi

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

— Confucius

“Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.”

— Thomas Jefferson

“It is, after all, the responsibility of the expert to operate the familiar and that of the leader to transcend it.”

— Henry Kissinger

“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”

— Jean-Paul Sartre

“I've searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees.”

— G.K. Chesterton

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

— James Humes

“Great causes and little men go ill together.”

— Jawaharlal Nehru

“I praise loudly; I blame softly.”

— Catherine the Great

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business, but I was in the top one.”

— Brian Clough

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

— Winston Churchill

“There is a difference between giving directions and giving direction.”

— Simon Sinek

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

— Billy Graham

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

— Steve Jobs

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

— Norman Schwarzkopf

“I am constantly being asked about individuals. The only way to win is as a team. Football is not about one or two or three star players.”

— Pele

“A company is only as good as the people it keeps.”

— Mary Kay Ash

“Every cook has to learn how to govern the state.”

— Vladimir Lenin

“The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.”

— Charles de Gaulle

“No one would have doubted his ability to reign had he never been emperor.”

— Tacitus

“Soldiers generally win battles; generals get credit for them.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

“If you think you're boring your audience, go slower, not faster.”

— Gustav Mahler

“Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.”

— Mitt Romney

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

— Helen Keller

“You don't lead by hitting people over the head—that's assault, not leadership.”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

— Vince Lombardi

“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.”

— Harold S. Geneen

“In this country, it is a good thing to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others.”

— Voltaire

“Laws control the lesser man. Right conduct controls the greater one.”

— Mark Twain

“Mr. Attlee is a very modest man, indeed. He has a lot to be modest about.”

— Winston Churchill

“Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”

— George S. Patton

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

— Edmund Burke

“Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made president should on no account be allowed to do the job.”

— Douglas Adams

“Without a sign, his sword the brave man draws and asks no omen but his country's cause.”

— Homer

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

— Margaret Fuller

“Benazir Bhutto was an inspirational leader and an inspirational woman.”

— Malala Yousafzai

“We convince by our presence.”

— Walt Whitman

“A statesman must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment.”

— Otto von Bismarck

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.”

— Theodore Hesburgh

“When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

— Michael Jordan

“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”

— Jean-Paul Sartre

“Never do things others can do and will do if there are things others cannot do or will not do.”

— Amelia Earhart

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”

— John C. Maxwell

“Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. You cannot lead from the crowd.”

— Margaret Thatcher

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.”

— John F. Kennedy

“A man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

“It is not the business of generals to shoot one another.”

— Arthur Wellesley

“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”

— Harvey S. Firestone

“Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.”

— Victor Hugo

“Management is nothing more than motivating other people.”

— Lee Iacocca

“A leader does not deserve the name unless he is willing occasionally to stand alone.”

— Henry Kissinger

“Eagles come in all shapes and sizes, but you will recognize them chiefly by their attitudes.”

— E. F. Schumacher

“The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

— Confucius

“You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”

— Mario Cuomo

“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

— Peter Drucker

“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

“Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.”

— Karl von Clausewitz

“Hell, there are no rules here; we're trying to accomplish something.”

— Thomas A. Edison

“Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy and one ungrateful.”

— Louis XIV

“Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people.”

— Steve Jobs

“Any cook should be able to run the country.”

— Vladimir Lenin

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.”

— Peter Drucker

“The reason the Oval Office is round is there are no corners you can hide in.”

— George W. Bush

“Aspire rather to be a hero than merely appear one.”

— Baltasar Gracián

“He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.”

— Confucius

“Do I think faith will be an important part of being a good president? Yes, I do.”

— George W. Bush

“When an opponent comes forward, move in and greet him. If he wants to pull back, send him on his way.”

— Morihei Ueshiba

“In crises, the most daring course is often the safest.”

— Henry Kissinger

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”

— Bill Gates

“The role of leadership is to transform the complex situation into small pieces and prioritize them.”

— Carlos Ghosn

“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

“The good and the wise lead quiet lives.”

— Euripides

“I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.”

— Robert E. Lee

“Action is character.”

— F. Scott Fitzgerald

“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli

“To be good is noble, but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble.”

— Mark Twain

“Women are the real architects of society.”

— Cher

“The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang.”

— Mary Kay Ash

“He who defends everything defends nothing.”

— Frederick the Great

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.”

— John C. Maxwell

“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”

— Henry Kissinger

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

— George S. Patton

“Leadership is an opportunity to serve; it is not a trumpet call to self-importance.”

— J. Donald Walters

“It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle; it takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”

— Norman Schwarzkopf

“The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”

— Arthur Wellesley

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.”

— Ken Blanchard

“Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. You cannot lead from the crowd.”

— Margaret Thatcher

“Let's have faith that right makes might; and in that faith, let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Why not whip the teacher when the pupil misbehaves?”

— Diogenes

“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality; the last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”

— Max De Pree

“A man of character in peace is a man of courage in war.”

— Charles Wilson

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”

— John F. Kennedy

“To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them.”

— Montesquieu

“Commitment is an act, not a word.”

— Jean-Paul Sartre

“Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality; the last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.”

— Max De Pree

“If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.”

— Horatio Nelson

“Keep a cool head and maintain a low profile. Never take the lead but aim to do something big.”

— Deng Xiaoping

“A great man is always willing to be little.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions, they will be moved to act.”

— Bill Gates

“Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others; it is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.”

— Mwai Kibaki

“I'm not a dictator, it's just that I have a grumpy face.”

— Augusto Pinochet

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.”

— George S. Patton

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

— Vince Lombardi

“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”

— Bill Gates

“When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it to himself.”

— Jacques-Yves Cousteau

“England expects that every man will do his duty.”

— Horatio Nelson

“Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything – for better or for worse.”

— Simon Sinek

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”

— Walt Disney

“Every great person is always being helped by everybody, for their gift is to get good out of all things and all persons.”

— John Ruskin

“A diplomat is a man who thinks twice before he says nothing.”

— Edward Heath

“The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.”

— Tony Blair

“You have to be responsible when you're running an organization, and firing people who are your friends is part of that responsibility.”

— Ben Horowitz

“People don't follow titles, they follow courage.”

— William Wells Brown

“Deliberation is the work of many men, action of one alone.”

— Charles de Gaulle

“The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better.”

— Tony Dungy

“Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts.”

— Erskine Bowles

“The ethic of conviction and the ethic of responsibility are not opposites; they are complementary to one another.”

— Max Weber

“You have enemies. Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

— Winston Churchill

“Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”

— Margaret Fuller

“Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him and to let him know that you trust him.”

— Booker T. Washington

“Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.”

— Publilius Syrus

“The first quality that is needed is audacity.”

— Winston Churchill

“This lady is not for turning.”

— Margaret Thatcher

“Always do everything you ask of those you command.”

— George S. Patton

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.”

— Harry S. Truman

“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”

— James Humes

“Weapons are an important factor in war, but not the decisive one; it is man and not materials that counts.”

— Mao Zedong

“Remember, upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”

— Alexander the Great

“Where there is unity, there is always victory.”

— Publilius Syrus

“When two men in business always agree, one of them is unnecessary.”

— Ezra Pound

“I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.”

— Ulysses S. Grant

“When the best leaders' work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'”

— Lao Tzu

“You may not be interested in strategy, but strategy is interested in you.”

— Leon Trotsky

“The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk.”

— Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”

— Vince Lombardi

“The Sherpas play a very important role in most mountaineering expeditions, and in fact many of them lead along the ridges and up to the summit.”

— Edmund Hillary

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.”

— Walter Lippmann

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

— Winston Churchill

“Everyone needs a coach. It doesn't matter whether you're a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast, or a bridge player.”

— Bill Gates

“He who is not a good servant will not be a good master.”

— Plato

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

— Nelson Mandela

“I can't expect loyalty from the army if I do not give it.”

— George C. Marshall

“If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman.”

— Margaret Thatcher

“A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.”

— Caskie Stinnett

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”

— Ralph Nader

“God spoke to me and called me to His service. What form this service was to take the voice did not say.”

— Florence Nightingale

“The less you talk, the more you're listened to.”

— Abigail Van Buren

“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.”

— John D. Rockefeller

“My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

— John F. Kennedy

“Actions, not words, are the ultimate results of leadership.”

— Bill Owens

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

— Napoleon Bonaparte

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

— Abraham Lincoln

“Go straight for souls, and go for the worst.”

— William Booth

“To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them.”

— Thomas Aquinas

“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”

— George S. Patton

“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”

— Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

“A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”

— Henrik Ibsen

Leadership Quotes

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