Leadership Quotes

"Read over and over again the campaigns of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus, Turenne, Eugene and Frederic…This is the only way to become a great general and master the secrets of the art of war…"

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"There are three kinds of people: Those who are immovable, those who are moveable, and those who move them."

- Li Hung

"I must study politics and war, that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy…in order to give their children the right to study painting, poetry, and music."

- John Adams

"Happiness is found not in doing what one likes to do, but in liking what one has to do."

- Sir James M. Barrie

"The friend of my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity."

- Ulysses S. Grant

"Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear… What we need for leaders are men of heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"A [unit’s] quality, its discipline, its training will depend on your leadership. Whatever deficiencies there are must be charged to your failure and incapacity."

- General George C. Marshall

"The good military leader will dominate the events which surround him; once he lets events get the better of him he will lose the confidence of his men, and when that happens he ceases to be of value as a leader."

- Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein

"We, the officers and NCOs, owe it to the men that we command and to our country that we make ourselves fit to lead the best soldiers in the world, that in peace the training we give them is practical, alive and purposeful, and that in war our leadership is wise, resolute and unselfish."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"It is absolutely necessary…for me to have persons that can think for me, as well as execute orders."

- George Washington

"War is much too brutal a business to have room for brutal leading; in the end, its only effect can be to corrode the character of men and when character is lost, all is lost."

- Brigadier General S. L. A. Marshall

"Ultimately, battles, particularly those conducted under hazardous conditions and in the face of a numerically superior enemy, turn on the fighting spirit of the soldier. High morale and determination to win can only be developed by hard, tough, purposeful training and with the aid of good leadership …This is our main responsibility in peace time."

- Field Marshal Dwin Bramall

"I agree with Emerson when he said, “Trust men and they will be true to you. Treat them greatly and they will show themselves to be great.”"

- WO1 J C Lord

"Strange as it sounds, great leaders gain authority by giving it away."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter."

- Chris Hadfield

"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

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are, to where they have not been."

- Henry Kissinger

"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

"To be pleased with one’s limits is a wretched state."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow."

- Seth Godin

"Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision: its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, more a matter of accurate calculation, of statistics, of methods, timetables and routine; its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"We never lost sight of the reality that people, particularly gifted commanders, are what make units succeed. The way I like to put it, leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible."

- General Colin Powell

"Every great leader I have known has been a great teacher, able to give those around him a sense of perspective and to set the moral, social and motivational climate among his followers."

- Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

"In the British Army there are no good units and no bad units – only good and bad officers and NCOs. They make or break the unit."

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim

"Successful leadership in battle, although complex and intangible, always seemed to me to depend on two factors. Firstly, soldiers must have confidence in their leaders’ professional ability and, secondly, they must trust them as men."

- Sydney Jary MC

"The quality of leadership needs, above all, spirit, intelligence and sympathy. Spirit is needed to fire men to self-sacrificing achievements; intelligence, because men will only respect and follow a leader whom they feel knows his profession thoroughly; sympathy, to understand the mentality of each individual in order to draw out the best that is in him."

- Basil Liddell Hart

"A successful leader of men must have character, ability and be prepared to take unlimited responsibility. Responsibility can only be learned by taking responsibility; you cannot learn the piano without playing on one. Leadership is the practical application of character."

- Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen

"Some succeed because they are destined to; most succeed because they are determined to."

"The majority of men devote the greater part of their lives to making their remaining years unhappy."