Thought Leader Quotes & Sayings

Leaders don't fall in love with mediocrity. The status quo isn't their desire to maintain but to improve. — Israelmore Ayivor

Leaders know where they can function better. They don't cry over what they cannot do. — Israelmore Ayivor

I've not seen an effective manager or leader who can't spend some fraction of time down in the trenches ... If they don't do that they get out of touch with reality, and their whole thought and management process becomes abstract and disconnected. — Jeff Bezos

Shit, man, democracy failed before it started.

Who thought it was a good idea to let the masses of fucktards decide anything?

[Guess I've got more faith in people.]

People? The election of 2044 -- Curls Bellberry, a boy band presidency on the platform that the Earth is flat and that he'd nuke New York to save Social Security. There's a good reason he was the last president.

Problem with letting people pick a leader is they gravitate towards confident sociopaths no matter how stupid they are.

It's the perception of qualification that fools people.

At least by having corporate executives rule us we get folks who are good at business.

Life hurts, the world is fucked, and that's not going to change. . . — Rick Remender

Among the admirable achievements of Hannibal is included in this: that although he led a huge army, made up of countless different races, on foreign campaigns, there was never any dissension, either among the troops themselves or against their leader, whether things were going well or badly. For this, inhuman cruelty was wholly responsible. It was this, along with his countless other qualities, which made him feared and respected by his soldiers. If it had not been for his cruelty, his other qualities would not have been enough. The historians, having given little thought to this, on the one hand admire what Hannibal achieved, and on the other condemn what made his achievements possible. — Niccolo Machiavelli

Nazi theory indeed specifically denies that such a thing as "the truth" exists. [ ... ] The implied objective of this line of thought is a nightmare world in which the Leader, or some ruling clique, controls not only the future but the past. If the Leader says of such and such an event, "It never happened" - well, it never happened. If he says that two and two are five - well, two and two are five. This prospect frightens me much more than bombs [ ... ] — George Orwell

Your motive influences your motion. — Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

People who have extremely limited knowledge of The Bible or its implications may still choose to classify themselves as Christians on the basis that their parents do so - they may never even give it a second thought. This phenomenon of our nation's children inheriting religion is often overlooked because the perpetrator guilty of indoctrination is not a dictator or cult leader, but instead it is most often their own parents or close family members. — David G. McAfee

In the West the wise are usually thought of as leaders. In the East, the wise are very often though of as followers. — Frederick Lenz

What happens when a leader misses his steps on the ladder is what happens when a train misses the rail. Be on track. — Israelmore Ayivor

No matter how you are taught by your teacher about how to recite a poem, it is impossible to wear your teacher's smiling face to the stage. You got to change your own face into a smiling one! — Israelmore Ayivor

Hollow Horn Bear knew that to be leader and adviser of his people he must be honest and reliable, and that his word once given in promise must never be taken back. He knew that he must be a man of will-power, standing for the right no matter what happened to him personally; that he must have strength of purpose, allowing no influence to turn him from doing what was best for the tribe. He must be willing to serve his people without thought of pay. He must be utterly unselfish and kind-hearted to the old and poor and stand ready to give to those in need. Above all, he must be unafraid to deal equal justice to all. — Luther Standing Bear

The boy was in the Hitler Youth, he says, and he was reading a book one day, he was really enjoying it, until his troop leader found him reading it and gave him a severe warning because it was by a, a Jewish writer, it was a banned book. And the boy was so incensed that this really good book he'd been reading had been banned - was the wrong kind of book, the wrong kind of art, if you like, written by the wrong kind of writer - that he thought twice, he began to ask questions about what was happening, and then, it turns out, he went on with his sister, Sophie Scholl, their name was Scholl, to do this stellar work, to try to change things, make it possible for people to think, I mean differently. And they fought back, and they did change things. They did a lot of good before they were caught. And they were killed for it. — Ali Smith

The bottom line is that you can't lead the person you can't serve! — Israelmore Ayivor

The young man of leadership caliber will work while others waste time, study while others snooze, pray while others daydream. Slothful habits are overcome, whether in thought, deed, or dress. The emerging leader eats right, stands tall, and prepares himself to wage spiritual warfare. He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant task that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it wins no public applause. As the Spirit fills his life, he learns not to shrink from difficult situations or retreat from hard-edged people. He will kindly and courageously administer rebuke when that is called for, or he will exercise the necessary discipline when the interests of the Lord's work demand it. He will not procrastinate, but will prefer to dispatch with the hardest tasks first. — J. Oswald Sanders

I've always thought of my own mind as an unruly parliament, with a feeble leader, with crazy extremist factions. — Rivka Galchen

Disillusionment takes us to the question: what does it profit a man if he gains this world and loses himself? And disillusionment exposes that while we were supposedly serving the kingdom, we somehow became the king, and when we thought we were following Jesus, we inexplicably made him a servant of our dreams. The only real tragedy is the leader who never allows disillusionment to wear him to a nub and expose the godlessness of his busyness. — Dan B. Allender

Leaders don't settle for less. When you do so, you rob humanity of what you are supposed to deliver! — Israelmore Ayivor

He thought I was strong, but he was willing to lay down his life to protect me. He thought I was beautiful, but he treated me as a precious gift instead of something to take for his own pleasure. He thought I was worth something, and he was worth everything to me. This man had endured lifetimes of suffering, but he could still love, and give, and dream of his future. He was a leader who would sacrifice himself for the weak, who used all his gifts - his intelligence, his cunning, his strength - to protect others. It was a privilege to love him, even to have a shot at giving him the things he needed. — Sarah Fine

I couldn't wait to get to the most powerful position, because I thought then I would be able to fix problems that only the leader can fix. But when I got there, I realized we needed revolutionary change. — Mikhail Gorbachev

A thought is truly sought only if it has got, in latent or potent form, the strength of 'WE' which sounds as 'V' that stands for 'VICTORY', and so it reflects the power of a true leader who as writer or speaker involves everyone alike at the same level. — Anuj

I promise to question everything my leaders tell me. I promise to use my critical faculties. I promise to develop my independence of thought. I promise to educate myself so I can make my own judgments. — Carl Sagan

Leaders motivate people to understand that they can do better than they've already done and go farther than they've reached. — Israelmore Ayivor

Leaders heal; they don't kill. They unite; they don't disintegrate. — Israelmore Ayivor

Gifted leadership occurs when heart and head
feeling and thought
meet. These are the two winds that allow a leader to soar. — Daniel Goleman

All I cared about then was catching a glimpse of Chairman Mao. I turned my eyes quickly away from Liu to the front of the motorcade. I spotted Mao's stalwart back, his right arm steadily waving. In an instant, he had disappeared. My heart sank. Was that all I would see of Chairman Mao? Only a fleeting glimpse of his back? The sun seemed suddenly to have turned gray. All around me the Red Guards were making a huge din. The girl standing next to me had just pierced the index finger of her right hand and was squeezing blood out of it to write something on a neatly folded handkerchief. I knew exactly the words she was going to use. It had been done many times by other Red Guards and had been publicized ad nauseam: "I am the happiest person in the world today. I have seen our Great Leader Chairman Mao!" Watching her, my despair grew. Life seemed pointless. A thought flickered into my mind: perhaps I should commit suicide? — Jung Chang

Notoriously outspoken, his sentences always punctuated with profanities, General George S. Patton was the epitome of what a leader should be like - or so he thought. Patton believed a leader should look and act tough, so he cultivated his image and his personality to match his philosophy. — Simon Sinek

Never try to be a thought leader. There's no value in that. Instead, try to add value. — Chris Brogan

Creativity is the new currency, so, are you credited with new thoughts or overdrawn in old thinking? — Onyi Anyado

It was not my dream to be an artist. How could it have been? I thought, artist, much like a leader, was something you either were or weren't. Never something you set out to be. — K'naan

As we celebrate the 100th birthday of Margaret Sanger, our outrageous and our courageous leader, we will probably find a number of areas in which we may find more about Margaret Sanger than we thought we wanted to know ... — Faye Wattleton

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

He thought of how convincingly he could describe this scene to friends and make them envy the fullness of his contentment. Why couldn't he convince himself? He had everything he'd ever wanted. He had wanted superiority
and for the last year he had been the undisputed leader of his profession. He had wanted fame
and he had five thick albums of clippings. He had wanted wealth
and he had enough to insure luxury for the rest of his life. He had everything anyone ever wanted. How many people struggled and suffered to achieve what he had achieved? How many dreamed and bled and died for this, without reaching it? — Ayn Rand

Bailey might not have great intelligence or abilities, but his whole aim, thought and study was that of the born leader
to look out for himself; and he did it with that born-leader's confidence and intensity that draws along the ordinary uncertain man, who soon confuses his own interest and his own safety with that of the leader. — James Gould Cozzens

Dawson looked at him, his jaw clenched earnestly, and remembered when he thought Jared was the leader of the two of them. He should have been the leader - he was the older one, the more experienced one. But moment by moment, text by text, touch by touch, it had finally dawned on Dawson that Dawson would survive if their relationship detonated and dissipated in smoke and flames. Jared would be in the heart of the blast. Scientists with microscopes and DNA detectors wouldn't be able to find him again. — Amy Lane

To be a thought leader, you have to have a thought. — Eric Schmidt

I owe my discovery of the Hot Club of Cowtown to Kinky Friedman, leader of the Texas Jewboys. When I saw that Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were headlining the 2003 Santa Clarita Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival, I thought it my duty to check out the band that had inspired the Texas Jewboys. — Clive Sinclair

If it's not as easy as we thought it was, for women to speak our truth, to even know our truth, then the missing ingredient is some sort of inner courage. To first of all, believe in the validity of who we are. And then to speak from it. It takes inner courage. As a leader in a large organization, I've often been the only woman working with powerful men, especially when I was younger. — Elizabeth Lesser

Leaders show examples. They have something to offer and they'll offer it by the process of how they got it. Anyone who has no examples to show may not lead better. — Israelmore Ayivor

Gandhi was such an important figure to the pacifists of the '30s, and he was such an extraordinary embodiment of nonviolence, that I thought it was necessary to have him in there. When he would say something about the war, it was to some extent news - and he was sure to have a response that was different from that of other world leaders. — Nicholson Baker

The successful politician owes his power to the fact that he moves within the accepted framework of thought, that he thinks and talks conventionally. It would be almost a contradiction in terms for a politician to be a leader in the field of ideas. His task in a democracy is to find out what the opinions held by the largest number are, not to give currency to new opinions which may become the majority view in some distant future. — Friedrich August Von Hayek

Leaders know the great deal of productivity that comes out of a strong self-esteem. They help others to develop this esteem so that productivity can increase. — Israelmore Ayivor

Two main definitions of a true leader; His presence is noticed and his absence is felt ... ! — Israelmore Ayivor

I'm an activist and I come from a very socialist background. For me, my thinking was formed by great thought leaders. And wealth preserving wasn't part of my thinking. — Anita Roddick

That moment was very important because it was political. That's what has to be done, so they struck a deal. She figures his is a well-thought-out motivation that she felt was worthy trade-off. The motivation here is survival, and she has to think like a leader. — Mary McDonnell

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

If you want to be a thought leader, market leader, or change the world - you have to give up the need to be liked. Telling people what they want to hear makes you popular. Telling people what they need to hear makes you relevant, empowering, and significant.

Don't pander to the masses. Speak to the people you really want to reach and be honest. Challenge them to do more and become better. And know that if you're not attracting some haters - you're probably not doing something significant. — Randy Gage

You can't lead people to where you've not been yourself. When you all get stranded, you need the knowledge of someone who knows the way! — Israelmore Ayivor

God has buried your leadership roles in your gifting. To take the lead, you got to unzip the gift bag. It's your responsible to make it happen! — Israelmore Ayivor

You grow up inside these neighborhoods and these communities, and you have friends, friends that you love, friends that you grew up with since elementary. And you have their trust, and you have their loyalty. So it brings influence. So no matter how much of a leader I thought I was, I was always under the influence, period. — Kendrick Lamar

You can't lead people if you can't lead yourself. Self-leadership qualities qualifies you to become a co-operate leader. — Israelmore Ayivor

Contrary to popular opinion, leaders aren't created out of fame. Fame is just a shadow. When you enter dark times in, it leaves you. — Israelmore Ayivor

Never reject the opportunity to take the first step. The first step is the key to obtaining the experience you have longed for. — Israelmore Ayivor

Disruptive innovation is entrepreneurs changing their industry with unique creativity. — Onyi Anyado

I meet people who use the term 'plant spirit' as a matter of course. Initially I thought they were all rather woo-woo, but as I met more brilliant, accomplished plant spirit thought leaders, my thoughts started to shift to, "What am I missing here?" — Zoe Helene

Your passion may determine what you can do, but your attitude redefines how far you can go while you do what you can. Your attitude leads you and you lead other people! — Israelmore Ayivor

There was a very famous leader in Atlanta who thought that education was appropriate, but on the whole, the view was, 'If you're going to keep people down, you have to keep them ignorant. And so, nothing personal, but we just don't want to recognize the attributes that man of learning would bring. Quite threatening, those would be.' — David Levering Lewis

To become distinguished in your industry, you have to constantly manage, master and maximise your time. — Onyi Anyado

Opportunities loiter in every corner. Everyone may see them, but it's only great leaders that stop by to give them lifts! — Israelmore Ayivor

The real character of leaders does not show in fair weathers. When the sun of life begins to go hot, you will see for yourself some leaders are already melting off! — Israelmore Ayivor

Leaders face battles. They don't run away from troubles. — Israelmore Ayivor

When you are a person people can trust, they will call on upon you, love to be around you and work with you. — Israelmore Ayivor

I will never be a leader of men, and neither do I want to be one, and neither do I want to be led. I thought: I want to lead only myself. — Patrick DeWitt

It's easy for the thought-leader and executive classes to embrace a 'do what you love and love what you do' philosophy when they are wealthy enough to work hard only voluntarily, and when their jobs grant them status. — Alex Pareene

The leader's job is to show the way. The bottom line is that you can't tell anything about the condition of the way if you've not traveled on it yourself! — Israelmore Ayivor

I never thought of myself as the leader. The most important person, perhaps. — Freddie Mercury

In his book The African Slave Trade, Basil Davidson contrasts law and in the Congo in the early 16th century with law in Portugal and England. In those European countries, where the idea of private property was becoming powerful, theft was punishable brutally. In England, even as late as 1740, a child could be hanged for stealing a rag of cotton. But in the Congo, communal life persisted. The idea of private property was a strange one, and thefts were punished with fines or various degrees of servitude.

A Congolese leader told of the Portuguese legal codes asked a Portuguese once, teasingly, 'What is the penalty in Portugal for anyone who puts his feet on the ground? — Howard Zinn

The leader's commandment is made up of pledges to solve local and global problems, and not to create more problems to add to the existing ones. — Israelmore Ayivor

The test of greatness as applied to a political leader is the success of his plans and his enterprises, which means his ability to reach the goal for which he sets out; whereas the final goal set up by the political philosopher can never be reached; for human thought may grasp truths and picture ends which it sees like clear crystal, though such ends can never be completely fulfilled because human nature is weak and imperfect. The — Adolf Hitler

A compassionate government does not need to pay too much attention to those who don't have needs. True leadership is to fulfill a need of the needy. People who have needs need attention indeed! Be a true leader! — Israelmore Ayivor

Between a plan and it's achievement is a leader in the middle. With his one arm he makes the plan. With the other one he carries them through. — Israelmore Ayivor

The speed at which progress rolls is not determined by the number of people who started pushing it, but by the number of people who are passionate to hold on doing so. — Israelmore Ayivor

Leadership is about focus and concentrations. To be in focus, choose a clear direction. To concentrate, remain in that direction! — Israelmore Ayivor

With a positive attitude, obstacles ahead of you have two options; either they give way for you to pass or they remain as you bore a hole through them and find your way. A leader with a positive attitude never gives up! — Israelmore Ayivor

I quit it because at the end of seven years in an ensemble show with one leader, I thought: 'I will be known as 'Dallas' starring Larry Hagman and the cast.' And at this point in my career - I was in my mid to late 30s - I thought, 'Now is the time when it's hottest for me to go out and establish my thing.' — Patrick Duffy

Your character and attitude is what takes the lead in your leadership role and you follow them as a true leader. Poor character and attitude is eventually poor leadership. — Israelmore Ayivor

I think this is a moment where Donald Trump recognized the Republican establishment was much weaker, the party leaders were much weaker than they thought they were in terms of being able to dictate any outcomes. — Ben Domenech

A leader does not lose focus because he wants to please his followers. — Israelmore Ayivor

When the leader grows, the organization grows. — Israelmore Ayivor

A person who sins neither in thought nor deed, and is fair and just, gains enormous courage and strength. As a leader, you need courage born of integrity in order to be capable of powerful leadership. To achieve this courage, you must search your heart, and make sure your conscience is clear and your behavior is beyond reproach. — Konosuke Matsushita

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

As I acknowledge the boundaries within myself, I am given plenty of opportunities to reinforce them. — Renae A. Sauter

A society with too few independent thinkers is vulnerable to control by disturbed and opportunistic leaders. A society which wants to create and maintain a free and democratic social system must create responsible independence of thought among its young. — John Dewey

She froze when she thought she heard movement in a nearby copse of trees, then scanned the area. Probably just an animal. They tended to be in jungles. She turned back to the stream -
"Put your hands on your head."
Not an animal. As she slowly stood and turned, she recognized that these weren't locals. These were bad guys, three of them with machine guns aimed at her face.
In her present mood that equaled: Why, I believe I'll turn them into frogs! Just as she reached for the mirror in her pocket, they cocked their weapons.
The oldest man was clearly the leader, and his tone was deadly as he said, "Your hands on your head - or I'll put a bullet into it." He didn't have a thick accent. These must be the international narco-terrorists, the ones who made the cartel look mild. So much for the mirror's judgment.
Unless this was still better than Bowen. — Kresley Cole

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

He's the leader on this team, I know when Baltimore let us have him, they thought they were giving us a problem. I'll take problems like that anytime. — George Steinbrenner

Leaders are lovers of change. Without change, growth is static. To lead, you have to appreciate change; else change will depreciate you! — Israelmore Ayivor

Scholars still debate whether Jinnah's equally adamant insistence on a full Pakistan was a bluff. An influential school of thought holds that the Quaid always intended to settle for a united India, after he had extracted as much power and autonomy as he could for himself and the five "Muslim" provinces. The League leader was perfectly rational, Liaquat told Mountbatten: he understood, or could at least be persuaded to understand, how fragile and unworkable a shrunken Pakistan would be.79 — Nisid Hajari

He was a committed leader, capable of - or prone to - instinctive decisions. More: he could put aside thought in the service of forceful action. But in quiet moments his sensitivity sometimes led him to reconsider his own behaviour. In other words, Atticus had a conscience, and it was this that led him to what some would call faith. — Andre Alexis

So, what happens in the world is that everybody is fighting somebody. One man is lesser than another man. There is no love, there is no consideration, there is no thought. Each man wants to become somebody. A member of parliament wants to become the leader of the parliament, to become the prime minister, and so on and on and on. There is perpetual fighting, and our society is one constant struggle of one man against another, and this struggle is called the ambition to be something. Old people encourage you to do that. You must be ambitious, you must be something, you must marry a rich man or a rich woman, you must have the right kind of friends. So, the older generation, those who are frightened, those who are ugly in their hearts, try to make you like them, and you also want to be like them because you see the glamour of it all. When the governor comes, everybody bows ... — Jiddu Krishnamurti

The time it takes to fall from the top of a mountain to the floor it shorter than what it takes to climb from the floor to the top. Only leaders with character can maintain their trusts. — Israelmore Ayivor

You don't become the person you wish to become; you become the person you choose to become. True leadership does not come true wishes; it comes by choices! — Israelmore Ayivor

But he also felt a stitch of hesitation. Did God put him in the same room with Rabin so that he could eliminate the Israeli leader and his Oslo process? Or would Amir be imposing his own plan on God? He thought about the bullets in his magazine, the hollow points and the regular rounds. Then he turned his gaze back to Rabin and watched him leave the hall; Amir had missed his chance. But he gleaned valuable information. Rabin was hardly protected. If protests didn't stop the peace process, killing him might be a viable alternative. At home, he related the events to Hagai. It was too early, he told his brother. He needed to build his inner readiness. — Dan Ephron

Great leaders inspire us to go places we would never go on our own, and to attempt things we never thought we had in us. — Hans Finzel

A leader's attitude tells how often he will be the winner; his character determines how long he will be the winner. — Israelmore Ayivor

Ga thought about reminding the Dear Leader that they lived in a land where people had been trained to accept any reality presented to them. — Adam Johnson

As Kylie buried her head on the camp leader's shoulder, she heard Burnett scold, "I thought I told you to wait at the camp."
Kylie felt Holiday tense at the reprimand, and then she raised her head. "And I thought you knew I don't follow anyone's orders."
"Does anyone listen to me around here?" Burnett asked, his frustration making his tone sound almost comical.
"Obviously not," one of the FRU agents said, and chuckled. — C.C. Hunter

It is with extreme sadness that we hear of the passing of the leader of the world's Catholics, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, who commanded the three paths of religious learning, philosophical thought and poetical and artistic creativity. — Mohammad Khatami

To want a job that exercises a man's capacities in an enterprise useful to society, is utopian anarcho-syndicalism; it is labor invading the domain of management. No labor leader has entertained such a thought in our generation. Management has the "sole prerogative" to determine the products. — Paul Goodman

He is the dark prince. The all-powerful one. The leader of the creatures of the night."
Then Meena said, "I'm confused then. I thought the prince of darkness was the devil."
[ ... ]
"Wait," Meena said, blinking. " Are you saying ... "
"Yes," Alaric said. "That is exactly what I'm saying."
Jon looked blank. "I don't understand. Is he the devil or not?"
"Lucien Antonescu," Alaric said. "is a vampire. Not just any vampire, but the ruler of all vampires. — Meg Cabot