Quotes on Leadership

Quotes On Leadership

A collection of quotations on Leadership, alphabetical by source, A thru M.

"The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work."
-- Agha Hasan Abedi

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
-- John Quincy Adams

"Leadership is all about enabling followers to attain meaningful goals, especially goals that are bigger than any single individual could accomplish alone. The best and most mature leadership is about selfless service, not about gaining power and control over people."
-- David Antonioni

"The actions of a responsible executive are contagious."
-- Joe D. Batton

"Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard."
-- Warren G. Bennis

"I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is more improvisation."
-- Warren Bennis

"Leadership is not something that you learn once and for all. It is an ever-evolving pattern of skills, talents, and ideas that grow and change as
you do."
-- Sheila Murray Bethel, found at: http://www.exceptionalleadership.com/articles.htm

"Empowering means helping teams develop their skills and knowledge and supporting them to use their talents."
-- Kenneth Blanchard

"We get the leaders we create."
-- Peter Block

"Leaders rarely use their power wisely or effectively over long periods unless they are supported by followers who have the stature to help them do so."
-- Ira Chaleff, The Courageous Follower, 2003

" Personal leadership is not a singular experience. It is, rather, the ongoing process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with those most important things. "
-- Stephen Covey

"You can have a mission without a leader, but no leader without a mission."
-- Sonja Martins Dias

"Don't rate potential over performance. "
-- Jim Fassel

"If leadership could be taught, all MBAs would be great leaders, and we know they are not."
-- Robert Gately

"Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things."
-- Jesse Jackson

"Asking questions will get you the performance you are after far better than dictating demands."
-- Dan James

“What gets measured gets done, what gets measured and fed back gets done well, what gets rewarded gets repeated”“
-- John E. Jones

"If you create an environment where the people truly participate, you don't need control. They know what needs to be done and they do it. And the more that people will devote themselves to your cause on a voluntary basis, a willing basis, the fewer hierarchies and control mechanisms you need."
-- Herb Kelleher

"A hallmark of high performance leaders is the ability to influence others through all levels and types of communication, from simple interactions to difficult conversations and more complex conflicts, in order to achieve greater team and organizational alignment. High performing leaders are able to unite diverse team members by building common goals and even shared emotions by engaging in powerful and effective dialogue."
-- George Kohlrieser, November 2008, Leading At The Edge

"The danger in the leader-follower relationship is the assumption that the leader's interpretation must dominate. If this assumption exists on the part of either the leader or the follower, creativity and problem-solving processes become stifled"
-- Patsi Krakoff, in her article "Four Keys To Good Followership" that appeared in Coach2Coach at Yahoo Groups.

"If you are a block ahead of the parade ... you're leading it. If you are two blocks ahead of the parade, you aren't even in it."
-- Dr. Lawrence Kratz

"The best soldier does not attack. The superior fighter succeeds without violence. The greatest conqueror wins without struggle. The most successful manager leads without dictating.This is intelligent non-aggressiveness. This is called mastery."
-- Lao-Tse

"Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal."
-- Vince Lombardi.

"Just being available and attentive is a great way to use listening as a management tool. Some employees will come in, talk for twenty minutes,
and leave having solved their problems entirely by themselves."
-- Nicholas V. Luppa

“You can only lead others where you yourself are prepared to go.”
-- Lachlan McLean

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