Leadership Quotes

There have been meetings of only a moment which have left impressions for life …for eternity. No one can understand that mysterious thing we call ‘influence’ …yet everyone of us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to stain other lives.

Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.

It is the obligation of the ruler to continually renew himself in order to renew the people by his example.

Management is the process of assuring that the program and objectives of the organization are implemented. Leadership on the other hand has to do with casting vision and motivating people.

Knowing how to do a job is the accomplishment of labor – showing others is the accomplishment of the teacher – making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of the manager – inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of the leader.

He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.

Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are not obligated.

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them.

A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others.

Authority is not the power a boss has over subordinates, but rather the boss’s ability to influence subordinates to recognize and accept that power.

Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man. His character determines the character of the organization.

Leaders must live by higher standards than their followers.

We cannot lead anyone else further than we have been ourselves.

The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader. After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is the ultimate test of leadership.

Leaders have two characteristics: first they are going somewhere, and second they are able to persuade other people to go with them.

Openness by the leader paves the way for ownership by the people. Without ownership, changes will be short term. Changing people’s habits and ways of thinking is like writing instructions in the snow during a snowstorm. Every twenty minutes the instructions must be rewritten, unless ownership is given along with instructions.

It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers.

The leader is the organization’s top strategist… systematically envisioning the future and specifically mapping out how to get there.

Those closest to me will determine the level of my success.

If your not an agent of change, your ate best a steward of something which is going to erode, and why would you want a job if all you’re going to do is perpetuate what previously existed?

Leadership is an invisible strand as mysterious as it is powerful. It pulls and it bonds. It is a catalyst that creates unity out of disorder. Yet, it defies definition. No combination of talents can guarantee it. No process of training can create it where the spark does not exist. The qualities of leadership are universal. They are found in the poor and the rich, the humble and the proud, the common man, and the brilliant thinker; they are qualities that suggest paradox rather than pattern. But wherever they are found, leadership makes things happen. The most precious and intangible quality of leadership is trust: the confidence that the one who leads will act in the best interest of those who follow, the assurance that he will serve the group without sacrificing the rights of the individual. Leadership’s imperative is a ‘sense of rightness,’ knowing when to advance and when to pause, when to criticize and when to praise, how to encourage others to excel. From the leader’s reserves of energy and optimism, his followers draw strength. In his determination and self-confidence, they find inspiration. In the highest sense, leadership is integrity. This command by conscience asserts itself more by commitment and example than by directive. Integrity recognizes external obligation, but it heeds the quiet voice within, rather than the clamor without.

A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do.

It’s lonely at the top, so you better know why you are there.

Leadership is the transference of vision.

Leadership is knowing what to do next, why it is important, and how to bring appropriate resources required for success.

Foresight is the ‘lead’ that the leader has. Once he loses this lead and events start to force his hand, he is leader in name only. He is not leading; he is reacting to immediate events and he probably will not long be a leader. There are abundant current examples of loss of leadership which stems from a failure to foresee what reasonably could have been foreseen, and from failure to act on that knowledge while the leader has freedom to act.

Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

If you can raise up leaders, you will always have followers, but if you can’t raise up leaders, you will only have followers.

Leaders are pioneers. They are people who venture into unexplored territory. They guide us to new and often unfamiliar destinations. People who take the lead are the foot soldiers in the campaigns for change … the unique reason for having leaders – is to move us forward. Leaders get us going someplace.

Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under led.

When the leaders work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’

A leader who develops people adds; a leader who develops leaders multiplies.

Leaders will not experience long-term success unless a lot of people want them to and are able to help them.

Here lies a man who knew how to enlist the service of better men than himself.

There has always been a true elite of God’s leaders. They are the meek who inherit the earth (Mat. 5:5). They weep and pray in secret, and defy earth and hell in public. They tremble when faced with danger, but die in their tracks sooner than turn back. They are like a shepherd defending his sheep or a mother protecting her young. They sacrifice without grumbling, give without calculation, suffer without groaning. To those in their charge they say, ‘We live well if you do well.” Their price is above riches. They are the salt of the earth. For the cause of the kingdom, we need more of them.”

A Godly leader … finds strength by realizing his weakness finds authority by being under authority finds direction by laying down his plans finds vision by seeing the needs of others finds credibility by being an example finds loyalty by expressing compassion finds honor by being faithful finds greatness by being a servant.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.