Great and Inspiring Quotes about Leadership
Leadership! That wonderful thing that is just so darn hard to develop, no matter how much time you spend working on it, and how hard you try to be the best leader possible.
Being a leader is never easy, which is why so much has been written and said on the subject.
I love leadership quotes!
The beauty of most of these famous leadership quotes is that they were spoken by simple men who just so happened to become the great leaders that they are now known for being. They didn’t start out as the greatest leaders, but they became so over time. It certainly inspires me.
There’s something about these quotes on leadership that inspire me, make me laugh sometimes, but always give me the vision to be the best leader I can be.
It’s my responsibility to try and develop my leadership qualities as best I can. I don’t always know what to do, but this is why I love the quotes about leadership below!
These famous leadership quotes and leadership quotations always remind me of what I need to do to be a leader, how I can do better, and what things I should just let slide. That’s right, sometimes I just need to let go and work on something else, as I am trying too hard in one area that just isn’t as important as I think it is.
These quotations on leadership and quotations about leadership help me to realize what I need to do and not do, which is why I love spending a bit of time every day reading them.
Here are some of what I think are the best leadership quotes around, or at least my favorite of them:
To lead people, walk beside them … As for the
best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next
best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and
the next, the people hate … When the best leader’s work is done the
people say, ‘We did it ourselves!
~
Lao-Tsu ~
This is an inspirational leadership quote that I read when I forget what it means to be a leader.
It’s funny how leaders sometimes try so hard to get others to follow them, and they struggle and push and pull and work hard at getting followers.
But Lao Tzu’s famous inspirational leadership quote reminds me that a leader doesn’t really do much, but he or she gets people to do it themselves.
“If I want to be a great
leader, ” this quote tells me, “I’ve got to help people do what they
are trying to do, and make them feel like it was them – have them
take the credit for it.”
It’s interesting how we work so hard at
being a good leader, when all we need to do is walk beside someone
and help them to achieve their own goals. That is what makes us a
great leader!
"It is better to
lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you
celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line
when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership."
~ Nelson Mandela ~
It’s kind of funny how the
best leaders don’t make you think that they are leading, but they
are just encouraging you to do what you need or want to do.
When you live up to their expectations, you think that you were the
one that made it possible, but the truth is that you are only living
up to their expectations because you want to be the kind of person
that they know you can be.
A manager is the kind of person that tells everyone to get moving and start working, but a good leader will usually make people want to work and move just because the people around him want to live up to the high standards that the leader has set for them.
It’s kind of a funny
balance, but the truth is that a good leader will expect good
things, which will make you live up to those things – but then he’ll
raise the bar again, and you will continue to meet the expectations.
That’s a good leader!
"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 ~
Finding that balance
between being a leader and a hard-ass manager is tough, but there is
a bit of both needed in order to be successful in any area of your
life.
You can’t just be the fun guy or girl, but you have to lay down the law sometimes. You can’t just listen to and solve everyone’s problems, but you have to tell them to deal with it themselves more often than not. You can’t just acquiesce to everyone’s requests because you want to be liked all the time, but you will have to deny them a lot of the time.
However, how you do it will make all the difference in the world!
"Leaders must be close
enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them."
~ John C. Maxwell ~
John C. Maxwell is considered to be one of the greatest motivational speakers on the subject of leadership in the world today, and the truth is that the man really does have a lot of wisdom on the topic.
Look at this simple leadership
quote above, and you will realize that there really is
something to what he says.
It’s interesting how he brings
out the importance of a bit of distance between leaders and
their followers.
Many parents try to be all chummy with their
kids, and then their kids lose some of the respect they had
for their parents when they were a bit more distant. Every
good company has a manager who is not afraid to be a bit
distant from their employees, as that helps to maintain the
respect.
That’s really what is important for leaders:
respect. The goal of a good leader is to have others respect
them, but it can be hard if they are too distant or too close.
If you are going to be a good leader, you are going to have to
find the right distance to be from your followers – as that is
what will help them to have that respect for your authority
without finding you to be the dictatorial figure that is just
giving them orders.
"The day
soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have
stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can
help them or concluded that you do not care. Either case is a
failure of leadership."
~ Colin Powell ~
Have your team members stopped bringing you their problems for either of the reasons above: they think you don’t care, or they think you can’t do anything about them?
If so, your leadership is in jeopardy, as people are always going to find someone that they think they can trust to bring their problems to.
If you want to be a
leader, people have to know that you can not only help them to solve
their problems, but that you really care about them.
"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 ~
There are people who
naturally do well at everything, or who find success comes much more
easily to them.
A good leader will help them to reach their full
potential, and will give them the support that they need to reach
their goals in life and work. They are supported by the leader, and
thus they can reach their goals easily thanks to that support.
The people who do poorly, on the other hand, are always the hardest to work with. There is a delicate balance between helping someone and helping them too much, and those that work poorly have to be treated much more delicately in order to help them to succeed.
You have to learn the balance between the two, and then you have to learn when it’s time to stop sugar-coating things and lay it out straight for the person. It may be that this direct approach can be just the kick in the pants that they need to help them start doing better.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves
behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on.
~
Walter Lippman
We have all heard of “the legacy of a leader”, what a good leader leaves behind to those that carry on their burden or their torch.
It is pretty hard to leave a legacy, and by legacy I don’t mean an inheritance that your kids receive after you die. A legacy is more like a standard that others strive to live by, as they are trying to match up to what you left behind.
That is really the most important legacy; leaving behind large shoes to fill. If the next person who has your job has to strive to do the same things that you did, you are leaving behind that legacy. It doesn’t matter if your job is serving ice cream or controlling the Federal Exchange; set the bar high so that the person who follows will have to strive to be great as well!
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
It’s kind of funny how most of the great leaders in the world were those that led their country or people through some kind of disaster or struggle. Alexander the Great, King Leonidas, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, and all the other leaders that have made history didn’t go through a peaceful or quiet time, but they led their people through a struggle.
Have you ever heard of the Mayor of Pleasantville (fictional character of course)? No, but that’s because his only achievement has been to lead the Pumpkin Parade every year.
However, you have heard about the firemen that
ran into the falling buildings during the events of 9/11, the
soldiers of
By this logic, no great leader is ever made or discovered by just sitting down and being great at what they do. It is only when there is a challenge that a leader discovers exactly what he or she has to offer the world, and it is during this struggle that the leader becomes who they are – someone that people want to follow even into a tough time!
As we look ahead into the next century, leaders
will be those who empower others.
~ Bill Gates
The words of Bill Gates, one
of the greatest leaders in the world of technology in the latter
half of the 20th century, ring very true: only those who
empower others will be the true leaders.
The time of actually
standing out in the front of the pack has passed, and now the real
leaders will be the ones that help others to achieve their goals.
Think about all the people
that are considered today’s leaders: bankers, architects, engineers,
scientists, financial advisers, oil magnates, and so on. All of
these people are considered today’s leaders because they are rich,
but they are only rich because they are providing a service to
others – empowering others.
You may not become one of the world’s greats, but only by enabling others to do what they need to do will you become the leader that will be known and respected – at least to the people that matter!
I think leadership comes from integrity – that
you do whatever you ask others to do. I think there are non-obvious
ways to lead. Just by providing a good example as a parent, a
friend, a neighbor makes it possible for other people to see better
ways to do things. Leadership does not need to be a dramatic, fist
in the air and trumpets blaring, activity.
~ Scott Berkun
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower ~
This is one of my favorite leadership quotes, as it promotes my favorite leadership qualities: integrity.
Integrity is something that you will hear most leadership experts going on about, but the truth is that it really is one of the most important things that you will need as a leader. After all, who is going to follow someone that they aren’t sure they can trust.
It’s like the thing they
tell some women: If your man cheated with you, he will cheat on you!
If your boss is cheating his company or his government or his
customers to provide you with some benefit, don’t you think he’s
doing the same thing to you with someone else?
A crooked leader
never really succeeds, as there is no real trust that can be built
if there is no foundation for trust.
I like to think that I am a
person that has integrity, though I can honestly say that I fail
more often than not.
Still, I hope that I am showing a good example
to others of a hardworking individual that helps the community, is a
great neighbor and friend, and who does their part to provide the
best service to those I work with.
My goal is to be the best person I can be, and though I fail like everyone else in the world, integrity is the one thing that I can say, “Yes, I have that!”
I may not be the most skilled, the smartest, the most talented, or the most intelligent, but I hope that I have the most integrity I can. My integrity has helped me to be a leader, at least to the people that I influence.
Integrity means being that example, striving to be that person that is the best you can be, and working towards something bigger and better than yourself.
There is no need, as the quote says, for drastic actions or dramatic gestures, but being a leader in your own small way by being an example of integrity is the secret to your success!
The truth is that integrity is what will make the foundation to build trust on as solid as possible, and will ensure that others will see you as the leader that they can rely on no matter what!
~ Theodore
Roosevelt ~
In times of change, learners inherit the Earth,
while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with
a world that no longer exists.
~ Eric Hoffer
This is another great one that inspires me to continue to learn, study, and make progress in my personal life.
Things are the way they are now because they work, right? However, what happens when things change, maybe in a few years, months, or even days?
If I am so set in my ways, I will end up being stuck in the now, while those that change are going into the future and seizing it by the short hairs!
As the quote says, the learners – the ones who strive to progress – are the ones who will inherit the earth, while people that are content with the way things are now will be stuck in a past that no longer exists.
Are you willing to learn as change comes, or are you stuck? A good leader is one that will bend with the wind, as that is the only way that they won’t break!
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