Best Leader Quotes

The best leaders don't know just one style of leadership - they're skilled at several, and have the flexibility to switch between styles as the circumstances dictate. ~ Daniel Goleman

A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example. ~ Joe DiMaggio

Why did Africa let Europe cart away millions of Africa's souls from the continent to the four corners of the wind? How could Europe lord it over a continent ten times its size? Why does needy Africa continue to let its wealth meet the needs of those outside its borders and then follow behind with hands outstretched for a loan of the very wealth it let go? How did we arrive at this, that the best leader is the one that knows how to beg for a share of what he has already given away at the price of a broken tool? Where is the future of Africa? ~ Ngugi Wa Thiongo

It won't do away with hierarchy totally, but the principal leader will be the person who most exemplifies the kind of organization and behavior required who is best able to create the conditions such organizations require. ~ Dee Hock

The best leaders are the best notetakers, best askers, and best learners. ~ Tom Peters

We have the best leaders and the most depth of leadership we've ever had. If I get hit by a truck, maybe it would get me out of the way and it would go better. ~ Charles Koch

Part of the task of the leader is to make others participate in his leadership. The best leader knows how to make his followers actually feel power themselves, not merely acknowledge his power. ~ Mary Parker Follett

The best leaders are following Christ. That's the best leader you can follow. ~ Tony Dungy

The best leaders realize their success depends on their people. ~ John C. Maxwell

The best athlete wants his opponent at his best. The best general enters the mind of his enemy. The best businessman serves the communal good. The best leader follows the will of the people. All of the embody the virtue of non-competition. Not that they don't love to compete, but they do it in the spirit of play. In this they are like children and in harmony with the Tao. ~ Laozi

I think that Hassan Nasrallah is the best leader in the Muslim world. ~ George Galloway

The best leader brings out the best in those he has stewardship over. ~ J. Richard Clarke

The best leaders collect information widely, listen to everybody, and then decide by themselves. ~ Ed Bearss

The best leaders lift people up versus tear people down. ~ Robin Sharma

One of the best paradoxes of leadership is a leader's need to be both stubborn and open-minded. A leader must insist on sticking to the vision and stay on course to the destination. But he must be open-minded during the process. ~ Simon Sinek

The best leaders try to train their followers themselves to become leaders ... they wish to be leaders of leaders. ~ Mary Parker Follett

Jeremy, Perry, Andre, Steve and Reggie, Grant, You guys make me so much better without you even knowing man. 'Cause I know I set the example for y'all. I know there's days where I have my bad days, And I say some words I'm not supposed to say sometimes, But when I need an extra push, You guys are there man. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that because I'm not always the best leader, I'm not always the best player, I don't always shoot the best in the games, But, Our little handshakes that we do before the game, That gets me going. ~ Kevin Durant

North Carolina's approach in crafting its law ensured the creation of the best possible law and, consequently, North Carolina is now the acknowledged leader in addressing predatory lending. ~ Mel Watt

Your organization needs great leaders at all levels, now more than ever. You need to be the best leader you can possibly be. ~ Vince Molinaro

Most leaders are trying to figure out the right strategy. The best leaders are obsessed with empowering the right people. ~ Craig Groeschel

Witches didn't have leaders, of course, but everyone knew that Granny Weatherwax had been the best leader they didn't have, so now someone else would need to step forward to generally steer the witches. ~ Terry Pratchett

The best leaders are humble enough to realise their victories depend upon their people. ~ John C. Maxwell

As the leader of Southeast Asia's oldest democracy, I am always keen to share our experiences. In the half-century since independence, we have found that steady reform is the best way to secure lasting stability. It is a process that continues in Malaysia to this day. ~ Najib Razak

I believe that women make some of the best leaders. ~ Amy Klobuchar

Woman is superlative; the best leader in life, the best guide in happy days, the best consoler in sorrow. ~ Johann Gottfried Seume

There's no deep bench there, Mahmoud Abbas is, I think, the best leader of the Palestinians we could field. ~ Jane Harman

I am reminded how hollow the label of leadership sometimes is and how heroic followership can be. ~ Warren G. Bennis

Earn your leadership every day. ~ Michael Jordan

They have not always elected the best leaders, particularly after a long period in which they have not used this facility of free election. You tend to lose the habit. ~ Chinua Achebe

The best leaders ... almost without exception and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols. ~ Tom Peters

You can either be a bystander who lives his life in reaction to the decisions that others make, or you can be the leader who is making those decisions. ~ Gabrielle Zevin

It's OK for China to invent cancer drugs that cure patients in the United States. We want them to catch up. But as the leader, we want to keep setting a very, very high standard. We don't want them to catch up because we're slowing down or, even worse, going into reverse. ~ Bill Gates

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. ~ John C. Maxwell

While you, the leader, can teach many things, character is not taught easily to adults who arrive at your desk lacking it. Be cautious about taking on reclamation projects regardless of the talent they may possess. Have the courage to make character count among the qualities you seek in others. ~ John Wooden

Every adult, whether he is a follower or a leader, a member of a mass or of an elite, was once a child. He was once small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his mind, ineradicably. His triumphs will be measured against this smallness; his defeats will substantiate it. ~ Erik Erikson

One of the most important lessons a leader can learn is how trust works. ~ Lolly Daskal

It remains to be seen whether the more optimistic scenario for Sino-American relations can be realised. Much rests on the shoulders of the two leaders: Obama on this score has so far been disappointing; the early signs are that Xi is a highly confident leader who thinks big. ~ Martin Jacques

There are two different types of leader. A person can either be like a thermometer or a thermostat. A thermometer will tell you what the temperature is. A thermostat will not only tell you what the temperature is, but it'll move you to the temperature you need to get to. ~ Kevin McCarthy

I AM NOT GOING TO LET FEAR BE MY LEADER. ~ Charlena E. Jackson

It would just be nice if we had leaders in Washington who could unequivocally take a stand on behalf of democratic movements in other parts of the world. And even this is true for even Brother Barack Obama. ~ Cornel West

We must never forget that people buy into the leader before they buy into a mission statement. ~ James Hunter

I see the people that do the real work, and what in a way is really sad is that the people that are often the most giving, hardworking, and capable of making this world better don't really have the ambition and ego to be a leader - they don't see any interest in the rewards, they don't care if their names ever appear in the press, they actually enjoy the process of helping others, they are truly in the moment. ~ Richard Linklater

Creon: See that you never side with those who break my orders.
Leader: Never. Only a fool could be in love with death.
Creon: Death is the price - you're right. But all too often the mere hope of money has ruined many men. ~ Sophocles

By preaching the doctrine that nothing is to be admired except steel and concrete, one merely makes it a little surer that human beings will have no outlet for their surplus energy except in hatred and leader worship. ~ George Orwell

The moment a leader allows himself to become the primary reality people worry about, rather than reality being the primary reality, you have a recipe for mediocrity, or worse. This is one of the key reasons why less charismatic leaders often produce better long-term results than their more charismatic counterparts. ~ James C. Collins

I am personally convinced that one person can be a change catalyst, a 'transformer' in any situation, any organization. Such an individual is yeast that can leaven an entire loaf. It requires vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, and faith to be a transforming leader. ~ Stephen Covey

Kim Il Sung not only presided over the birth of a new nation in an old land, he was inextricably bound to the fate of North Korea. Perhaps to a greater degree than any other modern political leader, he may be seen as the full embodiment of the state. Indeed, Kim was more integral to state and society in North Korea than Stalin in the Soviet Union, or Mao in China. ~ Kim Il-sung

A great leader also has the ability to make people an inch taller in his presence. ~ N. R. Narayana Murthy

All leaders make mistakes. They are a part of life. Successful leaders recognize their errors, learn from them, and work to correct their faults. ~ John C. Maxwell

Enlightenment is the emancipation of man from a state of self-imposed tutelage ... of incapacity to use his own intelligence without external guidance. Such a state of tutelage I call 'self-imposed' if it is due, not to lack of intelligence, but to lack of courage or determination to use one's own intelligence without the help of a leader. Sapere aude! Dare to use your own intelligence! This is the battle-cry of the Enlightenment. ~ Immanuel Kant

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force. ~ Andre Maurois

Knowledge is not enough to get desired results. You must have the more elusive ability to teach and to motivate. This defines a leader; if you can't teach and you can't motivate, you can't lead. ~ John Wooden

The Ukrainian opposition should adopt democratic unity as its main principle, and it also must have one leader. ~ Zbigniew Brzezinski

To know that children are suffering and going without food is intolerable in a society such as ours. I hope that all our leaders, in both the public and private sectors, will work tirelessly to eradicate hunger. We all have a responsibility to bring back life to our most precious natural resource. ~ Joan Lunden

Striving for balance forces a leader to invest time and energy in aspects of leadership where he will never succeed. It is not realistic to strive for balance within the sphere of our personal leadership abilities.
... discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else. ~ Andy Stanley

I'm really worried about what the world is going to be like when my daughters are young women, [when] they are young leaders or mothers or businesspeople - whatever they're going to be. I'm afraid they're going to have a less healthy and less biologically rich planet. ~ Jeff Corwin

ATTITUDE 1: FOLLOW THE GOLDEN RULE ATTITUDE 2: REQUIRE AGREEMENT ATTITUDE 3: SOW ONLY GOOD SEED ATTITUDE 4: BE A SERVANT-LEADER ATTITUDE 5: DELEGATE AND EMPOWER ATTITUDE 6: WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN ATTITUDE 7: BE SLOW TO JUDGE ATTITUDE 8: BE FAIR IN DISCIPLINE ATTITUDE 9: MAINTAIN PERSPECTIVE ATTITUDE 10: OBSERVE A SABBATH REST ATTITUDE 11: HAVE A VISION ATTITUDE 12: NURTURE JOY ATTITUDE 13: MIND THE SEASONS ATTITUDE 14: BE VIGILANT ~ William C. Oakes

Connect with people, visibly and loudly showcase initiatives that reduce greenhouse gases emissions, nurture youth leaders, or spread the message by raising awareness through campaigns. I am convinced that your contributions will ensure that climate change solutions safely power our - and especially your - future. ~ Christiana Figueres

Assorted theories have been advanced to explain confirmation bias - why people rush to embrace information that supports their beliefs while rejecting information that disputes them: that first impressions are difficult to dislodge, that there's a primitive instinct to defend one's turf, that people tend to have emotional rather than intellectual responses to being challenged and are loath to carefully examine evidence.
Group dynamics only exaggerate these tendencies, the author and legal scholar Cass Sunstein observed in his book Going to Extremes: insularity often means limited information input (and usually information that reinforces preexisting views) and a desire for peer approval; and if the group's leader "does not encourage dissent and is inclined to an identifiable conclusion, it is highly likely that the group as a whole will move toward that conclusion."
Once the group has been psychologically walled off, Sunstein wrote, "the information and views of those outside the group can be discredited, and hence nothing will disturb the process of polarization as group members continue to talk." In fact, groups of like-minded people can become breeding grounds for extreme movements. "Terrorists are made, not born," Sunstein observed, "and terrorist networks often operate in just this way. As a result, they can move otherwise ordinary people to violent acts. ~ Michiko Kakutani

Paul Ryan is a nationally tested leader that is widely known and respected. ~ Bob Beauprez

If you have a charismatic cause you don't need to be a charismatic leader. ~ James C. Collins

It is a grave error for any leader to be oversensitive in the face of criticism ~ Nelson Mandela

As a leader, you need to care deeply, deeply about your people while not worrying or really even caring about what they think about you. Managing by trying to be liked is the path to ruin. ~ Dick Costolo

The Conservative Party isn't electing a leader in opposition after losing a general election who can build up over five years and gain experience. We're electing somebody who's going to be our prime minister in two months' time, and that's why it's very important we have somebody with strong experience, who's good at working with the international community and can hit the ground running. ~ Chris Grayling

Initiative, imagination, and courage distinguish between a leader and a follower. ~ Debasish Mridha