A collection of famous 100 leadership quotes is a great source of inspiration
1.
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
2.
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. ” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
3.
“Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be set right.” – Carl Schurz
4.
“Our work is our most important resource to develop our people.” – Jim Trinka and Les Wallace
5.
“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
6.
“People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. ” – Theodore Roosevelt
7.
“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” – John Maxwell
8.
“People don't care how much you know–until they know how much you care.” – John C. Maxwell
9.
“Power isn't control at all–power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn't someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own. ” – Beth Revis
10.
“Pride is the fuel of human accomplishment.” – General Bill Creech
11.
“Remember the difference between a boss and a leader; a boss says Go! – a leader says Let's go! ” – E.M. Kelly
12.
“Remember, teamwork begins by building trust. And the only way to do that is to overcome our need for invulnerability. ” – Patrick Lencioni
13.
“Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are. ” – Thomas John Carlisle
14.
“Speak Softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. ” – Theodore Roosevelt
15.
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.” – Conrad Hilton
16.
“Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” – Reed Markham
17.
“Surround yourself with great people; delegate authority; get out of the way ” – Ronald Reagan
18.
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” – Andrew Jackson
19.
“The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. ” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
20.
“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes. ” – Tony Blair
21.
“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
22.
“The best is he who calls men to the best. And those who heed the call are also blessed. But worthless who call not, heed not, but rest.” – Hesiod
23.
“The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.” – Thomas Jefferson
24.
“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
25.
“The day the soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you 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
26.
“The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated. ” – William James
27.
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
28.
“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
29.
“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 DePree
30.
“The function of a leader within any institution: to provide that regulation through his or her non-anxious, self-defined presence. ” – Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve
31.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
32.
“The greater a man is in power above others, the more he ought to excel them in virtue. None ought to govern who is not better than the governed.” – Publilius Syrus
33.
“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” ― Ronald Reagan
34.
“The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness.” – Gen. Omar Bradley
35.
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.” – Harvey S. Firestone
36.
“The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” – Thomas Carlyle
37.
“The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers. … Leaders, followers and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership.” – Gary Wills
38.
“The leader must know, must know that he knows, and must be able to make it abundantly clear to those around him that he knows. ” – Clarence Randall
39.
“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, author
40.
“The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it. ” – Elaine Agather
41.
“The led must not be compelled. They must be able to choose their own leader.” – Albert Einstein, physicist
42.
“The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones. ” – Brandon Sanderson
43.
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ― William Arthur Ward
44.
“The men who have done big things are those who were not afraid to attempt big things, who were not afraid to risk failure in order to gain success.” – B.C. Forbes
45.
“The most important thing about a commander is his effect on morale.” – Field Marshall Viscount Slim
46.
“The people follow the example of those above them.” – Chinese Proverb
47.
“The power is detested, and miserable the life, of him who wishes to be feared rather than to be loved.” – Cornelius Nepos
48.
“The real leader has no need to lead–he is content to point the way.” – Henry Miller
49.
“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there. ” – John Buchan
50.
“The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. ” – Henry Kissinger
51.
“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
52.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
53.
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. ” – Father Theodore M. Hesburgh
54.
“The…thing you can do to make your agency a more interesting place to work and consequently less bureaucratic is to enable those under you to feel they control their own areas of work. In this way they acquire a sense of ownership in what gets done and how they do it.” – Kenneth Ashworth
55.
“There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask, 'What happened?'” – Casey Stengel
56.
“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength; one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.” – Booker T. Washington
57.
“There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them.” – Alexandre Ledru-Rollin
58.
“There go the people.I must follow them for I am their leader. ” – Alexandre Ledru-Rollin
59.
“There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust. ” – Klaus Balkenhol
60.
“There is a significant difference between a leader and a cheerleader. ” – Author Unknown
61.
“There is always room for a man of force and he makes room for many. Society is a troop of thinkers and the best heads among them take the best places. ” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
62.
“Those who try to lead the people can only do so by following the mob. ” – Oscar Wilde
63.
“To be a great leader and so always master of the situation, one must of necessity have been a great thinker in action. An eagle was never yet hatched from a goose's egg. ” – James Thomas
64.
“To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more difficult.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
65.
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt
66.
“To have long-term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.” – Pat Riley
67.
“To lead people, walk beside them. As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence … When the best leader's work is done, the people say, 'We did it ourselves!' ” – Lao Tsu, Chinese philosopher
68.
“To lead the people, walk behind them.” – Lao-Tzu
69.
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. ” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
70.
“Trust is the essence of Leadership.” – Colin Powell
71.
“Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.” ― John F. Kennedy
72.
“We have great managers who haven't spent a day in management school. Do we have great surgeons that haven't spent a day in surgical school?” – Henry Mintzberg
73.
“We talk about deadwood, but we don't talk to deadwood.” – Zane Schauer, NOAA
74.
“We're here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark. ” – Whoopi Goldberg
75.
“What chance gathers she easily scatters. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together. ” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
76.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”- Nelson Mandela
77.
“What you cannot enforce / Do not command. ” – Sophocles
78.
“When eagles are silent, parrots begin to chatter. ” – Winston Churchill
79.
“When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out. ” – Napoleon Bonaparte
80.
“When people feel trusted, they'll do almost anything under the sun not to disappoint the person who gave them the gift of trust.” – Rob LeBow
81.
“When things go wrong in your command, start searching for the reason in increasingly large circles around your own desk. ” – Gen. Bruce Clarke
82.
“When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy. ” – Dave Barry
83.
“When you put together deep knowledge about a subject that intensely matters to you, charisma happens. You gain courage to share your passion, and when you do that, folks follow. ” – Jerry Porras
84.
“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. ” – Peter F. Drucker
85.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish. ” – Proverbs 29:18
86.
“Whether you think you can or think you can't–you are right.” – Henry Ford
87.
“While a good leader sustains momentum, a great leader increases it. ” – John C. Maxwell
88.
“Wisdom equals knowledge plus courage. You have to not only know what to do and when to do it, but you have to also be brave enough to follow through. ” – Jarod Kintz
89.
“Without leadership, command is a hollow experience, a vacuum often filled with mistrust and arrogance.. ” – Eric Shinseki
90.
“You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others….” ― Gordon B. Hinckley
91.
“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand. ” – Woodrow Wilson
92.
“You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too. ” – Sam Rayburn
93.
“You cannot be effective if those who work for you are not. So building their effectiveness ought to be a priority.” – Richard N. Haass
94.
“You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independence.” – Reverend William John Henry Boetcker (1873-1962)
95.
“You can't lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself. ” – Gene Mauch
96.
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That's assault, not leadership. ” – President Dwight D. Eisenhower
97.
“You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader” – Henry Ford
98.
“You don't have to hold a position in order to be a leader. ” – Anthony J. D'Angelo
99.
“You don't lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. ” – Ken Kesey
100.
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for. ” – Nancy D. Solomon
