Leadership Quotes

There have been meetings of only a moment which have left

impressions for life …for eternity. No one can understand
that mysterious thing we call ‘influence’ …yet everyone of
us continually exerts influence, either to heal, to bless, to
leave marks of beauty; or to wound, to hurt, to poison, to
stain other lives.

J.B. Miller

Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.

John Maxwell

It is the obligation of the ruler to continually renew himself

in order to renew the people by his example.

Confucius

Management is the process of assuring that the program

and objectives of the organization are implemented.
Leadership on the other hand has to do with casting vision
and motivating people.

John Maxwell

Knowing how to do a job is the accomplishment of labor –

showing others is the accomplishment of the teacher –
making sure the work is done by others is the
accomplishment of the manager – inspiring others to do
better work is the accomplishment of the leader.

John Maxwell

He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him

is only taking a walk.
Leadership is getting people to work for you when they are
not obligated.

Fred Price

People don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care.
John MaxwellNeedless to say, you can love people without
leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving
them.

John Maxwell

A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but

because of his or her ability to empower others.

John Maxwell

Authority is not the power a boss has over subordinates,

but rather the boss’s ability to influence subordinates to
recognize and accept that power.

Pieter Bruyn

Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single

man. His character determines the character of the
organization.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Leaders must live by higher standards than their followers.

We cannot lead anyone else further than we have been
ourselves.

John Maxwell
The first order of things to be changed is me, the leader.
After I consider how hard it is to change myself, then I will
understand the challenge of trying to change others. This is
the ultimate test of leadership.

John Maxwell

Leaders have two characteristics: first they are going

somewhere, and second they are able to persuade other
people to go with them.

John Maxwell

Openness by the leader paves the way for ownership by the

people. Without ownership, changes will be short term.
Changing people’s habits and ways of thinking is like
writing instructions in the snow during a snowstorm. Every
twenty minutes the instructions must be rewritten, unless
ownership is given along with instructions.

John Maxwell

It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that

distinguishes leaders from their followers.

Warren Bennis & Bert Nanus

The leader is the organization’s top strategist…

systematically envisioning the future and specifically
mapping out how to get there.

Bill Hybels

Those closest to me will determine the level of my success.

John Maxwell
If your not an agent of change, your ate best a steward of
something which is going to erode, and why would you
want a job if all you’re going to do is perpetuate what
previously existed?

Stephen Friedman

Leadership is an invisible strand as mysterious as it is

powerful. It pulls and it bonds. It is a catalyst that creates
unity out of disorder. Yet, it defies definition. No
combination of talents can guarantee it. No process of
training can create it where the spark does not exist. The
qualities of leadership are universal. They are found in the
poor and the rich, the humble and the proud, the common
man, and the brilliant thinker; they are qualities that
suggest paradox rather than pattern. But wherever they
are found, leadership makes things happen. The most
precious and intangible quality of leadership is trust: the
confidence that the one who leads will act in the best
interest of those who follow, the assurance that he will
serve the group without sacrificing the rights of the
individual. Leadership’s imperative is a ‘sense of rightness,’
knowing when to advance and when to pause, when to
criticize and when to praise, how to encourage others to
excel. From the leader’s reserves of energy and optimism,
his followers draw strength. In his determination and self-
confidence, they find inspiration. In the highest sense,
leadership is integrity. This command by conscience
asserts itself more by commitment and example than by
directive. Integrity recognizes external obligation, but it
heeds the quiet voice within, rather than the clamor
without.
A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees
farther than others see, and who sees before others do.
Leroy Eims – Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be

It’s lonely at the top, so you better know why you are there.

John Maxwell

Leadership is the transference of vision.

Hal Reed

Leadership is knowing what to do next, why it is important,

and how to bring appropriate resources required for
success.
Foresight is the ‘lead’ that the leader has. Once he loses
this lead and events start to force his hand, he is leader in
name only. He is not leading; he is reacting to immediate
events and he probably will not long be a leader. There are
abundant current examples of loss of leadership which
stems from a failure to foresee what reasonably could have
been foreseen, and from failure to act on that knowledge
while the leader has freedom to act.

Robert K. Green leaf – The Servant as Leader

Quote.
Use power to help people. For we are given power not to
advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the
world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and
it is to serve people.

George Bush

If you can raise up leaders, you will always have followers,

but if you can’t raise up leaders, you will only have
followers.

John Maxwell
Leaders are pioneers. They are people who venture into
unexplored territory. They guide us to new and often
unfamiliar destinations. People who take the lead are the
foot soldiers in the campaigns for change … the unique
reason for having leaders – is to move us forward. Leaders
get us going someplace.

Kouzes and Posner – The Leadership Challenge

Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under

led.

Warren G. Bennis

When the leaders work is done, the people say, ‘We did it
ourselves.’

Lao-Tsu

A leader who develops people adds; a leader who develops

leaders multiplies.

John Maxwell

Leaders will not experience long-term success unless a lot

of people want them to and are able to help them.

John Maxwell

Here lies a man who knew how to enlist the service of

better men than himself.

Andrew Carnegie’s Tombstone

There has always been a true elite of God’s leaders. They

are the meek who inherit the earth (Mat. 5:5). They weep
and pray in secret, and defy earth and hell in public. They
tremble when faced with danger, but die in their tracks
sooner than turn back. They are like a shepherd defending
his sheep or a mother protecting her young. They sacrifice
without grumbling, give without calculation, suffer without
groaning. To those in their charge they say, ‘We live well if
you do well.” Their price is above riches. They are the salt
of the earth. For the cause of the kingdom, we need more of
them.”
A Godly leader … finds strength by realizing his weakness
finds authority by being under authority finds direction by
laying down his plans finds vision by seeing the needs of
others finds credibility by being an example finds loyalty by
expressing compassion finds honor by being faithful finds
greatness by being a servant

Roy Lessin

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more,

do more and become more, you are a leader.

John Quincy Adams

Character Quotes
Strength of character comes out of the decisions we make,
temptations we face, and the conflicts of life.

Wayman Mitchell

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in

moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands
at times of challenge and controversy.

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Reputation is character minus what you’ve been caught
doing.
I found out that the things that hurt us the most can
become the fuel and the catalyst that propel us toward our
destiny. It will either make you bitter or it will make you
better.

T.D. Jakes

Character is made in the small moments of our lives.

Phillips Brooks

It’s better to remain silent and be thought stupid than to

open your mouth and forever remove all doubt.
A solid trust is based on a consistent character.

John Maxwell

Character is the foundation stone upon which one must

build to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be
erected on a week foundation, so no lasting reputation
worthy of respect can be built on a weak character.
Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single
man. His character determines the character of his
organization.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

In matters of style, swim with the current, In matters of

principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas JeffersonPolicies are many; principles are few.
Policies will change; principles never do.
Small men never think they’re small; great men never think
they’re great.
If freedom could be had for the wishing, everyone would be
free, but an unfaltering attachment to freedom, rising
above all difficulties and based on facts, not appearances,
is rarely found in men, and that is why those who do
possess that attachment are considered virtually
superhuman.

Carlos Buonapartos – Father of Napoleon

What you are stands over you the while and thunders so
that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

If a person has a private character problem, it will

eventually manifest itself in a public way