Learning from greats makes you a great leader. Thoughts of great leaders still inspire us in our good and bad phases of life. In this article, we sum up the 36 most powerful leadership quotes of great leaders that will provide you with a bit of inspiration on how to be a leader—and what being a good leader really means.
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Let’s start, with our journey of best leadership quotes.
36 best leadership quotes
1. The first responsibility of a great leader
A great leader should be far away from fake promises and unrealistic visions. A leader would be great only if they know how to define reality to their follower and inspire them too.
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 (American writer and businessman, Writer of famous books- Leadership is an Art, Leading without power)
2. Great leaders grow others
The secret to growing as a leader lies in the growth of the organization/team. And team grows only when every member understands their responsibility and grows as an individual. A leader is responsible to provide a suitable platform for learning and growth.
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.
—Jack Welch( Retired General Electric chief who become a business superstar, Writer of famous books- Winning, Jack Welch and 4’E of Leadership)
3. The perfect leadership lesson by Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs defines leadership in one of the simplest ways, his vision is clear, to push the people to the best version of themselves and grow as individuals. Great leaders always focus on growth.
My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.
– Steve Jobs(American Businessman, Co-founder and CEO of Apple, Founder and CEO of NeXT)
4. Leadership is not a title or position
To be honest, to be a leader you didn’t need any position or title, you just need the courage to lead an organization/team.
Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.
—Brian Tracy( Motivational speaker and Self-Development Author, Famous books- Eat that Frog, Leadership)
5. A leader is a team man
A great leader is not eager for recognization. They come into the team, do their job, and dissolve into the team.
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( Founder of philosophical Taoism)
6. A leader lead from the heart
A great leader always gives his/her heart and soul to achieve better for the team. He/She uses the mind to control the team and the heart to lead the team. This leadership quotes replicate the same.
To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.
– Eleanor Roosevelt (Former First Lady of the United States)
7. Great leaders produce more leaders
A great leader always focuses on how they could create more leaders who can lead a team/organization in a difficult scenario. A great leader always tries to shape another leader before he/she retires from the team/organization. And this quote from the leadership quotes of Ralph Nader points out the same thing.
I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
—Ralph Nader(American political activist, author, lecture)
8. A Great leader knows the importance of a team game
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( Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist, Famous books- A league of Peace, Bussiness)
9. Leaders sacrifice too
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want to be done because he wants to do it.
—General Dwight Eisenhower(34th president of USA, Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe)
10. Leaders are a problem-solvers
Handle problems are part of the leadership and thinking about problems makes them bigger than ever. A great leader is one who is thinking about solutions, not problems.
Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.
—Brian Tracy( Motivational speaker and Self-Development Author, Famous books- Eat that Frog, Leadership)
11. A Great leader always boosts your confidence
A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.
– Eleanor Roosevelt( American political figure, diplomat, and activist)
12. A great leader simplifies things
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( American politician and United States Army office)
13. Great leaders know their team strength
Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.
—John Zenger(German printer and journalist in New York City)
14. Strong People lift others
People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.
– Michelle Obama( American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States, Famous books: American Grown, Becoming)
15. Rule yourself first
To Rule a team you must have control of yourself first, you need to have control of your fears, emotional breakdown, over-excitement, or any emotion that can damage the team’s morale. You need to remember, that what you are doing your team/organization will multiply it.
It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself.
—Latin Proverb
16. Peoples need to lead
People need leaders they need someone who can inspire, motivate and lead them to their goals. Be the person who inspires people not who manages followers.
Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led.
—Ross Perot( American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist_
17. Leader set the standard
A leader set the standard for their team, if a leader wants to get a better result, he/she should start working on himself first. A leader is one who pulls the standard bar sky-high.
If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself, and the organization gets pulled up with you.
– Indra Nooyi( Indian-American business executive and former CEO of PepsiCo)
18. A great leader must be a great learner
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
—John F. Kennedy( Former American President)
19. A great leader cheers individual success too
A great leader always is happy about your success. They always come with appreciation words that inspire an individual to do more.
The greatest gift of leadership is a boss who wants you to be successful.
– Jon Taffer( American entrepreneur and Writer, Famous book- The power of Conflict, Raise the bar)
20. A great leader knows you better than you
Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.
—Bill Bradley( American Politician and Former Basketball Player)
21. Leader raises a hand when it is needed the most
A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.
—John Maxwell( Author, Speaker and Writer, Famous book- Developing the leader, Law of Leadership, 5 levels of leaders)
22. Leaders provide a platform
Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.
– Seth Godin( Entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker, Famous book: The dip)
23. Leaders empower other
Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished.
– Lisa Cash Hanson
24. Leadership in 3 words by Robin Sharma
Leadership distilled down to 3 words: Make a difference.
—Robin Sharma( Canadian Writer, Famous books 5AM Club, The monk who sold his Ferrari, the leader who has no title)
Related: Know more about Robin Sharma
25. Leaders help you to reach your potential
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
– Henry Kissinger( Politician, diplomat, and geopolitical)
26. Essentials of Leadership
There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage.
—Fuchan Yuan
27. You can’t force to lead someone
Leadership inspires people not forcing them to follow you. People follow you by their choice.
You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.
–Dwight Eisenhower(34th president of USA, Supreme Commander of Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe)
28. Leadership is a learning process
No one is a born leader, every person in life learns and earns leadership by experience.
Earn your leadership every day.
–Michael Jordan( American Businessman and one of most successful player of Basketball)
29. You can’t lead if you don’t love your team
No one can’t do better things for an organization if he/she didn’t love their organization. To lead the team you must do everything from your heart and soul.
The first job of leadership is to love people. Leadership without love is manipulation.
– Rick Warren( American Autor, Famous book- Lead like Jesus)
30. Great leaders are also role models in life
Great leaders are not just role models in a certain field, they are true leaders who are followed by their followers in every aspect of their life. Great leaders are the role models of life.
Good leaders build products. Great leaders build cultures. Good leaders deliver results. Great leaders develop people. Good leaders have a vision. Great leaders have values. Good leaders are role models at work. Great leaders are role models in life.
~Adam Grant (American Writer, Famous book- Think again, Give and Take, The gift inside the box)
31. Leader’s courage become the team’s courage
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.
– Robert Louis Stevenson( Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer)
32. Leader’s vision is one of the most important things
A leader should be visionary and have more foresight than an employee.
~ Jack Ma( Chinese Businessman- Co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group)
Related: How to set clear goals
33. A leader is the most important aspect of an organization
I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.
-Alexander (King of Ancient Greek and win nearly 2 million square miles of land)
34. Lead from the front in danger
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( First President of South Africa)
35. Leaders inspire others to do their best
Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.
– Chester W. Nimitz (Fleet admiral of the United States Navy)
36. A leader is a molder of consensus.
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
—Martin Luther King Jr (American Christian minister and activist)
Write about which leadership quotes inspire you the most.
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Comment your favorite leadership quotes.
Good post as usual. Very Motivating
The best view I have ever seen!