Anyone can steer the ship when the sea is calm.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the
blame and a little less than his share of the credit.
—John C. Maxwell (b.1947) American Author, Speaker, Pastor
The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
There is great force hidden in a gentle command.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
In the great mass of our people there are plenty individuals of intelligence from among whom leadership can be recruited.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
It is a great pity when the one who should be the head figure is a mere figure head.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not making friends and influencing people—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.
—Peter Drucker (1909–2005) Austrian-born Management Consultant
The character and qualifications of the leader are reflected in the men he selects, develops and gathers around him. Show me the leader and I will know his men. Show me the men and I will know their leader. Therefore, to have loyal, efficient employees-be a loyal and efficient employer.
—Arthur W. Newcomb
The minute a person whose word means a great deal to others dare to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow.
—Marian Anderson (1897–1993) American Singer, Activist
He who dreads hostility too much is unfit to rule.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
We are reformers in the spring and summer, but in autumn we stand by the old. Reformers in the morning, and conservers at night.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I am a leader by default, only because nature does not allow a vacuum.
—Desmond Tutu (b.1931) South African Clergyman
I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.
—Indira Gandhi (1917–84) Indian Head of State
We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people. Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.
—George S. Patton (1885–1945) American Military Leader
I don’t believe in just ordering people to do things. You have to sort of grab an oar and row with them.
—Harold S. Geneen (1910–1997) British-American Businessman
A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better.
—Jim Rohn (1930–2009) American Entrepreneur, Author, Motivational Speaker
I was not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.
—Robert C. Townsend (1920–98) American Businessman
‘Tis a dainty thing to command, though ’twere but a flock of sheep.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Do you wish to rise?. Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds?. Lay first the foundation of humility.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
It often happens that I wake at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope.
—Pope John XXIII (1881–1963) Italian Catholic Religious Leader, Pope
To lead people walk behind them.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
Education is the mother of leadership.
—Wendell Willkie (1892–1944) American Politician, Lawyer
Most of the ladies and gentlemen who mourn the passing of the nation’s leaders wouldn’t know a leader if they saw one. If they had the bad luck to come across a leader, they would find out that he might demand something from them, and this impertinence would put an abrupt and indignant end to their wish for his return.
—Lewis H. Lapham (1935–2024) American Journalist, Author, Long-time Editor of Harper’s Magazine
Leadership involves finding a parade and getting in front of it.
—John Naisbitt American Trend Analyst
No man has ever risen to the real stature of spiritual manhood until he has found that it is finer to serve somebody else than it is to serve himself.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
An order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader.
—Golda Meir (1898–1978) Israeli Head of State
When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
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