Quotations about Leadership

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

George S. Patton

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

Warren G. Bennis

“The man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”

James Crook

“If you command wisely, you'll be obeyed cheerfully.”

Thomas Fuller

“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

“A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there.”

David Gergen

“Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish.”

Sam Walton

“The real leader has no need to lead--he is content to point the way.”




“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the quality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.”

Unknown

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

Winston Churchill

“The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”

John Maxwell

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

Peter Drucker

“The greatest motivational act one person can do for another is to listen.”

Robert E. Moody

“There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability.”

Robert Half

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.”

John Maxwell

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

Walter Lippmann

“How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt?”

Harry S. Truman

“Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson



“Leadership is tied to conviction. Leaders have a vision of a better future, they feel strongly about the need to go there.”

Delorese Ambrose

“We can practice leadership principles, but the only way to learn them is to lead. Not knowing it all is no excuse not to start.”

Judy Columbus

“People only see what they are prepared to see.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I have never been able to conceive how any rational being could propose happiness to himself from the exercise of power over others.”

Thomas Jefferson

“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.”

Vince Lombardi

“The ultimate leader is one who is willing to develop people to the point that they eventually surpass him or her in knowledge and ability.”

Fred A. Manske, Jr.

“There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.”

Gilbert K. Chesterton

“It is amazing how much people can get done if they do not worry about who gets the credit.”

Sandra Swinney

“Successful leaders have the courage to take action while others hesitate.”

John Maxwell

“Be enthusiastic as a leader. You can't light a fire with a wet match!”

Unknown


“If you are not being criticized, you may not be doing much.”

Donald Rumsfeld

“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson