Quotes about leadership

The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.

— Vince Lombardi

Some men must follow, and some command, though all are made of clay.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The speed of the leader determines the rate of the pack.

— Wayne Lukas

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

— Niccolo Machiavelli

Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.

— Niccolo Machiavelli

Popularity is not leadership.

— Richard Marcinko

Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone. And acting alone, accept everything alone.

— Ferdinand E. Marcos

He is the richest man who enriches his country most; in whom the people feel richest and proudest; who gives himself with his money; who opens the doors of opportunity widest to those about him; who is ears to the deaf; eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. Such a man makes every acre of land in his community worth more, and makes richer every man who lives near him.

— Orison Swett Marden

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

— Orison Swett Marden

That perfect bliss and sole felicity, the sweet fruition of an earthly crown.

— Christopher Marlowe

Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.

— Groucho Marx

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such.

— Andre Maurois

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

— John C. Maxwell

Leadership is action, not position.

— Donald H. Mcgannon

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

— Golda Meir

That is no use at all. What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.

— Lord Melbourne

When I think of this life I have led; the desolation of solitude it has been; the masoned, walled-town of a Captain's exclusiveness, which admits but small entrance to any sympathy from the green country without -- oh, weariness! heaviness! Guinea-coast slavery of solitary command!

— Herman Melville

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

— Henry Miller

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

— John Milton

Impatience is the cause of most of our irregularities and extravagances Command by obeying.

— Motto

The wealth of kings is in the affections of their subjects.

— Motto

Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.

— John Naisbitt

To be a leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn't know where he is going.

— Joe Namath

Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader.

— Arthur W. Newcomb

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.

— Richard M. Nixon

Leadership must be established from the top down.

— Sam Nunn

It's important for the explorer to be willing to be led astray.

— Roger Von Oech

A great leader never sets himself above his followers except in carrying responsibilities.

— Jules Ormont

The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears, and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.

— George Orwell

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

— Ovid

Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done.

— Vance Packard

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

— Dorothy Parker

The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are. They are frank in admitting this and are willing to pay for such talents.

— Amos Parrish

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

— George S. Patton

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

— George S. Patton

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

— H. Ross Perot

Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.

— Thomas J. Peters

All business success rests on something labeled a sale, which at least momentarily weds company and customer.

— Thomas J. Peters

The best leaders... almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.

— Thomas J. Peters

The person who has no enemies has no followers.

— Don Piatt

It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.

— Pope John XXIII

Among the blind the one eyed is king.

— Proverb

An army of deer would be more formidable commanded by a lion, than an army of lions commanded by a stag.

— Proverb

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

— French Proverb

Those that rule must hear and be deaf, must see and be blind.

— German Proverb

The right man comes at the right time.

— Italian Proverb

Never do that by proxy which you can do yourself.

— Italian Proverb

You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too.

— Sam Rayburn

The penalty of leadership is loneliness.

— H. Wheeler Robinson

The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.

— John D. Rockefeller

A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.

— Jim Rohn

Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.

— Jim Rohn

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.

— Jim Rohn

Perhaps in His wisdom the Almighty is trying to show us that a leader may chart the way, may point out the road to lasting peace, but that many leaders and many peoples must do the building.

— Eleanor Roosevelt

Our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead -- and find no one there.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader works in the open, and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives.

— Theodore Roosevelt

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.

— Theodore Roosevelt

The lead dog gets the best view. The rest of the dogs view is butt ugly. Of course, the lead dog is also the first to fall into the ravine.

— Richard Saunders

The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist. They turn to each other and say We did it ourselves.

— Zen Saying

Great leaders understand human behavior rather than the cybernetics of any function.

— James Schorr

When placed in command -- take charge.

— Norman Schwarzkopf

Do what is right, not what you think the high headquarters wants or what you think will make you look good.

— Norman Schwarzkopf

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

— Norman Schwarzkopf

The world cannot be governed without juggling.

— John Selden

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says I; The leader says WE. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, GO; the leader says lets, GO!

— H. Gordon Selfridge

He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.

— Seneca

When the leadership is right and the time is right, the people can always be counted upon to follow -- to the end at all costs.

— Harold J. Seymour

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.

— Gail Sheehy

To be omnipotent but friendless is to reign.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley

What you cannot enforce, do not command.

— Sophocles

It is a great pity when the one who should be the head figure is a mere figure head.

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.

— Henri B. Stendhal

Anyone can steer the ship when the sea is calm.

— Publilius Syrus

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader.

— Publius Cornelius Tacitus

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

— Publius Cornelius Tacitus

I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.

— Charles Maurice De Talleyrand

Certainly a leader needs a clear vision of the organization and where it is going, but a vision is of little value unless it is shared in a way so as to generate enthusiasm and commitment. Leadership and communication are inseparable.

— Claude Taylor

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable and which motivates them over the long haul.

— Orway Tead

If you lead a country like Britain, a strong country, a country which has taken a lead in world affairs in good times and in bad, a country that is always reliable, then you have to have a touch of iron about you.

— Margaret Thatcher

Leadership is not a position. You are not a leader because you have the title of manager. Leadership is something that we earn from followers on a day to day basis.

— The EMS Manager Newsletter

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

— Robert Townsend

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

— Robert Townsend

I learned that a great leader is a man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do and like it.

— Harry S Truman

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

— Bishop Desmond Tutu

A leader has been defined as one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

— Source Unknown

The well being of the people is the supreme law.

— Source Unknown

The best leader is the one who has the sense to surround himself with outstanding people and self-restraint not to meddle with how they do their jobs.

— Source Unknown

Successful leaders have the courage to take action where others hesitate.

— Source Unknown

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.

— Source Unknown

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

— Source Unknown

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

— Source Unknown

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!

— Source Unknown

Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers. Source Unknown Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.

— Source Unknown

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

— Source Unknown

Efficiency tends to deal with Things. Effectiveness tends to deal with People. We manage things, we lead people

— Source Unknown

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

— Source Unknown

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.

— John Updike

Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.

— J. Donald Walters

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

— Sam Walton