Inspiring Leadership Quotes to Ignite Your Passion

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

- Steve Jobs

"The most important thing about a commander is his effect on morale."

- Field Marshall Viscount Slim

"A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops."

- Gen. John J. Pershing

"The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated."

- William James

"Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish."

- Sam Walton

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul."

- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"Nothing will work unless you do."

- Maya Angelou

"Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance."

- Calvin Coolidge

"Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous impatience."

- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked down."

- Thomas J. Watson, Jr.

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no help at all."

- Dale Carnegie

"You may have to fight a battle more than once in order to win it."

- Margaret Thatcher

"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

- Will Rogers

"The future is not shaped by those who do not really believe in the future."

- John W. Gardner

"Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity."

- Reed Markham

"Whether you think you can or think you can't--you are right."

- Henry Ford

"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead."

- Nelson Mandela

"Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement."

- Woodrow Wilson

"Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be set right."

- Carl Schurz

"You must underwrite the honest mistakes of your subordinates if you wish to develop their initiative and experience."

- Gen. Bruce Clarke

"The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them."

- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."

- Conrad Hilton

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

- T.S. Eliot

"Don't be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can't cross a chasm in two small steps."

- David Lloyd George

"You've got to go out on a limb sometimes because that's where the fruit is."

- Will Rogers

"The men who have done big things are those who were not afraid to attempt big things, who were not afraid to risk failure in order to gain success."

- B.C. Forbes

"Trust is the essence of Leadership."

- Colin Powell

"Trust is fundamental, reciprocal, and pervasive. If it is present, anything is possible. If it is absent, nothing is possible."

- George P. Shultz

"You have to enable and empower people to make decisions independent of you."

- Tom Ridge

"When people feel trusted, they'll do almost anything under the sun not to disappoint the person who gave them the gift of trust."

- Rob LeBow

"Fear is a cancer in any organization."

- Mike Abrashoff

"A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others see."

- Leroy Eimes

"Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand."

- Gen. Colin Powell

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others."

- Bill Gates

"In the simplest terms, a leader is one who knows where he wants to go, and gets up and goes."

- John Erskine

"The leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time."

- George Orwell

"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."

- President Ronald Reagan

"Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

- Mark Twain

"Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy."

- U.S. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives."

- President Theodore Roosevelt

"What you do has far greater impact than what you say."

- Stephen Covey

"Leadership is the capacity to transform vision into reality."

- Warren G. Bennis

"To lead people, walk beside them."

- Lao Tzu

"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on."

- Walter Lippmann

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

- Henry Kissinger

"Earn your leadership every day."

- Michael Jordan

"The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."

- John Buchan

"Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you."

- Margaret Thatcher

"Leaders live by choice, not by accident."

- Mark Gorman

"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

"The best leaders are those most interested in surrounding themselves with assistants and associates smarter than they are."

- John C. Maxwell

"The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."

- Ralph Nader

"The leader leads, and the boss drives."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Example is leadership."

- Albert Schweitzer

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."

- Mother Teresa

"A leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible."

- Mark Yarnell

"An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"We are the change that we seek."

- Barack Obama

"I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse."

- Florence Nightingale

"A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me."

- Ayn Rand

"True leaders understand that leadership is not about them but about those they serve."

- Simon Sinek

"Great leaders are willing to sacrifice their own personal interests for the good of the team."

- John Wooden

"He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader."

- Aristotle

"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less."

- C. S. Lewis

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd."

- Max Lucado

"A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position."

- John C. Maxwell

"Authentic leaders do not lead for the sake of validation. They are validated by the impact of their contribution."

- Gift Gugu Mona

"The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action — an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign — even as the rest of the world wonders why you're not marching in step with the status quo. In other words, real leaders are happy to zig while others zag. They understand that in an era of hyper-competition and non-stop disruption, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something special."

- Bill Taylor

"The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet."

- Theodore M. Hesburgh

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

- Thomas Jefferson

"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

"I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers."

- Ralph Nader

"The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them."

- John Maxwell

"A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better."

- Jim Rohn

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

- President John Quincy Adams

"A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work."

- Seth Godin

"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 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

"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 pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."

- John Maxwell

"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."

- John F. Kennedy

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."

- William A. Ward

"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

"A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit."

- Arnold Glasow

"The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born—that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born."

- Warren Bennis

"Good leaders build products. Great leaders build cultures. Good leaders deliver results. Great leaders develop people. Good leaders have vision. Great leaders have values. Good leaders are role models at work. Great leaders are role models in life."

- Adam Grant

"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes."

- Peter Drucker

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that count."

- Winston Churchill

"The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision."

- Ken Blanchard

"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-Exupery

"Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."

- George S. Patton

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing."

- Albert Schweitzer

"A leader ... is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."

- Nelson Mandela

"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

"To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"A leader is a dealer in hope."

- Napoleon Bonaparte

"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

"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

"I think one of the keys to leadership is recognizing that everybody has gifts and talents. A good leader will learn how to harness those gifts toward the same goal."

- Ben Carson

"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

- Gen. George S. Patton

"If you want your people to think don't give instructions, give intent."

- David Marquet

"It takes leaders to grow other leaders."

- Ray Blunt

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership."

- Harvey S. Firestone

"All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual."

- Albert Einstein

"No executive has ever suffered because his subordinates were strong and effective."

- Peter Drucker

"We do not need sponsorship from above to do the right thing. All we really need from bosses is tolerance or indifference."

- Peter Block

"The...thing you can do to make your agency a more interesting place to work and consequently less bureaucratic is to enable those under you to feel they control their own areas of work."

- Kenneth Ashworth

"I don't want an organization of order-takers because order-takers don't take responsibility for results."

- Mike Abrashoff

"Many people believe that decentralization means loss of control. That's simply not true."

- General Bill Creech

"Let no man imagine that he has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the man who thinks becomes a light and a power."

- Henry George

"Feedback is a gift. Ideas are the currency of our next success. Let people see you value both feedback and ideas."

- Jim Trinka and Les Wallace

"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."

- John Wooden

"Not one single leadership principle requires permission from anyone other than you."

- Jim Trinka and Les Wallace

"Women need to shift from thinking 'I'm not ready to do that' to thinking 'I want to do that and I'll learn by doing it.'"

- Sheryl Sandberg

"Make sure you're not just waiting for someone else to fix things, or hoping that things will improve...Figure out what's going on and make a plan to improve things."

- Kenneth W. Thomas

"There are three kinds of people: Those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask, 'What happened?'"

- Casey Stengel

"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."

- Gen. George S. Patton

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing."

- Albert Schweitzer

"The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have."

- Sheryl Sandberg

"It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him."

- John Steinbeck

"Pride is the fuel of human accomplishment."

- General Bill Creech

"You don’t get any medal for trying something, you get medals for results."

- Bill Parcells

"He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly."

- James Allen

"If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done."

- Bruce Lee

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

- Helen Keller

"Without trust we don’t truly collaborate; we merely coordinate or, at best, cooperate. It is trust that transforms a group of people into a team."

- Stephen Covey

"Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much."

- Helen Keller

"Victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan."

- John F. Kennedy

"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."

- John C. Maxwell

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it."

- Nelson Mandela

"Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow."

- John C. Maxwell

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear."

- Mark Twain

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives."

- Michelle Obama

"Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many."

- John C. Maxwell

"When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective."

- Stephen Covey

"Champions keep playing until they get it right."

- Billie Jean King

"He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot, will be victorious."

- Sun Tzu

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."

- Phil Jackson

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often."

- Winston Churchill

"Real leadership is about transforming limitations into possibilities."

- Robin Sharma

"A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them."

- M.D. Arnold

"When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."

- Jack Welch

"Goals on the road to achievement cannot be achieved without discipline and consistency."

- Denzel Washington

"Empathy is being concerned about the human being, not just their output."

- Simon Sinek

"Communication is the real work of leadership."

- Nitin Nohria

"Great leaders communicate and great communicators lead."

- Simon Sinek

"Leaders grasp nettles."

- David Ogilvy

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

- Charles Darwin

"When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Great leaders are willing to be vulnerable and transparent."

- Liz Wiseman

"Listening (the first competence of leadership) is not a skill, it is a discipline. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut."

- Peter Drucker

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

- Publilius Syrus

"Mastery is great, but even that is not enough. You have to be able to change course without a bead of sweat, or remorse."

- Tom Peters

"People would rather follow a leader that is real than one that is always right."

- Craig Groeschel

"Compassion is what makes us human, keeps us on track, and brings us back together when we’ve lost our way."

- Nate Regier

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

"There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity, and courage."

- Chan Master Fuchan Yuan

"Be who you are and say what you feel because the ones who mind don’t matter, and the ones who matter don’t mind."

- Dr. Seuss

"Silent gratitude isn't very much to anyone."

- Gertrude Stein

"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 the Great

"I would rather get it right than be right."

"Leaders instill in their people a hope for success and a belief in themselves. Positive leaders empower people to accomplish their goals."

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful."

"You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus."

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus."

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves."

"Don’t find fault, find a remedy."

"To be a leader, you have to make people want to follow you, and nobody wants to follow someone who doesn’t know where he is going."

"The true mark of a leader is the willingness to stick with a bold course of action – an unconventional business strategy, a unique product-development roadmap, a controversial marketing campaign – even as the rest of the world wonders why you’re not marching in step with the status quo."

"A leader’s job is not to do the work for others, it’s to help others figure out how to do it themselves, to get things done, and to succeed beyond what they thought possible."

"I learned that things are never as complicated as we imagine them to be. It is only our arrogance which seeks to find complicated answers to simple problems."

"To lead people, walk beside them. As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence … When the best leader’s work is done, the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!’"

"You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life."

"If ‘leadership’ has come to be known as something much bigger than us, aligned to changing the world, then we are spending way too much time celebrating things that hardly anyone can do and not celebrating things we can do every day."

"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."

"A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

"There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there."

"The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes."

"Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well."

"Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?"

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

"All leaders lead by example...whether they intend to or not."

"Leadership is not about being the best. It’s about making everyone else better."