Men shrink less from offending one who inspires love than one who inspires fear.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Leadership in today’s world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.
—Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) (1783–1842) French Writer
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
When firmness is sufficient, rashness is unnecessary.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
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
The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
The first thing a great person does, is make us realize the insignificance of circumstance.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Efficiency tends to deal with Things. Effectiveness tends to deal with People. We manage things, we lead people
—Unknown
He is the richest man who enriches his country most; in whom the people feel richest and proudest; who gives himself with his money; who opens the doors of opportunity widest to those about him; who is ears to the deaf; eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. Such a man makes every acre of land in his community worth more, and makes richer every man who lives near him.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
Eagles don’t flock—you have to find them one at a time.
—Ross Perot (1930–2019) American Businessman
If you lead the people with correctness, who will dare not be correct?
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you’re ready to play as tough as you’re able to, you’d better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you’re not giving it all you’ve got. Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It’s being able to take it as well as dish it out. That’s the only way you’re going to get respect from the players.
—Larry Bird (b.1956) American Basketball Player
The well being of the people is the supreme law.
—Indian Proverb
What you cannot enforce, do not command.
—Sophocles (495–405 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Ronald Reagan has held the two most demeaning jobs in the country; President of the United States and radio broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs.
—George Will (b.1941) American Columnist, Journalist, Writer
The high sentiments always win in the end, the leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
You do not lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership in the world.
—John Updike (1932–2009) American Novelist, Poet, Short-Story Writer
Doing what’s right isn’t the problem. It is knowing what’s right.
—Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) American Head of State, Political leader
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
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
Every private in the French army carries a Field Marshall wand in his knapsack.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Each person must decide for himself what he wants each day. As a leader, I will expose you to the options and the likely consequences of those options. I’ll even share my opinion if asked, but I’ll never confuse it with the opinion, which simply doesn’t exist.
—Wayne Dyer (1940–2015) American Self-Help Author
A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn’t go by yourself.
—Joel A. Barker
Education is the mother of leadership.
—Wendell Willkie (1892–1944) American Politician, Lawyer
The world of the 1990s and beyond will not belong to ‘managers’ or those who can make the numbers dance. The world will belong to passionate, driven leaders—people who not only have enormous amounts of energy but who can energize those whom they lead.
—Jack Welch (1935–2020) American Businessperson
Tell a person they are brave and you help them become so.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Napoleon affords us an example of the danger of elevating one’s self to the absolute, and sacrificing everything to the carrying out of an idea.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet