As easy as it is to follow someone’s footsteps, it is very difficult to be good enough to lead people on. Here we have a bunch of leadership quotes to shower praises on someone whom you look up to.
It can be easy to lose motivation and power while dealing with a group of individuals who channel energy from you. During such times these powerful quotes are surely going to help you wade through the waters.
A leader is like a sun who guides all the planets and makes wonders happen. Still, sometimes a leader can also feel demotivated and tired. These amazing sayings might help to overcome the obstacles related to being a strong leader.
True leadership is about striving to empower everyone around you. It involves being the best and making everyone be the best version of themselves too. Read these Leadership quotes to get a better understanding of leadership.
Top Motivational Leadership Quotes
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis
Indeed, leadership is not just about the title. It comprises of stone-hard persistence, bravery, and back-breaking hard work. One should know how to direct others to their goals, being supportive and inspiring all the way long.
It can be very exhausting at times. But leadership calls for a positive attitude so that you can infuse positivity in your team as well. To reach your goal, you require cooperation and cohesiveness. Undoubtedly, only an excellent leader can provide that.
“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.” – General George Patton
Great people lead the others. Even greater allows themselves to follow others and learn from their mistakes. But in order to move your way up on the success ladder, you must have undeterred motivation.
This leadership quote suggests that a successful person leads follows and keeps on working. What he doesn’t do is allow someone to get in his way to victory. The author has done a commendable job by giving such a beautiful piece of advice.
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
The lines of this teamwork quote make us ponder over it deeply. Undoubtedly, a great leader is someone who plants the seed of hope in his team’s hearts. Hope is the only thing that carries you through.
And no one other than a strong leader knows how to infuse hope in his fellow companions. Perhaps that why a leader is called an agent of hope. The one who leads everyone with faith.
“The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair
At times, a leader has to do things that help him prove his authority. One of which is saying no to his people. It can be difficult to take care of everyone’s needs and still focus on your priorities.
Hence, saying no becomes a very important part of leadership. Being selfish can sometimes be good too. Especially if it is for the betterment of the team as a whole.
“You don’t need a title to be a leader.” – Multiple Attributions
A true leader is not someone who boasts of high titles and crowns. Instead, a great leader is one who knows how to lead people even by being one like them. This leadership quote says that leadership begins with self-mastery.
If you know what you are capable of even without a fancy title, then you surely can bring about big changes. Because all the significant changes have been brought about by people who never really paid attention to obligations.
“Education is the mother of leadership.” – Wendell Willkie
Education is the magic potion that provides us with the ability to understand other people, their ideas, and emotions. Indeed, being well educated is one of the most crucial requirements to lead people on.
Education molds our character and allows us to gain an insight into the minds that work for us. It can work as a great weapon to face the challenges of being a leader.
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John Maxwell
It is very important for a leader to be crystal clear about his vision. Otherwise, he would have a hard time guiding his teammates on their path. At the same time, he must also be willing to hop leaps and be hard working.
This leadership quote is a smooth compilation of the works of a leader. The vision and the communication are what make or breaks a leader.
“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” – Aristotle
Only a person who knows how to accept other people’s thoughts knows how to make people obey his decisions. To be a good orator, one has to be a good listener first.
A good leader knows the significance of mutual understanding. And that comes only when he is willing to offer due respect and recognition to his fellow team members.
Inspirational Leadership Quotes
- “You manage things; you lead people.” – Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
- “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
- “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch
- “My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.” – General Montgomery
- “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
- “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
- “The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground.” – Sir Winston Churchill
- “The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” – Warren Bennis.
“Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” – Bill Bradley
The leader takes on a big responsibility when he starts leading a team. But it is even more important to pay attention to each and every member differently.
A great leader has to carve out bright diamonds from burning embers. He is expected to bring out the best from young minds by honing their skills. Which, indeed is a very dedicated job.
- “To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” – Andre Malraux
- “Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.” – Brian Tracy
- “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader
- “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” – Peter Drucker
- “Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” – Publilius Syrus
- “A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.” – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
- “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- “Leadership is influence.” – John C. Maxwell
- “You don’t lead by pointing and telling people someplace to go. You lead by going to that place and making a case.” – Ken Kesey
Words are a powerful means to establish change. And a leader in the medium to convey great ideas through words. These leadership quotes are in all aspects the best tool to empower you to lead on. Let these words guide you on how to be a leader. These sayings are definitely going to inspire you, encourage you, and help you sail through all your problems.
Check more Quotes about Leadership
- “When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
- “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
- “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” – John Maxwell
- “So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” – Peter Drucker
- “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
- “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” – Kenneth Blanchard
- “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
- “A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.” – Polybius
- “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.” – John Maxwell
- “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.
“Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” – Brian Tracy
An amateur person would look at a situation and worry about the problems. Whereas an experienced leader would be at the same spot and wonder about the potential solutions.
Probably, this is the reason why leaders are looked upon for advice during difficult times. Being visionary, spontaneous, brave, and inspirational is a must for a leader.
- “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
- “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
- “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
- “A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.” – Ovid
- “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” – Andrew Carnegie
- “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – General Dwight Eisenhower
- “The leader has to be practical and a realist yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.” – Eric Hoffer
- “A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” – Max Lucado
- “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.” – General George Patton
- “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates
- “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” – John Kenneth Galbraith
Integrity, honesty, and dedication are what defines a great leader from good ones. Also, you can share these leadership quotes with your team members to give them a dose of motivation.
