Quotes

50 Best Leadership Quotes to Inspire You

Published

8 years ago

February 3, 2016

Mark John

leadership quotes

Leadership is the art of inspiring and guiding individuals towards a shared objective. It involves influencing others positively, harnessing their collective efforts, and setting a clear direction. Leadership is a skill that can be learned and developed over time. Let these leadership quotes inspire you to become the best leader you can be and make a positive impact on the world.

Here are 50 inspiring leadership quotes from the most remarkable leaders worldwide.

Best Leadership Quotes

1. “The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.” – John Maxwell

2. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker

3. “A leader is a dealer in hope.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

4. “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” – John Quincy Adams

5. “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” – John Maxwell

6. “Let him that would move the world first move himself.” – Socrates

7. “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” – Peter Drucker

8. “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” – Andrew Carnegie

9. “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” – Henry A. Kissinger

10. “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

11. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs

12. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker

13. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis

14. “Leadership is the art of giving people a platform for spreading ideas that work.” – Seth Godin

15. “Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” – Brian Tracy

inspiring leadership quotes

16. “What helps people, helps business.” – Leo Burnett

17. “Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinations.” – John Seaman Garns

18. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy

19. “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” – Zig Ziglar

20. “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.” – Ronald Reagan

21. “I was never the smartest guy in the room. From the first person I hired, I was never the smartest guy in the room. And that’s a big deal. And if you’re going to be a leader – if you’re a leader and you’re the smartest guy in the world – in the room, you’ve got real problems.” – Jack Welch

22. “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” – Ken Blanchard

23. “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.” – Theodore M. Hesburgh

24. “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” – Tom Peters

25. “Leadership is working with goals and vision; management is working with objectives.” – Russel Honore

leadership quote

26. “The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” – Faye Wattleton

27. “Leadership is about doing what you know is right – even when a growing din of voices around you is trying to convince you to accept what you know to be wrong.” – Bob Ehrlich

28. “Actions, not words, are the ultimate results of leadership.” – Bill Owens

29. “Leaders aren’t born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” – Vince Lombardi

30. “Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.” – George S. Patton

31. “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

32. “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” – John Buchan

33. “To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more difficult.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

34. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln

35. “The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” – Jim Rohn

36. “All good leaders are connectors. They relate well and make people feel confident about themselves and their leader.” – John Maxwell

37. “Leadership is an action, not a position.” – Donald McGannon

38. “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” – John Maxwell

39. “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” – Colin Powell

40. “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

quotes on leadership

41. “The best leaders are readers of people. They have the intuitive ability to understand others by discerning how they feel and recognizing what they sense.” – John C. Maxwell

42. “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair

43. “Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say ‘yes’ to the best.” – John Maxwell

44. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain

45. “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

46. “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” – John Maxwell

47. “If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything.” – Tom Rath

48. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” – John Maxwell

49. “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” – Stephen Covey

50. “Leadership is influence.” – John C. Maxwell

Conclusion: Leadership Quotes

In conclusion, leadership is a critical skill that is essential for success in all areas of life. Whether you are leading a team of professionals, managing a business, or simply trying to make a positive impact on the world, effective leadership is the key to achieving your goals. As John C. Maxwell once said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”