Quotes & anectdotes from
the wise,
the foolish,
the courageous &
the drunk

leadership

My attitude is never to be satisfied, never enough, never.

A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason.

Strong convictions precede great actions.

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

Go as far as you can see when you get there, you'll be able to see farther.

The secret of my success is a two word answer: Know people.

Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.

Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table.

Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.

Leaders grasp nettles.

It is the responsibility of leadership to provide opportunity, and the responsibility of individuals to contribute.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.

Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.

The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.

Don't find fault, find a remedy.

If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right.

Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

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

Charlatanism of some degree is indispensable to effective leadership.

Our democracy poses problems and these problems must and shall be solved by courageous leadership.

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.

A leader is a dealer in hope.

Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.

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

What helps people, helps business.

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

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

You're only as good as the people you hire.

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

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles but today it means getting along with people.

Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.

No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.

The great leaders have always stage-managed their effects.

My four years in the Marine Corps left me with an indelible understanding of the value of leadership skills.

Absolute identity with one's cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership.

The employer generally gets the employees he deserves.

The real leader has no need to lead - he is content to point the way.

If you command wisely, you'll be obeyed cheerfully.

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

Example is leadership.

To succeed in business it is necessary to make others see things as you see them.

If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.

If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.

In fair weather prepare for foul.

I want to deploy the leadership to meet the challenges that face us and to restore America's greatness.

There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two.

Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.

Education is the mother of leadership.

You have to have your heart in the business and the business in your heart.

Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.

The very exercise of leadership fosters capacity for it.

Leadership is particularly necessary to ensure ready acceptance of the unfamiliar and that which is contrary to tradition.