Leadership Quotations

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.

The power to question is the basis of all human progress.

The secret of my success is a two word answer: Know people.

It isn't what they say about you, it's what they whisper.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.

The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.

To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.

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

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.

The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows.

Where there is no vision, there is no hope.

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Learn to say 'no' to the good so you can say 'yes' to the best.

Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned.

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.

Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.

The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.

It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Because power corrupts, society's demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.

Leadership requires the courage to make decisions that will benefit the next generation.

Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war.

We do not need international help to stop corruption, we need strong Louisiana Leadership.

If you don't understand that you work for your mislabeled 'subordinates,' then you know nothing of leadership. You know only tyranny.

Typically, if you reward something, you get more of it. You punish something, you get less of it. And our businesses have been built for the last 150 years very much on that kind of motivational scheme.

Anytime you're going to take your Marines into harm's way, they are looking for leadership that is calm, assertive, sure of themselves. And quite honestly, I don't think that some of these young Marines care if it's a male or a female. They just want to be properly led.

One of the lessons of leadership worth emphasizing is that you want to get to know other great leaders and take their advice. At some point in your development, it's only people who've been in the seat of having to be leaders who can help you in a deep way.

We need fresh, new leadership with bold ideas and a new approach to get more people back to work with quality jobs and restored dignity in the lives of our Utahns.

The country has sorted itself ideologically into the two political parties, and those partisan attachments have hardened in recent years. It will take an extraordinary event and act of leadership to break this partisan divide. I thought 9/11 might provide such an opportunity, but it was not seized.

Your most dangerous competitors are those that are most like you.

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.

Character in leadership is the most important balance for leadership. Without character, leaders have no safety. Leadership has no protection without character.

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.

True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well.

When the Islamic revolution began in 1979 under the leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini, it aroused considerable admiration in the Arab street. It presented a model of organised popular action that deposed one of the region's most tyrannical regimes. The people of the region discerned in this revolution new hope for freedom and change.

As the leadership team, we're taking bold and decisive action to evolve our organization and culture. This includes difficult steps, but they are necessary to position Microsoft for future growth and industry leadership.

It's a different era. Our job now is to show leadership and vision and to help the next generation of artists.

There are three secrets to managing. The first secret is have patience. The second is be patient. And the third most important secret is patience.

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.

Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success.

Leadership is an act of submission to God. To be a leader means listening to all kinds of people and situations. Out of that listening, we are hoping to discern the mind of God as best we can. This is the price of leadership - it's an act of sacrifice. So leadership is part and parcel of the work of submission to God.

Republican leadership in Congress let the energy companies write the energy bill that sent prices soaring, and has turned a blind eye to the struggles of working families trying to make ends meet.

Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.

Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.

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.

I have more influence now than when I had the power.

In baseball you hit your home run over the right-field fence, the left-field fence, the center-field fence. Nobody cares. In golf everything has got to be right over second base.

Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.

Leadership - leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.

If you understand hallucination and illusion, you don't blindly follow any leader. You must know if the person is sane or insane, over the abyss.

Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.

To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.

Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet - thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing - consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust.

President Bush has shown great leadership. He has said that the 21st century will not be ruled or dictated by terrorists, dictators, and murderers. He is absolutely right. God bless him for his resolve.

Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.

And if the imam and the Muslim leadership in that community is so intent on building bridges, then they should voluntarily move the mosque away from ground zero and move it whether it's uptown or somewhere else, but move it away from that area, the same as the pope directed the Carmelite nuns to move a convent away from Auschwitz.

Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.

We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.

Get the best people and train them well.

Leadership can not be measured in a poll or even in the result of an election. It can only be truly seen with the benefit of time. From the perspective of 20 years, not 20 days.

Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.

You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you. As I've learned, each person on a team is an extension of your leadership; if they feel empowered by you they will magnify your power to lead.

When you form a team, why do you try to form a team? Because teamwork builds trust and trust builds speed.

Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.

The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands.

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.

Humility is a great quality of leadership which derives respect and not just fear or hatred.

Life isn't easy, and leadership is harder still.

My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.