Quotes & Sayings About Followers And Leaders

There is no master without a servant and there is no country without citizens. There can't be leaders without followers or subjects. There is no harvest without sowing. — David Ssembajjo

Leading fools is like leading no one.
Following a fool is like following no one.
The wise make the best leaders and followers. — Matshona Dhliwayo

Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes. — Joseph C. Rost

The new leader is one who commits people to action, who converts followers into leaders, and who may convert leaders into agents of change. — Warren G. Bennis

It makes sense that introverts are uniquely good at leading intiative-takers. Because of their inclination to listen to others and lack of interest in dominating social situations, introverts are more likely to hear and implement suggestions. Having benefited from the talents of their followers, they are then likely to motivate them to be even more proactive. Introverted leaders create a virtious circle of proactivity. — Susan Cain

A leader is one who chooses the interest of his followers over his personal ignominy. He can beg, steal and even snatch for the followers. He suffers individual loss for the sake of the gain of his followers. That makes him a leader whom people follow because they themselves do not have the courage to do so. People do not mind if someone else does all the dirty jobs for them while they can enjoy the fruits without getting their own hands dirty. — Awdhesh Singh

Hannah Arendt, a 20th century Jewish philosopher and Holocaust survivor, writes about the necessity of skepticism and doubt in the face of totalitarianism. Germany after World War I was a country in crisis, and in any time of national crisis, when people seek the reassurance of strong leaders who appear to have all the answers, doubters and skeptics tend to be treated as disloyal and dangerous. But it was the unthinking, unquestioning belief of Hitler's followers that made him powerful; the ruthlessness with which the Nazis suppressed dissent only solidified his control. — Frank D. Kennedy

In contrast to the asexual chasteness of official communist art , Nazi art is both prurient and idealizing. A utopian aesthetics (physical perfection; identity as a biological given) implies an ideal eroticism: sexuality converted into the magnetism of leaders and the joy of followers. The fascist ideal is to transform sexual energy into a "spiritual" force, for the benefit of the community. — Susan Sontag

For conservative leaders, making candidates pay them court, publicly and ostentatiously, is a colossal source of their symbolic power before their followers. It's kabuki theater, mostly. — Rick Perlstein

My favourite mentor brother told me that there were three kinds of people: followers, leaders and scouts. Scouts are capeable of leadership, but they could not tolerate the responsibility of it. Disinclined to take orders either, they invariably flouted authority and fomented strife. This is why scouts, he said wryly, were the first to be sent into danger, It was half hoped they would be killed. 'I fear you are destined to trouble us as a scout, little sister' he said — Isobelle Carmody

To be Toltec is a way of life. It is a way of life where there are no leaders and no followers, where you have your own truth and live your own truth. A Toltec becomes wise, becomes wild, and becomes free again. — Miguel Ruiz

One of the most trying experiences an individual can go through is the period of doubt, of soul-searching, to determine whether to fight the battle or fly from it," Nixon wrote in Six Crises. "It is in such a period that almost unbearable tensions build up, tensions that can be relieved only by taking action, one way or the other. And significantly, it is this period of crisis conduct that separates the leaders from the followers. — David Talbot

Various philosophers and religious leaders tried to convince their disciples and followers that animals are nothing more than machines without a soul, without feelings. However, anyone who has ever lived with an animal-be it a dog, a bird, or even a mouse-knows that this theory is a brazen lie, invented to justify cruelty. — Isaac Bashevis Singer

The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers ... Leaders, followers and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership. — Garry Wills

I've heard people say that the trouble with the world is that we haven't enough great leaders. I think we haven't enough great followers. I have stood side by side with great thinkers - surgeons, engineers, economists; people who deserve a great following - and have heard the crowd cheer me instead. — Babe Ruth

transformational leaders support followers by enhancing their confidence and self-efficacy to achieve an idealized state. By appealing to followers' deeply held beliefs, transformational leadership has been shown to impact follower core-self evaluations, which, in turn, affect follower motivation and behavior on the job — Matthew J Grawitch

Leaders are leaders only as long as they have the respect and loyalty of their followers. — Hans Selye

Leaders are not, as we are often led to think, people who go along with huge crowds following them. Leaders are people who go their own way without caring, or even looking to see, whether anyone is following them. "Leadership qualities" are not the qualities that enable people to attract followers, but those that enable them to do without them. They include, at the very least, courage, endurance, patience, humor, flexibility, resourcefulness, stubbornness, a keen sense of reality, and the ability to keep a cool and clear head, even when things are going badly. True leaders, in short, do not make people into followers, but into other leaders. — John Holt

We need more explorers in consciousness and less followers of beliefs, isms, and credos.

Religions and spiritual leaders influence millions by pushing their beliefs. They believe in the Bible, the Koran, and the Gita, but do not personally 'know' the essence within them.

Too many believe in beliefs and are not who they profess to be, nor any closer to the truth than the totally unaware. — Robert S. Cosmar

If you wish to succeed as a leader, you should be capable of transforming the souls of people, which control their intellect, mind and body. A good leader transforms the souls of the people, which then become like his own soul...
Once the nature of the followers is changed, they 'willingly' follow the path of their leader
A leader transforms ordinary men into exceptionally powerful people just like a strong magnet transforms an ordinary piece of iron into a powerful magnet. — Awdhesh Singh

Let go of a need for personal recognition. Heap kudos on others and they'll perform even better next time. Leaders are only as good as those who follow them and followers are at their best when leaders are quick to give credit for successes. — Steve Goodier

Eaders should be looked upon as being 'in front', 'sharing' rather than 'showing' the way ... it is the followers who save leaders and therefore make them. — Michelle Grattan

We should be leaders in all aspects of our society, not followers. If you're a public schoolteacher, then through the gift of grace you constantly come up with fresh, creative, and innovative ways to communicate knowledge and wisdom to your students that none of the other educators in your school system have thought of. You set the bar high and inspire your students in such a way that others marvel. Your fellow educators cannot help but discuss among themselves, "Where is he (or she) getting such great ideas?" If — John Bevere

Function words behave differently than you might think. For example, the most commonly used word in spoken English, I, is used at far higher rates by followers than by leaders, truth-tellers than liars. People who use high rates of articles - a, an, the - do better in college than low users. And if you want to find your true love, compare the ways you use function words with that of your prospective partners. — James W. Pennebaker

In various countries and times, leaders of groups that lagged behind, economically and educationally, have taught their followers to blame all their problems on other people - and to hate those other people. — Thomas Sowell

I say in my talks it takes two things to make it happen again, a new Hitler and social conditions like in the thirties. But that's not true. It takes three things: the Hitler, the conditions, and the people to follow the Hitler.

And don't you think he'd find them?

No, not enough of them. I really think people are better and smarter now, not so much thinking their leaders are God. The television makes a big difference. — Ira Levin

Sometimes I am convinced there is nothing wrong with this country that couldn't be cured by the magical implantation of ethical standards on us all - leaders and followers. Until that becomes doable, the Center for Public Integrity is just about the best thing we have going for us. — Ben Bradlee

When I was younger, I thought my task was to forge ahead and succeed as an individual. But growing older has helped me realize that our success lies in our relationships - with the family we are born into, the friends we make, the people we fall in love with, and the children we have. Sometimes we struggle, sometimes we adapt, and at other times we set a course for others to follow. We are all leaders and followers in our lives. We are constantly learning from and teaching one another. We learn, too, that the most important work is not done by those who seem the most important, but by those who care the most. — Caroline Kennedy

Our sense of identity is in large measure conferred on us by others in the ways they treat or mistreat us, recognize or ignore us, praise us or punish us. Some people make us timid and shy; others elicit our sex appeal and dominance. In some groups we are made leaders, while in others we are reduced to being followers. We come to live up to or down to the expectations others have of us. — Philip Zimbardo

I have always thought that one of the signs of natural leaders of men (and women) was their readiness to take the necessary pains to keep their followers with them. — Judy LaMarsh

Every human endeavor has leaders and followers, and your job as a leader is to inspire. — Colin Powell

You see, they think they're saving you, and you think you're saving them. That's where the trouble starts. Someone says, 'I saved you, now here's what I want.' And its the same with big countries and little ones, religious leaders and their followers, even husbands and wives. When things really work, though, it's because people realize that this is a lie, that, really, we all save one another. It's the way of the world. Things work out for the best when everyone makes it, together, when we manage to save each other. (from The Way of the World) — Benazir Bhutto

a parallel world than a religious kind of afterlife. In fact, he was especially critical of religious leaders, whom Twain felt had been using the fear of death and threats of hell to control the minds of their followers. Over the Ouija board, Twain told Hutchings: — Richard Bullivant

Leaders who keep promises and followers who respond in kind create an opportunity generate enormous energy around their commitment to serve others. — Max De Pree

Gentlemen," I said to my officers, "let's talk about discipline within our army, and let's consider our danger from no-account leaders. Unfortunately, such rogues sometimes find more followers than good leaders. Promising everyone a good time with plenty of instant rewards, these scoundrels can exert much more influence than virtuous men, who end up alone on steep, rocky paths. — Xenophon

When leaders claim that God bypasses their followers and speaks directly to them, they greatly diminish all God does through the lives of believers.
Leaders who begrudge people the opportunity to seek God themselves and who do not actively teach their people how to hear God's voice have disqualified themselves as spiritual leaders. — Henry T. Blackaby

If readers, young and old, would take even a moment to reflect on our rapidly shifting culture and ideology, I would be happy. Many leaders of the older generation dismiss emerging culture. Those leaders are at risk of becoming a feeble voice-piece without followers. Most of the younger generation is going deaf to the truth. — Ted Dekker

There's leaders, and there's followers ... but I'd rather be a d*ck than a swallower — Kanye West

Cause we they leaders, and they the followers
And we the nut-busters and they the swallowers' — Kanye West

Leaders are the ones who run headfirst into the unknown. They rush toward the danger. They put their own interests aside to protect us or to pull us into the future. Leaders would sooner sacrifice what is theirs to save what is ours. And they would never sacrifice what is ours to save what is theirs. This is what it means to be a leader. It means they choose to go first into danger, headfirst toward the unknown. And when we feel sure they will keep us safe, we will march behind them and work tirelessly to see their visions come to life and proudly call ourselves their followers. — Simon Sinek

Leaders must always set the highest standard. In a summer campaign, leaders must always endure their share of the sun and the heat and, in winter, the cold and the frost. In all labors, leaders must prove tireless if they want to enjoy the trust of their followers. — Xenophon

[Public housing projects] are not lacking in natural leaders,' [Ellen Lurie, a social worker in East Harlem] says. 'They contain people with real ability, wonderful people many of them, but the typical sequence is that in the course of organization leaders have found each other, gotten all involved in each others' social lives, and have ended up talking to nobody but each other. They have not found their followers. Everything tends to degenerate into ineffective cliques, as a natural course. There is no normal public life. Just the mechanics of people learning what s going on is so difficult. It all makes the simplest social gain extra hard for these people. — Jane Jacobs

Know the strength of the followers and tap into their energy. Get others involved. Trust them to do their best. Finally, don't forget to praise the workers. — Teresa Hampton

The history of struggle is rich with stories of heroes and heroines - some of them leaders, some of them followers, all of them deserve to be remembered. — Nelson Mandela

Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert's first sequel to Dune, was published in 1969. In that book, he flipped over what he called the "myth of the hero" and showed the dark side of Paul Atreides. Some readers didn't understand it. Why would the author do that to his great hero? In interviews, Dad spent years afterward explaining why, and his reasons were sound. He believed that charismatic leaders could be dangerous because they could lead their followers off the edge of a cliff. — Frank Herbert

Not many of us will be leaders; and even those who are leaders must also be followers much of the time. This is the crucial role. Followers judge leaders. Only if the leaders pass that test do they have any impact. The potential followers, if their judgment is poor, have judged themselves. If the leader takes his or her followers to the goal, to great achievements, it is because the followers were capable of that kind of response. — Garry Wills

One of the most difficult problems of our age is that leaders, and perhaps academics as well, cannot readily admit that things are out of control and that we do not know what to do. We have too much information, limited cognitive abilities to think in systemic terms and an unwillingness to appear to be in control and to have solutions for our problems. We are afraid that if we admit to our confusion, we will make our followers and students anxious and disillusioned. We know we must learn how to learn, but we are afraid to admit it. — Donald Michael Kraig

It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from followers. — Warren G. Bennis

World is full of followers and leaders, and I think that if one can become both and be both, to follow in order to lead, and to lead in order to follow, then I think you're on the right path. — George Ogilvie

The future of any corporation is as good as the value system of the leaders and followers in the organization. — N. R. Narayana Murthy

Followers need to see how things will get better and what that future might look like. Leaders need to build that foundation of stability, and hope sits on top of that. — Tom Rath

All religious leaders and spiritual teachers emphasize finding a place within us that is true. People who obsessively follow these leaders instead of their own purpose attach to the spiritual leader and become fanatical and controlling. That's why Jesus tried to tell his followers not to get attached to outward form. — Martha Beck

A leader must produce other leaders. Why do you want to produce followers, when by being called a leader the assumption is that you already have followers? Influence those who follow to birth their kind and develop others to lead. — Archibald Marwizi

By pushing children and wanting quick success, parents are producing followers, not leaders. — Sophie B. Hawkins

Here is Max De Pree at his best, and that is very good indeed. In Leading Without Power, De Pree shows us why we cannot master the how-to-dos of effective leadership without also being clear about what leaders?and followers?must be. In doing so, he not only provides us with much practical wisdom about creative leading and organizational health, he also nurtures our souls. This is a book to be savored by all who care about such things as vision, faithfulness, trust, and hope. — Richard J. Mouw

Followers often hesitate to act, out of fear that they'll do the wrong thing. Leaders aren't afraid to make a call, even when they're not sure if it's the right one. They'd rather make a decision and be wrong than suffer from the paralysis of indecision. — Anonymous

A leader must take responsibility for all his actions and not blame anyone for his problems. The follower, on the other hand, is always in search of a scapegoat or a miracle worker who can solve his problems. That is why leaders and followers complement each other. A leader is one who is willing to take on responsibility of not only his own failures but also that of his followers. — Awdhesh Singh

Followers have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the most influential leaders in their lives: trust, compassion, stability, and hope — Tom Rath

When the qualities that now confer leadership have become universal, there will no longer be leaders and followers, and democracy will have been realized at last. — Bertrand Russell

Put a dozen relatively like-minded people into the same crisis and you will see a dozen different responses. Some are heroes; others are cowards. Some are leaders; others are followers. Some are optimistic; others despair. Some shake their fist at God; others quietly submit. You don't really know who you are until you have gone through suffering. We can measure our spiritual growth by the way we behave under pressure. Throughout — Edward T. Welch

None but praying leaders can have praying followers. A praying pulpit will beget praying pews. We do greatly need pastors and evangelists who will set the saints to this business of praying. We are not a generation of praying saints. Who will restore this breach? The greatest will he be of reformers who can set the Church to praying. — Edward McKendree Bounds

Only Jesus has prophecies made hundreds of years in advance made literally true. Only He did miracles; only His immediate followers claimed He died and rose from the dead, so in comparison, He comes out superior to other great religious leaders. — Norman Geisler

There's so many lies being told throughout the media and people just run with the lies. They're numb to it. Too many followers, not enough leaders. — Big Boi

There are leaders and there are followers. Followers follow leaders and leaders follow their heart — Will.i.am

The most interesting aspect of leadership is that it cannot be predicted. All great leaders had been quite ordinary in their early years. It was only when they became leaders that people started recognising them as leaders.
It is difficult to identify specific qualities that make a leader. However, when leaders emerge, people are inclined to point out their leadership qualities. Yet, when other people imbibe the same qualities and try to imitate the actions of their leaders, they may fail. — Awdhesh Singh

I'm So Sick is about how the world can sometimes be a sick and messed up place and how that influences us and tells us how we should live or who we should be. People do things just 'cause everyone else does and then they wonder why they feel empty all the time. Someone who has a firm stance in what they know to be true will empower empty followers to discover who they are as individuals with purposes and this creates leaders with voices of their own. — Lacey Mosley

Followers who tell the truth, and leaders who listen to it, are an unbeatable combination. — Warren G. Bennis

Although leaders and followers are closely linked, it is the leader who often initiates the relationship, creates the communication linkages, and carries the burden for maintaining the relationship. — Peter Northouse

Authenticity is the alignment of head, mouth, heart, and feet - thinking, saying, feeling, and doing the same thing - consistently. This builds trust, and followers love leaders they can trust. — Lance Secretan

We do not now stand in the middle; in every aspect of our life we have, deliberately or by the 'conditioning' of birth, education or environment, allowed ourselves to stand on one bank of the river of life, with some intolerance of those who were foolish enough to choose or be led to stand on the other. Thus we are male or female, old or young, of the East of West. By temperament we are introvert or extrovert, leaders of followers, all for action or striving rather to be. It surely follows that we should be more tolerant of the other fellow, equally right/wrong, and be less swift to judge him with our ignorant, lop-sided view and definite disapproval. In any event, do we have to express an opinion, presume to judge? — Christmas Humphreys

We have seen moral and religious leaders,
men who claim to be followers of Jesus,
fall into disgrace in the eyes of God and man, and worst of all we have seen the Gospel of Jesus Christ and twisted and distorted it by false teachers to accommodate the destructive morals and secular behavior of these times. — Billy Graham

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

All that we know about the interaction between leaders and constituents or followers tells us that communication and influence flow in both directions; and in that two-way communication, nonrational, nonverbal, and unconscious elements play their part. — John W. Gardner

The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows. The character and contour of a terrain may offer opportunities for agriculture, mining, or trade, but only the imagination and initiative of leaders, and the hardy industry of followers, can transform the possibilities into fact...Man, not the earth, makes civilization. — Ariel Durant

Our personal identities are socially situated. We are where we live, eat, work, and make love. [ ... ]
Our sense of identity is in large measure conferred on us by others in the ways they treat or mistreat us, recognize or ignore us, praise us or punish us. Some people make us timid and shy; others elicit our sex appeal and dominance. In some groups we are made leaders, while in others we are reduced to being followers. We come to live up to or down to the expectations others have of us. The expectations of others often become self-fulfilling prophecies. Without realizing it, we often behave in ways that confirm the beliefs others have about us. Those subjective beliefs create new realities for us. We often become who other people think we are, in their eyes and in our behavior. — Philip G. Zimbardo

Do not seek to find hope among your leaders. They are the repositories of poison. Their interest in you extends only so far as their ability to control you. From you, they seek duty and obedience, and they will ply you with the language of stirring faith. They seek followers, and woe to those who question, or voice challenge. 'Civilization after civilization, it is the same. The world falls to tyranny with a whisper. The frightened are ever keen to bow to a perceived necessity, in the belief that necessity forces conformity, and conformity a certain stability. In a world shaped into conformity, dissidents stand out, are easily branded and dealt with. There is no multitude of perspectives, no dialogue. The victim assumes the face of the tyrant, self-righteous and intransigent, and wars breed like vermin. And people die. — Steven Erikson

Leaders think differently about themselves, and this distinguishes them from followers. — Myles Munroe

The courageous attitudes of leaders ramble around coward followers and sooner or later, they become courageous too! — Israelmore Ayivor

You won't be surprised to know, therefore, that the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses are the same organisation at the top level where the Elders of the Mormons and the leaders of the Watchtower Society operate a very different agenda to the one their followers believe. — David Icke

Where everyone wants to be a leader, it makes one a follower to want to be a leader, and a leader to know what to follow. — Criss Jami

There is no movement without the first follower. See, we are told that we all need to be leaders but that would be ineffective. The best way to make a movement, if you really care, is to courageously follow and show others how to follow. — Derek Sivers

There are only three kinds of people. LEADERS. Those who take charge, build, inspire, and create. FOLLOWERS. Those who support leaders and work to achieve mutually beneficial goals ... [and] DESTROYERS. Destroyers cannot find it within themselves to follow anyone, their hatred and insecurity is too pure to see strength in any OTHER being. The utterly lack the ability to inspire or create, so they do the only thing left to them
they tear down all they come in contact with. — Rick Remender

Competitive secrets: Why should you tell your competitors what you're doing? Won't it just help them? Oddly enough, most competitors don't really compete. For example, there are very good books on how to build a brand, yet most companies don't develop their brand. So most of your competitors won't use your secrets. You're trying to reach your customers, and they can tell the difference between leaders and followers. By standing out, you attract customers. — Andreas Ramos

So long as all is ordered for attack, and that alone, leaders will instinctively increase the number of enemies that they may give their followers something to do. — William Butler Yeats

Leaders think it's possible. They inspire followers to believe in the same good news and it becomes a blessing to them. Leadership is all about inspiring people to believe in what becomes profitable to them! — Israelmore Ayivor

LEADERS Initiate Lead; pick up phone and make contact Spend time planning anticipate problems Invest time with people Fill the calendar by priorities FOLLOWERS React Listen; wait for phone to ring Spend time living day-to-day; react to problems Spend time with people Fill the calendar by requests — John C. Maxwell

The unwillingness of most leaders to set standards, to administer feedback when standards are not met, to praise clearly when standards are met, stands in the way of the development of excellence. The leader who makes no demands of his disciples cannot really lead them at all. The sense of new excitement and new challenge generated by the gospel will be blunted by leaders who shield followers from the full demands of fellowship. — Neal A. Maxwell

Moral authority is another way to define servant leadership because it represents a reciprocal choice between leader and follower. If the leader is principle centered, he or she will develop moral authority. If the follower is principle centered, he or she will follow the leader. In this sense, both leaders and followers are followers. Why? They follow truth. They follow natural law. They follow principles. They follow a common, agreed-upon vision. They share values. They grow to trust one another. — Robert K. Greenleaf

Such leadership occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality. — James MacGregor Burns

While few religious leaders and scholars would doubt the commonalities that exist among the various religious groups, the followers of these religions unfortunately struggle in their effort to peacefully coexist. — Alcee Hastings

Leaders destroy the followers and followers destroy the leaders. — Jiddu Krishnamurti

Leading, not following We've been trained to follow. In fact, the very nature of training has following built right into it. We follow instructions. We follow the rules. We follow the leader. The challenge in a six-billion person world is that we don't have a shortage of followers. Followers are easy to find, and the tools for compliance are more powerful (but less useful) than ever. Now the economy is demanding leaders. Human beings who can engage in what it really means to be a person - to forge connections, to see a path and to make a difference. — Seth Godin

The importance of reading on the part of freedom loving people cannot be underestimated. Well-read people are able to think through issues better than non-readers are. Those who are well read will be able to become leaders in society. Non-readers are often doomed to be nothing more than followers. The dumbed-down graduates of the government schools are unable to think through the issues of day let alone even know what the issues are. They fall prey to specious arguments and deceptive manipulative politicians who promise anything to achieve an agenda or to stay in power. — Jack Kettler

Guna impact not just matter but also the mind. Thus, thought and emotions also display the three tendencies. Therefore some people are lazy followers, some are driven leaders who want to change the world and some decide when to follow and when to lead, and know that the world can be changed only cosmetically with technology, but not in essence, at a psychological level. Tamas guna stops us from thinking, so we follow the trend. Rajas guna stops us from trusting anyone but ourselves. Sattva guna makes us care for those who are frightened, intimidated by the diverse and dynamic reality of the world. — Devdutt Pattanaik

Trust is the emotional glue that binds followers and leaders together. — Warren G. Bennis