Leading Leadership Quotes & Sayings

Don't focus so much on who is following you, that you forget to lead. — E'yen A. Gardner

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

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

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

Authentic leadership is about leading from the core of who we are to inspire each of us to our best contribution toward a shared mission. — Henna Inam

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

We do have special forces, we do have trainers, we do have the military personnel who are helping with the airstrikes that the United States is leading so that we can try to take out ISIS infrastructure, take out their leadership. — Hillary Clinton

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

Always hear others out and remain open-minded; the day you think you know everything is the day you have the most yet to learn. — A.J. Darkholme

NOTORIETY, n. The fame of one's competitor for public honors. The kind of renown most accessible and acceptable to mediocrity. A Jacob's-ladder leading to the vaudeville stage, with angels ascending and descending. — Ambrose Bierce

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

I admire Chancellor Merkel for her leadership qualities, but she is leading Europe in the wrong direction. — George Soros

There isn't good or bad Leadership. There is Leadership or there is not. You are Leading or you are not. — Chris Whipp

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

Your purpose will be clear only when you listen to your heart. — Lolly Daskal

My hope and prayer for all who read this book is a reformation - that an army of African-American men will make their way back into the church, back into the leadership of the church, back into leading a change in the church to be and do what it is called to be and do, so that we may have power to do good for our people, and people all over the world, in a way that no government or service organization has been or will be able to do, and that no one will be able to take away. — Eric Redmond

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

Dave Stark has taken the best of recent marketplace management concepts and married them to timeless biblical principles of leadership, translating business jargon into ministry language. The combination is an encouraging and practical guide to Christ-centered ministry leadership. This book will be helpful to anyone involved in leading a church or serious about modeling servant leadership. — Jonathan Reckford

His [brother in law Jim Hampson] appointment to the Episcopal parish in Wenham, near Gordon College brought them in close touch with leading evangelical faculty members in their pews and church leadership, including Elizabeth Elliot and Addison Leitch. They were instrumental in drawing Jim and and Sarah into the cutting edge of evangelical intellectual leadership, with friendships with Tom Howard and J.I. Packer. My ongoing relationship with Jim Packer, FitzSimons Allison and many other brilliant Anglican evangelicals would not have happened without Jim Hampson. His early influence on me in my transition from modern to classic Christian teaching was immense. While I was trying to demythologize Scripture, he was taking its plain meaning seriously. His strong preaching led him to become one of the founding sponsors and supporters of Trinity School of Ministry in Abridge, Pennsylvania ... — Thomas C. Oden

When it comes to the arc of your life, leadership is a sacred responsibility. — Paul Gibbons

If you believe the world will be a better place because you have both the desire and the means to take charge, that's the time for you to jump in. It doesn't matter if you rise up to take the lead only once or twice in your entire working life or if you do it daily. There are so many moments when you can make a difference--by enriching an outcome, saving a great idea, defending the beleaguered or downtrodden, and not least, expressing your own gifts and wisdom. — Charlotte Beers

And how does one lead? We lead by doing; we lead by being. — Bryant McGill

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

Politics is a matter of leading other people. Admittedly not where they want to go, but where they ought to go. — Peter Prange

As they were leading me up, I looked up and around the galleries and I could feel the whole Aboriginal race, of those who had gone before, were all up there, and I could visualise, I could hear voices and amongst those voices was the voice of my grandfather saying, 'It's alright now boy, you are finally in the council with the Australian Elders. Everything is now going to be alright.' — Neville Bonner

We must humble ourselves before [others] so we may learn from what others have lived. It is only when we have added their expertise to our own that we can truly excel towards our most ambitious goals and reach our fullest potential. — A.J. Darkholme

One cannot lead well until one learns to follow well. — Jacqueline Patricks

All leading from the rear gets you, is first place at the back of the line. — Mark W. Boyer

It was a part he felt himself feeling his way into, and the longer it went on, the more the men around him confirmed him in his role. It was as if they were willing him into being, as though there had to be a Big Fella, and, having desperate need of such, their growing respect, their whispered asides, their opinion of him - all this trapped him into behaving as everything he knew he was not. As if rather than him leading them by example they were leading him through adulation. — Richard Flanagan

In a world that is changing as rapidly as this one, we need to think differently about leadership. Leading is not done by those few in high places, but by parents and teachers and managers and those governing
all working together to create the world that we want. — Susan Collins

Each day you are leading by example. Whether you realize it or not or whether it's positive or negative, you are influencing those around you. — Rob Liano

Leadership is less about the position you hold than the influence you have. It's about doing world-class work, playing at your peak,
and leaving people better than you found them. It's about Leading Without a Title. — Robin Sharma

In Iraq and Syria, American leadership - including our military power - is stopping ISIL's advance, instead of getting dragged into another ground war in the Middle East, we are leading a broad coalition, including Arab nations, to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group. — Barack Obama

In nearly every case, trying to lead everyone results in leading no one in particular. — Seth Godin

Leadership is not a solo sport; if you lead alone, you are not leading. — D.A. Blankinship

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

Leading women, if they are to offer variations from the present companies of leading men, need to be drawn from a wide spectrum of household and family arrangements. If women with children and family responsibilities are almost always seriously limited by these, then those currently in power will not have the personal experience necessary to represent these overlooked areas. — Eva Cox

God is the leader of your team. As you follow Him with all your heart, you will be leading your team in Jesus' steps. — Jim George

Needless to say, you can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them. — John C. Maxwell

When it comes to leading people, there is no problem that is unique to you. — David Cottrell

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

Your men will not take the hill if you're simply yelling commands from the safety of the rear. — Noel DeJesus

What's wrong with leading the way? We've played that role before, after all. We gave the world the secret ballot ... that did so much to raise living standards and improve conditions for workers worldwide. We were a leader in extending to women the right to vote. We were barely a nation when we set the bar for bravery and sacrifice by common soldiers in foreign wars. We grew up out of racism and misogyny and homophobia to become a mostly tolerant, successful multicultural society. We did these great things because we know we are in it together. It is our core value as Australians. — Geraldine Brooks

If you think you are leading and turn around to see no one following, then you are just taking a walk. — Benjamin Hooks

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

Emperors are not made from cowards; they are made from those who take great risk where there stands to be even greater gain. — A.J. Darkholme

Who succeeds in forming and leading a Great Group? He or she is almost always a pragmatic dreamer. They are people who get things done, but they are people with immortal longings. Often, they are scientifically minded people with poetry in their souls. — Warren G. Bennis

Remain open-minded, even when you believe yourself to be a king among peasants. You never know what blessings can be gained or crises averted just by listening. — A.J. Darkholme

It's unfortunate when an athlete's talent comes with so little forethought or leadership [ ... ] The Falcons need to start over. If next year's team ends up being young and hungry but fairly average, the last thing you want as a general manager or coach is to have a blowhard cornerback whining about his contract leading the charge, no matter how good he is. — Jeff Schultz

I think a captain is someone who captains on the cricket field but, most of the leadership that happens is off the cricket field. It's very easy to captain people on the cricket field, but if you can start leading them off the cricket field, and show them that trust, what you have in them. — Gautam Gambhir

In the near term, oil is galloping ahead and leading our economy. We have to corral the "horse" and gradually reduce our dependence on oil and coal, in their present forms. Green-energy investment is inherently high-tech, and we could lead in the next-generation energy technologies, as we did and do now with oil and gas. All it takes is leadership! — Wesley K. Wark

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

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

You serve your people by leading them to excellence. That's leadership. — Horst Schulze

A leader who fails to live amongst his folk will be like a blind man that does not know the light from darkness. Yet a leader who fails to serve but waits to be served will toil endlessly in his rule and he will find no meaning in his leadership. Yet a leader who aspires for glory and fame will be like a cub that can't learn the tricks of hunting. Yet a leader that seeks wars and warmongers will cause depression among his countrymen. A leader that seeks wealth rather leading will make his countrymen corrupt. A corrupt leader will make the country poorer and corrupt because it is his law to be corrupt. A leader must live like his people. A leader will be known by his deeds and not by his name and a great leader will not govern. A leader is an example for all his subjects. A great leader will not serve while the country is getting hungrier and starving but a leader will become hungry like his hungry citizens. — David Ssembajjo

What these highly qualified individuals often do not have is sufficient experience in leading others to achieve demanding goals. Yes, they themselves are star performers. Yes, they have worked with others throughout their careers. But performing a task while working with people is vastly different from leading people effectively day by day. We have observed that star performers often race ahead of the people problems they leave in their wake, until they reach a point where their continued success depends on leadership skills they do not possess. — Timothy I. Thomas

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

Ask yourself - How do I see myself as a leader? How do I use my personal mission and vision to create leadership focus? What does my mission or vision mean in the context of leading others? How many people are going to succeed in their endeavours, through my leadership influence? Do I expect of myself, what I expect of those who follow me? Or I have my own separate standards for the same principles I expect others to live by? — Archibald Marwizi

If you fail to offer yourself for leadership then accept the blind man who is leading you. — Fenley Douglas

One of the functions of leadership is to lead, and weak managers may simply check and check and check with others because they are not capable of leading when it is required of them to lead. Benedict says that in matters of importance the abbot or prioress is to ask everyone in the community, 'starting with the youngest,' and then the abbot or prioress is to 'do what seems best. — Joan D. Chittister

Communication is the conduit of leadership from the Prime Minister down to the leading hand of a small group of council workers fixing the roads. Leadership uncommunicated is leadership unrequited! — Peter Cosgrove

If you can lead yourself when nobody is following, people will follow when you are not leading — Saji Ijiyemi

If you plan for failure, then you are expecting to fail. If you plan for success, you'll be successful. Once you start making a 'Plan B', you distract from 'Plan A', and the moment you start believing there are other options, you start settling for less. — A.J. Darkholme

Whom the society deems worthless, once they discover their special inclination, it will change the very course of their lives as well as the shape of the very society that distastes them. — Abhijit Naskar

Having a person of Dr. Berthiaume's calibre leading Library and Archives Canada will be a solid asset to the organization. His extensive experience in the management of large cultural organizations and his strong leadership are important qualifications for this position. — Shelly Glover

The art of leading, in operations large or small, is the art of dealing with humanity, of working diligently on behalf of men, of being sympathetic with them, but equally, of insisting that they make a square facing toward their own problems. — Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall

Faith is the leading grace in all our spiritual warfare and conflict; but all along, while we live, it hath faithful company that adheres to it and helps it. Love works, and hope works, and all other graces - self-denial, readiness to the cross - they all work and help faith. Yet when we come to die, faith is left alone. Now, try what faith will do. Not to be surprised with any thing is the substance of human wisdom; not to be surprised with death is a great part of the substance of our spiritual wisdom. — John Owen

No." Allie stood her ground. "I'll not go in."
"Me, neither." Jason slid from his horse. "If Allie ain't going in, I'm not going in."
Wes glanced skyward. How was it possible for his near mute wife to pick up an echo? After four years in the Army, leading men, and two years of pushing cattle to market, it took Allie to make Wes realize that a leader wasn't a leader unless he had a follower.
"All right, where would you like to sleep tonight? — Jodi Thomas

Our musical artistry and leadership of people need to work together to create an environment that welcomes participation instead of causing disengagement. — Gangai Victor

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

Serving is the best kind of Leading. — Todd Stocker

It is a rule of leading people, Gideon. You may be confused, or afraid, or overwhelmed, or all three - those who depend on you must never see it. — Daniel M. Ford

We can lead others only as far along the road as we ourselves have traveled. merely pointing the way is not enough. If we are not walking, then no one can be following, and ware not leading anyone. — J. Oswald Sanders

Being a leader is not about finding ways to get others to serve you, but knowing how to serve your followers. — A.J. Darkholme

what studies are finding is that in many cases, women are more suited for leadership roles than men. And this is thanks to the numerous innate skills that women have. These skills are leading to more women functioning at a much higher level in the workplace, while also caring more about their employees. This results in a better work environment for all those involved. — Kris Hart

Authentic leadership is leading adaptively from your core, choosing who you're most inspired to be to serve the greatest good in this moment. — Henna Inam

Leadership is not about having the charisma or speaking inspirational words, but about leading with example. — Zainab Salbi

Leading a big company means never allowing a company to take itself too seriously. — Jack Welch

To ensure that we are leading with our feet firmly planted on the soil of what is, we must live by the seven commandments of current reality:
Thou shalt not pretend.
Though shalt not turn a blind eye.
Thou shalt not exaggerate.
Thou shalt not shoot the bearer of bad news.
Thou shalt not hide behind the numbers.
Thou shalt not ignore constructive criticism.
Thou shalt not isolate thyself.
Attempting to lead while turning a blind eye to reality is like treading water: It can only go on for so long, eventually you will sink. As a next generation leader, be willing to face the truth regardless of how painful it might be. And if you don't like what you see, change it. — Andy Stanley

Leading means running fast enough to keep ahead of your people. — S.M. Stirling

Whats happening in America today is parents are emphasizing their relationship with their children instead of leadership. Anyone in leadership will tell you you cannot have a warm, fuzzy relationship with someone youre in charge of leading. — John Rosemond

Leadership is more about purpose than it is about position. — Michele Jennae

Coach's Rule: never admit a lack of experience or knowledge. Carry on at all times as though you've guided a hundred champion crews. Honesty is not the best policy when leading a bunch of college rowers. They are looking for strong, disciplined leadership and not a kinder, gentler coach. Once you've established a certain attitude and demeanor, it's nearly impossible to change to a difference mode in mid-season. — Brad Alan Lewis

Their greatest fear is you may step forward without fear.
Because your courage may become contagious. — Tom Althouse

What Michelle didn't yet know was that there is a vast difference between playing and leading. The point guard position in basketball is one of the great tutorials on leadership, and it ought to be taught in classrooms. Anyone can perfect a dribble with muscle memory; — Pat Summitt

The most important aspect of leading is knowing oneself. Know yourself, know the people around you, and then get on with it. — Mervyn Davies

How was your day? If your answer was "fine," then I don't think you were leading. — Seth Godin

True leadership, true and genuine leading requires intelligence, an independent mind, the ability to delay gratification, the ability to think long term, and above all else a spine. — Aaron Clarey

Whereas many coaches left to others the minutiae of leading an organization, Walsh broke down the minute-to-minute progression of team practices, defined responsibilities for coaches and players, and set rules for how to handle business matters such as negotiating contracts and dealing with the media. He also dispensed with an authoritarian style of leadership and empowered individuals by teaching them to think independently. These innovations amounted to a comprehensive new approach to coaching, one adopted and refined by a generation of Walsh's successors. — Sydney Finkelstein

Leadership is all about leading your life with a cause greater than yourself and continuously doing self-development. — Deepak Burfiwala

Leading in a complex world means recognizing the simple things you can do to make things better. — Condoleezza Rice

PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom - and of whom only - it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President. — Ambrose Bierce

In my first leadership position, I mistakenly thought that being named the leader meant that I was the leader. Back then I defined leading as a noun - as the position I was appointed to - not a verb - as what I was doing. Though I had been hired as the senior pastor, I quickly discovered the real leader of the church was a down-to-earth farmer named Claude, who had been earning his leadership influence through many positive actions over many years. He later explained it to me, saying, "John, all the letters — John C. Maxwell

The point is, a leader does what he thinks is right, not what he thinks the popular thing is. — Bill Maher

Patience is important for a man, vital for a leader — James Clavell

If leadership is about anything, it's about leading. Not leading people back to where they already are, because they don't need that. They're already there. — Robert Reich

But after about a year praying, there was just this clear direction. The leadership team believed that God was leading us to focus on fatherhood. If God is leading, then God will provide. So we begin to get storyline ideas that lined up with the subject of fatherhood that we're working on and fitting, and we were thinking, okay this is good. At the same time, as we are studying scriptures and we're on our journey as fathers, we are learning about fatherhood every day. — Stephen Kendrick

The length of life takes the leading place among inquiries about events following birth. — Ptolemy

It remains for you to save one before saving others, to lead one before leading others. — Dan Groat

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