quotations about leadership
The most enthusiastic man in a cause is rarely chosen as the leader.
ARTHUR HELPS
Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd
When the shepherd is a wolf, the flock becomes only so much meat.
BRIAN HERBERT & KEVEN J. ANDERSON
Dune: House Corrino
If the experience of leadership is like being at the edge of an unfamiliar chasm, the act of leadership is building a bridge across that chasm.
KEVIN CASHMAN
Leadership from the Inside Out
If becoming a high performing organization is the destination, leadership is the engine.
KEN BLANCHARD
Leading at a Higher Level
What I want is men who will support me when I am in the wrong.
LORD MELBOURNE
attributed, Lord M.
True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve. It is not about exalting themselves but about lifting others up.
SHERI L. DEW
Saying It Like It Is
Leadership is a matter of performance not position. The person who sets a good example in your office is a leader. So is the father who proudly watches his daughter sell Girl Scout cookies in their neighborhood, and the teenager who holds the door open for you in the grocery store, even though his friends are snickering in the background. The best leaders help you move from where you are to where you need to be. Most important, they realize and cultivate the potential in others to be a positive influence regardless of their position.
RANDY PENNINGTON
"Leadership Choices for a Positive Future", Huffington Post, April 26, 2016
In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.
SHERYL SANDBERG
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
BIBLE
Matthew 15:14
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.
ARISTOTLE
Politics
If you're a leader, you don't push wet spaghetti, you pull it.
BILL MAULDIN
The Brass Ring
The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.
WALTER LIPPMANN
The Essential Lippmann
Leadership is caring for the most vulnerable.
ELIZABETH CARDNO
"Leadership is caring for the most vulnerable", The Hamilton Spectator, April 26, 2016
Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.
JOHN C. MAXWELL
The Power of Leadership
Take the ideas of the masses and concentrate them, then go to the masses, persevere in the ideas and carry them through ... such is the basic method of leadership.
MAO ZEDONG
"Some Questions Concerning Methods of Leadership", Jun. 1, 1943
Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY
speech in Gainesville, Florida, Oct. 20, 1966
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.
ANDREW CARNEGIE
attributed, Managing Software Development Projects: Formula for Success
The man fit to command may be compared with the architect, who adjusts the plan and directs its execution. His skill must extend to every part of the work; that of his workmen is limited by their respective tasks.
ARISTOTLE
Politics
You aren't leading unless people are following.
RON EDMONDSON
"7 Times Leadership is at Its Best -- A Delicate Tension", Crossmap, April 18, 2016
The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision.
KEN BLANCHARD
Leading at a Higher Level