Leading Leaders Quotes & Sayings

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

Leaders learn by leading, and they learn bestby leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders. — Warren G. Bennis

Because sometimes the best leaders are the ones who have no interest in leading. Those are often the ones who are most interested in doing what is right, not what is popular. — Joelle Charbonneau

It was now pointed out that the black male child, even in a black school using white textbooks, could early come to the conclusion that all the heroes in history were white men. Furthermore, with the exception of nationally known black civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Roy Wilkins, James Farmer, and others, the black male child frequently saw the adult black male as ineffectual and defeated. The old picture of the white man leading the black man by the hand toward the solution to his problems again gave the black male child a view of the adult black male as something not worth becoming, and killed his spirit and his will to become an adult, problem-solving individual. — John Howard Griffin

The litmus test for our success as Leaders is not how many people we are leading, but how many we are transforming into leaders — Kayode Fayemi

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

Missional leaders not only feel the burden of God's mission but they also act on the burden and act upon it sacrificially. Leading a missional church is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and to lead the church beyond it personal limits. Brokenness, inner turmoil and sacrifice will always be part of the missional leader's life. — Gary Rohrmayer

Leaders make impacts. If your riches don't help you to make impacts, you aren't leading anyone; rather, money is leading you. — Israelmore Ayivor

Before we ask where the leaders are, we should look in a mirror and ask the person we see "Why are you not leading"? — Carlos Wallace

Here, dear reader, you must summon patient compassion. Try to imagine the hardships of a military officer triply burdened by close relationships with political leaders and the national news media, an Ivy League PhD, and wartime triumphs leading an elite airborne division. Our hero somehow survived in spite of it all. He rose against his handicaps, triumphing over the awful mark of Princeton University, that great gathering place for outcasts, rebels, and the socially obscure. He secured higher military rank even though he had been successful in combat. He adroitly worked CBS News, the Washington Post, and the United States Senate, yet still rose to prominence. — Chris Bray

Whether there are innately female leadership styles ... is not really the right question. It is more important to ask why there has been so little attention paid to women leaders over the years as well as why the styles of leading more often exhibited by women are particularly useful at this critical moment in history. — Charlotte Bunch

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

The Lord Almighty leads this Church, and he will never suffer you to be led astray if you are found doing your duty. You may go home and sleep as sweetly as a babe in its mother's arms, as to any danger of your leaders leading you astray, for if they should try to do so the Lord would quickly sweep them from the earth. Your leaders are trying to live their religion as far as they are capable of doing so — Brigham Young

Great leaders genuinely care for and love the people they lead more than they love leading itself. — Rick Warren

No Socialist system can be established without a political police. Many of those who are advocating Socialism or voting Socialist today will be horrified at this idea. That is because they are short-sighted, that is because they do not see where their theories are leading them. No Socialist Government conducting the entire life and industry of the country could afford to allow free, sharp, or violently-worded expressions of public discontent. They would have to fall back on some form of Gestapo, no doubt very humanely directed in the first instance. And this would nip opinion in the bud; it would stop criticism as it reared its head, and it would gather all the power to the supreme party and the party leaders, rising like stately pinnacles above their vast bureaucracies of Civil servants, no longer servants and no longer civil. — Winston S. Churchill

There is this sense of David Cameron leading a Government that's badly out of touch with ordinary people's lives. I'd absolutely welcome the opportunity to show all political leaders what life is like for most people. — Frances O'Grady

I've heard bombs going off in our embassies, mobs screaming for blood, mullahs issuing death decrees, so-called leaders yelling for jihad. They've been burning books, Dave - the temperature of hate in parts of the Islamic world has gone out to Pluto. And I've been listening to them." "And you don't think we have - the people in Washington?" He said it without anger. I was at one time a leading intelligence agent and I think he genuinely wanted to know. "Maybe in your heads. Not in your gut." He turned and looked out the window. It was starting to rain. He was quiet for a long time and I began to wonder if his blood pressure had taken off again. "I think you're right," he said at last. "I think, like the Jews, we believed in the fundamental goodness of men; we never thought it could really happen. — Terry Hayes

What I'm interested in is the fascinating image of young leaders ... you know, young people leading in different fields. You see athletes and people in gymnastics, where the requirement is that you are supple and very, very young ... 11 ... and by the time you're 14, you're already over the hill. — Salman Khurshid

Leaders when not leading are outcasts. — Harold Klemp

Leaders should be leading, not hunting around in the weeds for land mines. — Michael Bader

Good leaders are always in the "act" of leading. They listen as much to others as they listen to themselves. — Maureen Chiquet

Good leaders sacrifice for others to survive; bad leaders sacrifice others to survive — Saji Ijiyemi

Leaders must embrace those they need the most versus holding them hostage. — Curt Coffman

A leader is someone you are not disappointed in placing trust in. When that person makes suggestions, you are inclined to trust [them]. Often it is people who have been there [in a similar situation to the people he or she is leading]. They would generally be people who are ready to take the risks themselves. Most leaders would be people who don't ever give commands and remain at home and let the foot soldiers be the ones who bear the brunt. — Desmond Tutu

In Leading with Honor, Lee uses gripping stories from the POW camps to engage the reader and teach invaluable principles of leadership. I highly recommend this book for developing leaders at all levels in any organization, military of civilian. — William R. Looney III

Leaders are the human catalyst that overcomes our desire for the status quo. — Scott Hammerle

True worship leaders worship the Lord at all times and use songs only when necessary. — Gangai Victor

Leaders need to remember that the point of leading is not to cross the finish line first. It's to take people across the finish line with you. For that reason, leaders must deliberately slow their pace, stay connected to their people, enlist others to help fulfill the vision, and keep people going. You can't do that if you're running too far ahead of your people. — John C. Maxwell

The greatest way to ensure your company's failure is to appoint leaders who see a divide between themselves and the team; who are more fixated on their elevated role than on the act of leading. — Steve Maraboli

Leaders dramatically influence the culture of their organizations through their own work habits. Being a leader does not mean one has 'made it' and is now exempt from hard work. Rather, leaders should set the pace for others. Few things discourage employees and volunteers any more than lazy leaders. Leaders should not ask their people to undertake tasks they are unwilling to perform themselves. — Henry T. Blackaby

when organizations adopt Agile practices, it is imperative that team leaders and development managers learn a better approach to leading and managing their teams. — Jurgen Appelo

The only service to be done for our downtrodden sisters and brother, is to give them education to develop their individuality. We must give them ideas, alongside cultivating their living conditions. — Abhijit Naskar

Why would god allow the Holocaust to happen? If god made everything, why did he invent sin to trick us and then hold our sins against us? Why are there so many religions in the world if god created the world and wants us to be Christian? Why does god allow people to fight wars over him? What if you were born in a different culture and never even heard of Jesus Christ - would god send you to hell for not being Christian? And if so, do you believe that's fair? Why are men always the leaders in your church? Aren't women capable of leading too? Isn't such a patriarchal system sexist in this day and age? Why do so many babies die? Why are there so many poor people in the world? Did Jesus visit any other planets in distant unknown universes? — Matthew Quick

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

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

It is an honor to be with thousands of leaders from around the world who are united in their mission to eradicate violence against women. Avon is proud to share their commitment to this goal. We are honored to be a leading supporter of the 2nd World Conference of Women's Shelters, and are grateful for the work that all of you do day in and day out to ensure that women across the world can find ways to live their lives free of violence. — Andrea Jung

Leading a missional church is not for the faint of heart. It takes courage to push yourself beyond your comfort zone and to lead the church beyond it personal limits. — Gary Rohrmayer

All leaders are learners. The moment you stop learning, you stop leading. I learn as much as I can, from as many as I can, as often as I can. — Rick Warren

I am struck by how many leading women ... today started as Girl Scouts. It is an organization that obviously develops strong women leaders. — Christine Todd Whitman

Our leading men are not of much account and never have been, but the average of the people is immense, beyond all history. Sometimes I think in all departments, literature and art included, that will be the way our superiority will exhibit itself. We will not have great individuals or great leaders, but a great average bulk, unprecedentedly great. — Walt Whitman

Worship leaders, let's choose to praise rather than perform when leading. — Tim Hughes

Politics means implementation of the best ideas for the society in the path of wellbeing and progress. This is the approach that gave the world, leaders of glorious characters such as Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Subhas Chandra Bose (the actual man behind India's Independence), Vasil Levski (the man who liberated Bulgaria from the Ottoman oppression), Nelson Mandela and many more. These people were technically politicians too, but unlike the majority of the politicians of
modern society, their approach to politics was what it should be in a real system of politics. — Abhijit Naskar

Being a leader gives you charisma. If you look and study the leaders who have succeeded, that's where charisma comes from, from the leading. — Seth Godin

Helping teacher leaders come to understand their gifts is the first step in developing a specialty. Some leaders are great coaches and should focus on instructional leadership in a district or network where that is valued and supported. Great conceptual thinkers are good in startup mode but the daily grind of leading a school doesn't suit them. Other leaders thrive on the turnaround challenge. The dynamic blended future of education will allow more role specialization. — Tom Vander Ark

Go out and lead the world; but never forget to begin by leading yourself first at home. You can't lead the environment if you can't lead yourself in it. — Israelmore Ayivor

I think the leaders inevitably express the people they are leading. — Leonard Baskin

Given the challenges and adversity we face in business and life today, Jon Gordon provides a clear road map to navigate the negativity and pitfalls that too often sabotage individual and team success as he shines a light on the truths that define great leaders, great teams, and great energy. I especially loved the part about leading with purpose. I consider this a valuable book for anyone looking to bring out the best in themselves and their team. — Tom Gegax

Quorum and group leaders should provide the leading voice and laboring oar in every ward and branch council regarding retention of converts. — D. Todd Christofferson

We are all leaders-whether we want to be or not. There is always someone we are influencing-either leading them to good-or away from good. — Leif Erikson