Leadership has been described as “a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”.
Leadership is “organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal”. The leader may or may not have any formal authority. Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others.
Read below the collection of famous Leadership Quotes.
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. – Nelson Mandela
I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people. – Mahatma Gandhi
Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. – Peter Drucker
Don’t find fault, find a remedy.- Henry Ford
Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. ― George S. Patton Jr.
The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. ― Ronald Reagan
Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. – Steve Jobs
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. – John C. Maxwell
A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. –George Patton
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf
The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. —Tony Blair
I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. —Ralph Nader
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. – Henry Ward Beecher
Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. – Theodore Roosevelt
Education is the mother of leadership. —Wendell Willkie
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. —Max DePree
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. —Bill Bradley
To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less. —Andre Malraux
The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. —Kenneth Blanchard
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody. —Herbert Swope
A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. —Rosalynn Carter
Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. — General George Patton
Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. —Woodrow Wilson
Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them. – W. Clement Stone
Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. – Colin Powell
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. – John Quincy Adams
Be the chief but never the lord. – Lao Tzu
He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. —Aristotle
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart. ― Eleanor Roosevelt
A leader is a dealer in hope. – Napoleon Bonaparte
A cowardly leader is the most dangerous of men. —Stephen King
Jesus said several times, “Come, follow me.” His was a program of “do what I do,” rather than “do what I say.” His innate brilliance would have permitted him to put on a dazzling display, but that would have left his followers far behind. He walked and worked with those he was to serve. His was not a long-distance leadership. He was not afraid of close friendships; he was not afraid that proximity to him would disappoint his followers. The leaven of true leadership cannot lift others unless we are with and serve those to be led. ― Spencer W. Kimball
Leadership – leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. – Mitt Romney
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.- John F. Kennedy
If you want a quality, act as if you already had it. – William James
There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage. —Fuchan Yuan
One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency. —Arnold Glasow
Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths. —John Zenger
You don’t lead by pointing and telling people some place to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case. —Ken Kesey
Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. —Publilius Syrus
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. —Stephen Covey
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.― William Arthur Ward
A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit. – Arnold H. Glasow
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it. – Andrew Carnegie
A throne is only a bench covered with velvet. – Napoleon Bonaparte
The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. —Harvey Firestone
Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned. – Harold S. Geneen
Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. —Sam Walton
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. —Peter Drucker
You have to think anyway, so why not think big? – Donald Trump
The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision. —Ken Blanchard
Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership. —Donald Rumsfeld
Never give an order that can’t be obeyed. —General Douglas MacArthur
You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership. –Dwight Eisenhower
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. – Henry A. Kissinger
If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it. – William James
Whatever you are, be a good one. —Abraham Lincoln
Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position. —Brian Tracy
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others. – Robert Louis Stevenson
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead
He who has great power should use it lightly. —Seneca
The employer generally gets the employees he deserves. – J. Paul Getty
True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well. —Bill Owens
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
Example is leadership. – Albert Schweitzer
If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. —Maya Angelou
A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position. —John Maxwell
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. —Reverend Theodore Hesburgh
Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you. – Margaret Thatcher
Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. —Harry S. Truman
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions. – Harold S. Geneen
Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. – Sam Walton
Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.― John F. Kennedy
Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. —General Colin Powell
A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward. —Ovid
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. —Abraham Lincoln
Where there is no vision, the people perish. —Proverbs 29:18
No matter how carefully you plan your goals they will never be more than pipe dreams unless you pursue them with gusto. – W. Clement Stone
Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis
Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success. – David Joseph Schwartz
Leadership is influence. —John C. Maxwell
Leadership comes in small acts as well as bold strokes. – Carly Fiorina
You’re only as good as the people you hire. – Ray Kroc
Today a reader, tomorrow a leader. – Margaret Fuller
The world is starving for original and decisive leadership.- Bryant H. McGill
We live in a society obsessed with public opinion. But leadership has never been about popularity. —Marco Rubio
A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. —Douglas MacArthur
When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out. —Napoleon Bonaparte
The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. —Jim Rohn
Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy
As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. —Bill Gates
Do what you feel in your heart to be right–for you’ll be criticized anyway. —Eleanor Roosevelt
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. —Stephen Covey
It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. —Latin Proverb
Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be lead. —Ross Perot
Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. —John C. Maxwell
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. —Stephen Covey
What you do has far greater impact than what you say. —Stephen Covey
A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops. —John J Pershing
Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow. —Chinese Proverb
The supreme quality of leadership is integrity. –Dwight Eisenhower
Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone. And acting alone, accept everything alone. – Ferdinand Marcos
Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther. – J. P. Morgan
Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things. – Jesse Jackson
Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed. – Mwai Kibaki
Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best. – Chester W. Nimitz
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. –Ralph Waldo Emerson
The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.- John Maxwell
