Leadership Quotes Links
Ask Oxford - 100 classic quotations
Yale Book of Quotations - A book of quotations from the Yale University Press
The Columbia World of Quotations - A large, searchable database of quotations
Leadership Now - A great resource for leadership quotations
Think Exist - A large selection of quotations
The Quotations Page - Another great source for quotations
Quote DB - A large searchable selection of quotations that have been rated by users.
Great Leadership Quotes
Leaders must know where they are going if they expect others to willingly join them on the journey.
Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
John F. Kennedy
A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon Bonaparte
It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.
Mark Twain
Whatever their source, leadership begins with clarity about values what one stands for and the roots of those values are imparted by a sense of family, community, and culture.
Richard Couto
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.
Babe Ruth
Do, or do not. There is no try.
Yoda
Leaders who can stay optimistic and upbeat, even under intense pressure, radiate the positive feelings that create resonance. By staying in control of their feelings and impulses, they craft an environment of trust, comforts and fairness. And that self-management has a trickle down effect from the leader.
Daniel Goleman, Primal Leadership
Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
One of the most common ways to overcome resistance to change is to educate people about it beforehand. Communication of ideas helps people see the need for and the logic of a change. The education process can involve one-on-one discussions, presentations to groups, or memos and reports.
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.
Henry Ford
A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune.
Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.
Motivation and inspiration energize people, not by pushing them in the right direction as control mechanisms do but by satisfying basic human needs for achievement, a sense of belonging, recognition, self-esteem, a feeling of control over one's life, and the ability to live up to one's ideals. Such feelings touch us deeply and elicit a powerful response.
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
In simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go, and gets up, and goes.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, we did it ourselves.
Challenge is the opportunity for greatness. People do their best when there is an opportunity to change how things currently stand. Maintaining the status quo facilitates mediocrity. Those who embrace this practice do not wish to rest on their laurels. They motivate others to exceed their limits and look for innovative ways to improve the organization.
Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge
Leaders are the ones who keep faith with the past, keep step with the present, and keep the promise to posterity.
Harold J. Seymour
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.
Peter Drucker
A good leader can't get too far ahead of his followers.
Franklin D. 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
If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near.
Jack Welch
If anything goes bad, I did it. If anything goes semi-good, we did it. If anything goes real good, then you did it. That's all it takes to get people to win football games for you.
Paul Bear Bryant
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford
Leaders experiment and take risks, listening to those around them. Those who challenge the process know a good idea when they hear one. Because failure is inherent in risk taking, leaders learn to accept disappointments and move forward.
Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
English Proverb
Leaders go first.
Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge
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
I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot . . . and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan
Everybody wants to do something to help, but nobody wants to be the first.
Pearl Bailey
Change is inevitable. Progress is optional.
Anonymous
Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice I can help the greatest of all causes -- goodwill among men and peace on earth.
Albert Einstein
When you're finished changing, you're finished.
Benjamin Franklin
Leaders encourage others to continue the quest and inspire others through courage and hope. Leaders give heart by visibly recognizing others' contributions to the common vision. With a thank you note, a smile, an award, and public praise, the leader lets others know how much they mean to the organization.
Kouzes & Posner, The Leadership Challenge
We must become the change we wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent.
Nolan Ryan
The most important thing with communication is to hear what is not being said.
Anonymous
Be like a postage stamp - stick to one thing until you get there.
Josh Billings
Purpose is what gives life meaning.
C.H. Parkhurst
A principle is a principle and in no case can it be watered down because of our incapacity to live it in practice. We have to strive to achieve it, and the striving should be conscious, deliberate and hard.
Mahatma Ghandi
When enthusiasm is inspired by reason; controlled by caution; sound in theory; practical in application; reflects confidence; spreads good cheer; raises morale; inspires associates, arouses loyalty; and laughs at adversity, it is beyond price.
Colman Cox
Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die today.
James Dean
Success comes before work only in the dictionary.
Anonymous