Leadership Quotes

Having the power to get things done My Way, the captain’s way, can be exhilarating, and seductive. It is also terribly limiting. It limits the team to being the reflection of the one in charge. ~ Jim Thompson, Shooting in the Dark

Anyone can become angry – that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way – this is not easy. ~ Aristotle

God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me. ~ Author Unknown

Individual commitment to a group effort: this is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, and a civilisation work. ~ Vince Lombardi, Former Green Bay Packers Coach

Simply doing more of what worked in the past - will be too incremental. More than that, it will be too slow. The winners of the future will be those who can develop a culture that allows them to move faster, communicate more clearly, and involve everyone in a focused effort to serve more demanding customers. ~ Jack Welch, General Electric Company

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape. ~ Michael McGriff, M.D.

There is only one time that is important – NOW! It is the most important time because it is the only time that we have any power.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. ~ John W. Gardner

Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own efforts. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success. ~ Stephen Covey

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. But of a good leader who talks little when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves. ~ Lao-Tzu

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good-will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says "I"; The leader says "WE". The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, "GO"; the leader says lets, "GO!" ~ H. Gordon Selfridge

Too many managers don’t realise that when you become truly participative, you get into a lot of uncomfortable conversations in which you hear things about the situation and about yourself that you might not like. ~ Peter B. Vaill, Managing as a Performing Art

One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognise a problem before it becomes an emergency. ~ Arnold Glasow