The 40 best Leadership quotes (very inspirational)

A review of several aphorisms and motivational reflections on leadership.

We consider a leader to be a person or persons capable of organizing and guiding the behavior of a group towards one or more specific objectives, being recognized by those he or she leads. This position, associated with power but also with responsibility and commitment, can be a heavy burden.

Leading is not easy: you have to assume the direction that the team takes, the confrontation of difficulties both in the task and among the members of the group or the consequences and responsibilities arising from the decisions taken. That is why in this article we will look at some great leadership phrases that can serve as inspiration. that can serve as inspiration.

A quarantine of great leadership phrases

There are many authors who have reflected their thoughts on what leadership implies, due to the high impact that the role of those who are considered leaders can have on all those who follow them or whom they lead. Below is a small selection of quotes on leadership proposed by different thinkers, experts and proposed by different thinkers, experts and leaders throughout history.

1. To lead people, walk behind them (Lao Tzu)

This first sentence reflects a fundamental fact: a leader is a leader because he has those who recognize him and follow him, being a true leader not the one who does what he pleases supported by power but the one who truly cares about those who have put him where he is.

2. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander (Aristotle).

The author reflects the need for those who lead to know how to put themselves in the place of those who are led by them.

3. The leader's task is to take people from where they are to where they have not been (Henry Kissinger).

Brief phrase that reflects that the leader emerges when it is necessary to reach a point that the members of the group are not able to solve individually or without coordination.

4. Power is not control. Power is strength and giving that strength to others. A leader is not someone who forces others to become stronger (Beth Revis).

This reflection makes clear reference to the existence of a difference between leading and oppressing to gain or maintain power.

5. A great person attracts great people and knows how to keep them together.

A phrase that shows the relevance of personality and disposition towards others when it comes to effective leadership.

6. The good leader knows what is true; the bad leader knows what sells best (Confucius).

Confucius tells us in this phrase that the good leader is not the one who is dedicated to manipulate others to preserve his image and power but the one who works to achieve the welfare of those he leads even though it may harm him.

7. Wild ducks follow the leader of their flock by the shape of his flight and not by the strength of his quacking (Chinese proverb).

This proverb reflects the idea that the important thing is to give and be an example, not to give an image of strength or oppress those being led.

8. A good leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes them where they don't necessarily want to go but should be (Rosalynn Carter).

The former First Lady makes reference to the fact that the decisions to be made are not always in agreement with the majority current of thought, being sometimes necessary to promote a rapprochement towards a certain position.

9. Anyone can hold the rudder when the sea is calm (Publilio Siro)

This author tells us that true leadership is shown when difficulties arise, being easy to lead without any real problem.

10. The supreme quality of leadership is integrity (Dwight Eisenhower).

Eisenhower points out the importance of integrity in the leader's role.

11. The best executive is the one who has sense enough to choose good men to do what they want to do and restraint enough not to mess with them while doing it (Theodore Roosevelt).

A good leader is able to make the best use of the skills of those he/she leads, always respecting them for what they are: those who have put him/her in a position of power.

12. It is better to lead from behind and put others in front, especially when things are going well. Instead, you should take the front line when there is danger. That is when people will appreciate your leadership (Nelson Mandela).

Mandela reflects in this phrase on the importance of letting others develop freely but acting with alacrity and showing your face in times of need.

13. People should not feel obligated. They should be able to choose their own leader (Albert Einstein).

The true leadership is the one that arises from the recognition and not from the imposition, as the well-known author of this phrase indicates.

14. The art of communication is the language of leadership (James Humes).

This phrase indicates the importance of the leader being able to communicate correctly the different objectives and aspects that those who follow him must take into account, as well as being able to accept and value the opinions of each one of them.

15. Do not go where the road leads. Go where there is no path and leave your mark (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

A phrase that reflects that the leader does not limit himself to following the prescribed path, but is capable of creating new solutions and paths for others to follow.

16. In terms of style, swim with the flow. In terms of principle, stand like a rock (Thomas Jefferson).

This phrase reflects the need to be adaptable but at the same time maintain the principles and values that guide you. maintain the principles and values that guide you..

17. A good leader doesn't get stuck behind his desk (Richard Branson)

If someone wants to be a good leader, he cannot be passive: he must be able to observe and respond to changes in the environment and the needs of those he leads, offering his support and truly exercising his role in contact with reality.

18. Example is not the main thing to influence others. It is the only thing (Albert Schweitzer).

As we have already mentioned, setting an example is what makes someone recognized and deserving of respect and even leadership.

19. A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make difficult decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one because of his actions and the integrity of his intention (Douglas MacArthur).

Being a leader is something that is not an entitlement, but something that comes from deserving it. Likewise, the good leader is able to deal with what is necessary, what must be done to achieve it, and its consequences.

Stay with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but leave him when he is no longer right (Abraham Lincoln).

This phrase refers to the need to show that leadership is not something eternal or absolute or that a leader does not always have to be right. It is important not to become obsessed or idealize the leader and to know how to separate from him when he stops fighting for what is right.

21. There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through knowledge and trust (Klaus Balkenhol).

A phrase that clearly differentiates between the position obtained by position or imposition and that obtained by respect.

22. A good leader is not a seeker of consensus, but a molder of consensus (Martin Luther King).

The leader should not simply wait for everyone to agree, but should actively seek to build consensus and move toward something positive.

23. Leadership and learning are indispensable for each other (John F. Kennedy).

Leadership needs learning to be able to exercise and regulate its functions, while learning needs guidance in order to be carried out.

24. Leadership is unlocking the potential of people to make them better (Bill Bradley).

The good leader helps others to optimize and develop their full potential.

25. Leadership is not about titles, positions or flow charts, it is about one life influencing another (John Maxwell)

The importance of leadership is really the effect it has on those it leads and the repercussions its actions can have on their lives.

26. Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but by the presence of clear strengths (John Zenger).

Although in some of the previous sentences we have mentioned some typical characteristics of a good leader, the truth is that this does not imply that they cannot have weaknesses: all of us have a Wide range of defects and weaknesses. As far as What the personalities who are leaders excel in usually stand out is the existence of great strengths.

27. The secret of leadership is simple: do what you believe in, draw a picture of the future and go there (Seth Godin).

Striving to achieve a goal, and helping to guide towards its attainment is ultimately the only meaning of leadership.

28. The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist hopes it will change. The leader trims the sails (John Maxwell)

The leader's role is that of a guide to action, and must be a fundamentally active element in the achievement of objectives.

29. If a leader does not transmit passion and intensity, then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they will begin to fall and become depressed (Colin Powell).

A phrase that reflects the need for those who lead to do so with motivation and with the purpose of generating it in others.

30. The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude, kind but not weak, thoughtful but not lazy, confident but not arrogant, humble but not shy, proud but not arrogant, humorous but not foolish (Jim Rohn).

We have already commented above that the role of the leader is a difficult one, and that the existence of certain factors such as those mentioned above is very useful, but without taking them to the extreme.

31. The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I". They don't think "I." They think "we. They think "team" (Tom Peters)

A phrase that highlights the importance of focusing on the well-being of the team and the team achieving its goals, leaving and on the team achieving its goals, leaving aside the "self".

Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results (George S. Patton).

The leader should not mark every step of the way, but indicate the direction in which to go and allow everyone's capabilities to flow.

33. Leaders are visionaries with an undeveloped sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them (Robert Jarvik).

Although some caution is good, fear should not allow leadership to lose its steam but rather the leader should take the risks and pursue the proposed goals.

34. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and be more, you are a leader (John Quincy Adams).

A leader not only leads, but must also serve as an example and inspiration.

35. People who are truly powerful are very humble. They don't try to impress, they don't try to influence others. They just are. Other people are magnetically attracted to them (Sanaya Roman).

Beautiful phrase that reflects that those who get the most recognition are usually the truly humble ones, which often makes them beloved leaders.

36. Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has demonstrated ability, wisdom and competence (Walt Disney).

A brief but accurate definition of what leadership entails.

37. A leader is best when people hardly know he exists, when his work is done and his goal accomplished they will say: we did it (Lao Tzu).

This author reflects the idea that the best leader is the one who is able to convince others that the results obtained are due only to his own actions. the results achieved are due solely to his own actionsThis is true even if there has been little perceived guidance behind it. It also implies that the leader in question does not lead for the sake of recognition but out of a genuine interest in achieving the proposed goals.

38. Become the kind of leader that people would willingly follow, even if you had no title or position (Brian Tracy).

In line with the meaning of the previous sentence, this one talks about the importance that before becoming a leader we should try to become the kind of person we would really like to follow.

39. A leader is someone you follow to a place you would not go by yourself (Joel Barker).

This phrase tells us again that good leadership allows the members of a group as a whole to achieve results they would not achieve on their own.

40. He who has great power should use it lightly (Seneca)

This last phrase tells us that power is not something to be abused, but should only be used when necessary.