100 Leadership Quotes I’m Memorizing by End of 2015

While some collect coins, spoons, stamps, I am an avid collector of quotes and books. Since I was 15, I have collected thousands of quotes. Two years ago, this avocation inspired me to create a quote book which I’m offering FREE to all my readers. As a student of leadership, I hope you will use these quotes as a resource for future blog posts, speeches, and books.

1. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. — Peter. F Drucker

2. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams

3. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what do do and let them surprise you with their results. — George S. Patton

4. Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

5. Great leadership is about human experiences. It’s not a formula or a program. It is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine — Lance Secretan

6. Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. — Stephen R. Covey

7. Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. — Norman Schwarzkopf

9. If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

10. Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

11. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — John C. Maxwell

12. A highly credible leader under-promises and over-delivers. — John C. Maxwell

13. Followers are the gem cutters of leadership coaxing out its full brilliance. — Ira Chaleff

14. 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

15. Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. — T.S. Eliot

16. The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. — William Arthur Ward

17. Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. — Albert Schweitzer

18. In a battle between two ideas, the best one doesn’t necessarily win. No, the idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it. — Seth Godin

19. Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. — Harry Truman

20. If you spend your life trying to be good at everything, you will never be great at anything. — Tom Rath

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

22. 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 De Pree

23. If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants. — Isaac Newton

24. My own definition of leadership is this: the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. — General Montgomery

25. The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already. — John Buchan

26. Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them. — Stephen Covey

27. A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte

28. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

29. I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader

30. People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. — John C. Maxwell

31. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock — Thomas Jefferson

32. Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. — Brian Tracy

33. 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. — John Kenneth Galbraith

34. The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it. — Theodore Roosevelt

35. Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline. ― James C. Collins

36. 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

37. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. ― Warren Bennis

38. The price of greatness is responsibility. ― Winston Churchill

39. I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. ― Albert Einstein

40. Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. ― Harold R. McAlindon

41. I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: Try to please everybody. ― Herbert Swope

42. You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things. ― Mother Teresa

43. People don’t buy what you do ; they buy why you do it – Simon Sinek

44. Great vision without great people is irrelevant. ― James. C. Collins

45. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. ― Theodore Roosevelt

46. A leader’s most powerful ally is his or her own example. ― John Wooden

47. Change is inevitable. Growth is optional. ― John C. Maxwell

48. Leaders must encourage their organizations to dance to forms of music yet to be heard. ― Warren Bennis

49. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you, shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. ― Jesus of Nazareth

50. The spiritual leader should outpace the rest of the church, above all, in prayer. ― Oswald Sanders

51. Desiring to excel is not a sin. It is motivation that determines ambition’s character. Our Lord never taught against the urge to high achievement, but He did expose and condemn unworthy motivation. ― Oswald Sander

52. You can impress from a distance, but you can only impact up close. ― Howard Hendricks

53. He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. ― Aristotle

54. My great concern for you in life is not that you will fail, but that you will succeed in doing the wrong things. ― Howard Hendricks

55. Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. ― Eleanor Roosevelt

56. It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. ― John Steinbeck

57. Always do right. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ― Mark Twain

58. We can do no great things – only small things with great love. ― Mother Teresa

59. Where there is no vision, the people perish. ― Proverbs 29:18

60. We must be the change we wish to see in the world. ― Mahatma Gandhi

61. Being in ministry requires a deep and intensive love for people. ― Dr. Aubrey Malphurs

61. Leaders aren’t born, they are made. ― Vince Lombardi

62. A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. Max Lucado

63. Whatever you are, be a good one. ― Abraham Lincoln

64. If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. ― Benjamin Franklin

65. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. ― John F. Kennedy

66. You manage things; you lead people. ― Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

67. Don’t quack like a duck; soar like an eagle. ― Ken Blanchard

68. Feedback is the breakfast of champions. ― Ken Blanchard

69. A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see and who sees before others see. – Leroy Eimes

70. 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!'” – Lao Tsu

71. A big part of leadership is recognizing that your fruit often grows on other peoples trees. – Todd Adkins

72. Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will. -A.W. Tozer

73. My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.  – Lincoln

74. Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. – Proverbs 4:23

75. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. – President Abraham Lincoln

76. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle

77. 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

78. The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. — Harvey Firestone

79. 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

80. Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. — Steve Jobs

81. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. — Steve Jobs

82. People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives. — Theodore Roosevelt

83. Lead, follow, or get out of the way. — Thomas Paine

84. The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been. — Henry A. Kissinger

85. Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing. — Tom Peters

86. Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best. — Chester W. Nimitz

87. Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people. – Eleanor Roosevelt88. The more seriously you take your growth, the more seriously people will take you. – John C. Maxwell89. Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential. – John C. Maxwell

90. As long as you’re green, you’re growing. As soon as you’re ripe, you start to rot. – Ray Kroc

91. I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. – Bruce Lee

92. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. – Proverbs 16:3

93. Success is final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill

94. I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through – then follow through. – EV Rickenbacker

95. The best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present. – James Kouzes and Barry Posne

96. If you are not willing to risk the unusual you will have to settle for the ordinary. – John Rohn

97. Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “what’s in it for me.?” – Brian Tracy

98. If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself. – D.L Moody

99. It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. – St. Francis

100. You teach what you know; you reproduce what you are. – Leif Hetland

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How Human-Centered Leaders Follow Principles that Matter

Many think of leadership and power as a peanut butter and chocolate combination. They just go together. There is power in being a leader yet too often leaders put the objective of power above doing the right thing and engaging people in a respectful, thoughtful way. Self-interest overrides sound leadership principles.

When principle is placed first, however, our leadership changes dramatically. Leading on principle first solves many problems and produces clarity in how to build organizational cultures.

The Buffer Example

Several weeks ago I received an email from the team at Buffer. I am a customer. The email subject was “Introducing Transparent Pricing.” Here is an excerpt:

“Transparency has been a foundational principle of the way we do things here at Buffer. We share the details of our salaries, our revenue, our fundraising, and more. Today, I’m so excited to extend this transparency directly to you, our beloved Buffer customer!”

Leading on principle first solves many problems and produces clarity in how to build organizational cultures.

As I clicked through and read more, I was amazed. They highlighted where money was spent and identified monthly salaries of team members. Much more about the organization wasrevealed in their blog.

What was clear is that transparency was a galvanizing leadership principle. Everything done by the company is centered on being transparent. And transparency is expanding as the company grows, not the other way around (as would be expected).

I have never met Joel Gascoigne, CEO of Buffer, but I would like to. Joel represents someone who is challenging leaders to raise the standard in the way they lead. He is not the first, although he is likely among a minority of leaders who are leading on clear principles.

Why Leading on Principle Matters

People often talk about leadership principles. They have a list off six to eight principles they try to lead by. Those principles are likely in a handbook, pinned to a wall, or just part of a quarterly speech. A list of principles is just that: A list.

When a principle that matters is front-and-center and used in every important decision made, the principle is a leading one. The principle becomes the guiding light and the test to ensure the decisions square with the principle. The principle is activated within the leader. I may sound repetitive but this is important. Rather than being talked about, the principle is used often and others see the impact of the principle in how work is done and how everyone acts.

Let’s be specific. Highlighted below are three reasons why leading on principle matters.

1. Brings Clarity to Discussions and Decisions

When people are wrestling with important decisions, the test of whether or not the right decision is being made is how it stacks up against a key principle. In Buffer’s case, whether or not to withhold certain performance news would be a short conversation. Doing so would violate their principle of transparency.

Clarity brings speed to some decisions. Clarity will also bring meaningful conversations, ensuring the principle remains unvarnished and can thrive through various business and leadership challenges.

2. Creates and Sustains Organizational Culture

When starting a company, getting the initial hiring right is crucial. Hiring the right people delivers a foundation in which the company can continue to succeed in their mission. With a guiding principle, the right questions to ask an interviewee is easier. With a guiding principle, the screening process is easier. Self-screening may happen as well.

In the Buffer example, when a potential hire reads about their transparent culture and how salaries are known by the world, they may elect to not apply. This culture may not fit everyone and that is okay. In fact, it is better this way for many reasons. From costs of early departures to disruptive behaviors, avoiding these costs and hurdles means a lot to any organization – young or old.

Clarity will also bring meaningful conversations, ensuring the principle remains unvarnished and can thrive through various business and leadership challenges.

3. Serves as a Way to Galvanize Organizational Purpose

Uncertainty creates wasted energy. There is enough uncertainty in market conditions without adding to it with internal wishy-washiness. Let’s be real honest. Too many organizations seem flimsy in what their real purpose is. Instead of focusing on a higher mission or purpose, many competing individual desires take over. Uncertainty in purpose reigns and, worse, people get worn out and the organizational culture becomes disoriented.

When principles are present and demonstrated with consistent messages and actions, peoplefeel joy in their work. The joy in the work happens because purpose and principle usually go hand-in-hand. When strong principles guide leadership, purpose is present, too.

Abdicate Power, Elevate Principle

orePrinciples elevate leaders to act in an unselfish way and focus on a higher purpose of their organization. Purpose floods in every doorway and hallway, and you can see the determination and joy in each person. People want to do work where what they do matters and serves some greater good. Principles serve as the motivating core to make this happen.

The time is now to lead on principle, empowering a higher standard of leadership and engagement. The power of principle will inspire the sweet mix of purpose, profit, and people.

Read More; http://switchandshift.com/how-human-centered-leaders-follow-principles-that-matter?utm_content=bufferd8130&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Washington's Lessons: It’s Never too Early to Choose to Lead

GREAT LEADERSHIP doesn’t just happen. Great leaders are revealed in extraordinary circumstances, but they are made long before. A person’s quality of leadership radiates from their character. Consequently, it’s never too early to begin your leadership development. 

George Washington filled many roles in his lifetime: a surveyor, frontier explorer, businessman, land speculator, soldier, farmer and statesman. A couple of examples from Washington’s childhood help to explain his successes later in life. 

By age sixteen, Washington had copied out by hand, 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation. They are based on a set of rules composed by French Jesuits in 1595. The first rule sets the tone of the others that follow: “Every Action done in Company, ought to be with Some Sign of Respect, to those that are Present.” There isn’t a leader that wouldn’t benefit from a daily reminder of this approach. Time and time again, these rules from his childhood played out in the conduct of his public life and defined his reputation. These rules and his concern for them integrated him as a leader and bonded him with those he led. 

George Washington’s father died when he was eleven leaving him to be raised by his older brother Lawrence. By age fifteen his formal schooling was over and he had achieved the equivalent of only a grade school education. But his education never stopped. Washington was an avid reader, soaking up the works of historians and thinkers. He was especially drawn to the essays of the Roman philosopher Seneca and Joseph Addison’s play Cato with its lesson in selfless leadership. He studied the ideas of his contemporaries in writings and conversation. He also spent a good deal of time writing which helped to solidify his thoughts. Learning is more than discovery. It helps us to make sense of things. It’s more than collecting information—it is applying it in a constructive way to some area of our life. 

It is the mindset of a leader to work on themselves harder than they work on others. A leader’s first responsibility is governing themselves. Historian Gordon Wood has written, “Washington became a great man and was acclaimed as a classical hero because of the way he conducted himself during times of temptation. It was his moral character that set him off from other men.” 

Leadership is embodied in the way you look at the world and respond to it. It’s never too early to choose to lead.

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Finding the Mango Tree Inside of the Seed: Lessons on Leadership, Part 1

I have been delving into some of Dr. Munroe’s work after learning about his recent death in the Bahamas. Along with his wife and 7 other people, he tragically died in a plane crash on November 9, 2014. Dr. Munroe was a globally recognized Evangelical Christian and motivational speaker who not only inspired many of my personal mentors, but also founded and led Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI) and Myles Munroe International (MMI).

In a leadership series called Leading Edge Leadership, Dr. Myles Munroe taught that “true leaders do not ever search for followers.” I will admit that this initially confounded me because, fairly often, we rank our leaders by the number of people that follow them. Take a look at Oprah Winfrey – over 26 million followers on Twitter. Or how about Will Smith – over 75 million fans on Facebook. And Richard Branson – over 7 million followers on LinkedIn. There are all great leaders, right?

Whether measured by Twitter fans or Facebook followers or LinkedIn subscribers, social media leads us to believe that the most influential leaders are those that have the greatest number of followers. While coincidentally, this is in fact often true, the flawed presumption is that these leaders’ immense followership is what makes them so great.

But you’re thinking, doesn’t a leader need followers?

How else do you expand your reach? And in a world greatly influenced by social media, it makes sense why an emerging leader would be interested in leveraging these platforms to spread their message. So it seems, if you are just getting started as a leader seeking to influence the public, you should be focused on building a fan base of people who care about what you have to say and will help spread your message.

Indeed, business leaders like Seth Godin urge us to “find our tribe,” while countless other thought leaders encourage us to “find our why.” While these are important steps in growing as a leader, the problem arises when emerging leaders believe that they must first identify their followers before they can begin spreading their message. This might explain why so many blogs are abandoned after writers are unable to build a sizable subscriber base, or why so many musicians or artists give up after failing to amass dedicated fans. It might also explain why so many people appear to be more focused on marketing than content creation.

Maybe people are too busy searching for followers.CLICK TO TWEET

Dr. Myles Munroe believed that a mindset focused on finding followers is detrimental to leadership development. Discussed below are six principles of leadership, the elements of which help to explain why so many people unfortunately die as followers.

1. We were all born to be leaders

Dr. Myles Munroe rested his leadership philosophy on the simple, yet incredibly profound premise that every human being is born to be a leader.

He believed that there is a hidden leader trapped inside of every individual who labels themselves a follower. In other words, the essence of human existence can be captured by a single word – leadership.

This begins to make sense when we dissect how Dr. Munroe defined leadership. He explained throughout his writings and during his lectures that we are all born to become leaders, but not over other people. Instead, we are all born to become a leader in an area of gifting. Thus, true leadership begins with the discovery of one’s unique area of gifting, or in other words, one’s unique purpose in life. Every individual was born to leverage their unique talents and gifts for a distinct purpose that will ultimately benefit others.

Dr. Munroe wisely used the metaphor of a mango tree to explain this principle. He said,

“A mango seed is a mango tree.”

This might seem confusing at first. After all, a seed is a seed and a tree is a tree. But what he was trying to convey to his students was the idea that every mango seed was created to become a mango tree. Even more, he wanted them to understand that there is a mango tree trapped inside of every mango seed. Although we cannot see it initially, every mango seed has the capacity to grow into the shape it was ultimately destined to embody – the mango tree.

However, becoming a mango tree is not the true purpose of the mango seed. In fact, becoming a mango tree is merely the process that a mango seed must endure before it arrives at true leadership.

The fundamental purpose of the mango seed is to bear fruit – the sweet mangos that we all crave on hot summer afternoons. See, the fruit encapsulates the deeper purpose of the mango tree. Those are the gifts that the tree shares with the world. This is the reason for the existence of the mango seed and the reason why we value its unique nature.

The mango seed’s value does not lie in the fact that it becomes a tree.CLICK TO TWEET

Rather, the value of the seed lies in its ability to undergo a difficult process, become a proud tree, and ultimately bear sweet fruit, which is made available to human kind as a gift. Thus, in producing fruit and offering it to the world, the mango tree is both operating in its purpose and demonstrating the essence of true leadership.

Likewise, people are similar to mango trees.

The problem is that many people do not recognize who they are on the inside. That is why, as Dr. Munroe suggested, so many leaders are trapped inside of the shell of a follower. We are all uniquely created and designed to bear “fruit” to the world. These unique gifts and talents that we share with others for their benefit encapsulate the reason for our existence on this Earth, or our deeper purpose. And when we utilize our gifts to benefit those around us, we embody the essence of true leadership.

So, right from the start, leadership has nothing to do with following or followers.

It’s all about going through a process and sharing a gift with others. This is why a true leader is always unique, not a carbon copy of someone else. Much like the mango tree, we are all different and unique, from the way we stand on our feet to the way we talk with our mouths.

When you try to imitate and follow others, you lose your unique value.CLICK TO TWEET

True leaders simply don’t have the time to search for followers, because they are too busy bearing “fruit” to share with others.

So why then do we focus so much on finding followers to prove our leadership?

2. You have been trained to be a follower by a culture of oppression

If Dr. Munroe is correct, and we are indeed all born to be leaders (even those of us who have trapped our leadership inside of the oppressive shell of a follower), then who will become our followers?

The answer?

There are no true followers. Only leaders in disguise.CLICK TO TWEET

This is odd.

But Dr. Munroe explained that this question – Who will follow me? – is a clear indication that we have been influenced by a culture of oppression. A culture that divides individuals into leaders and followers, managers and subordinates, masters and slaves. This very culture leads many to avoid responsibility for changing their environment because they embrace the passive mindset of the blind follower. It allows people to believe that perhaps they were simply not born with the “right stuff” to make a real difference.

Where did this culture come from?

Dr. Monroe suggested that our society has been heavily influenced by Grecian ideology. The Greeks were known for being intellectuals and for exalting reason above faith. And according to Dr. Monroe’s research, the Greeks were a people that believed that leadership was a product of natural endowment. Simply put, if you were born with certain “negative” characteristics, you were destined to be a slave. Even if you attained skills or a noteworthy education, if you were born to be a slave based upon your characteristics, you could never aspire to become anything more than a talented and educated slave.

Conversely, if you were born with certain “positive” characteristics (which Dr. Munroe notes were often physical in nature, such as having a certain skin completion . . . ), then it was believed that the “gods” had selected you to be a leader.

See, the Greeks believed that leadership was a product of providence, displayed by having a “charismatic” personality. Things like having a “colorful” personality, being adept at public speaking and being described as an extrovert were all tell-tale signs of charisma. Interestingly, the word charisma is derived from the Greek word kharis, which means “a divinely conferred power or talent.” In others words, the “gods” chose specific individuals to become leaders, and those not chosen by the gods were destined to remain followers, or frequently, slaves.

Even putting on a suit would not change a Greek’s impression of an individual deemed to be a follower. You would merely be  a well-dressed slave.

Sound familiar?

This “slave” mentality still permeates the fabric of many prevailing leadership ideologies today.

We often believe that some people were simply born to become great leaders, while others were born solely to help or remain on the sidelines. We often look at great orators or talkative youths and say, “Wow. That girl is surely called to leadership.” Our notion of what leadership looks like is skewed by history, because we have been taught to focus on the wrong characteristics.

But what if we have been taught to think about leadership in the wrong way?

What if leadership is not about finding followers, but really about serving others with your gifts?CLICK TO TWEET

Those seeking to learn and grow as leaders must be mindful of the ideologies they embrace. As Jesus said in Luke 6:39 –

“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?

If we adopt the leadership philosophy of a misguided and outdated culture, and if we believe that we are simply not cut out to be a true leader, we will surely head down the wrong path and our unique talents will follow us to the grave. Our fruit will be left to rot on the tree and no one will ever taste the gifts we have inside.

Yes, there is value in following the example of others. You need mentors and teachers. But choose your personal leaders based upon your destiny, not by how many followers he or she has. We learn by following those who have already arrived at the placed we would like to go, not by following those who can “move the crowd.”

Even more, never forget that you are a leader too. It’s already inside of you. And you don’t need a huge following to prove it. You simply have to go through a process and grow before you finally bear your fruit.

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