Great Leader Quotes

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit for doing it ~ Andrew Carnegie

President Obama, like every other leader on Earth, is still going to be looking out for national and economic interests. States don't cease to be states overnight just because they get a great visionary as their new president. ~ Samantha Power

A great leader has brains, vision, guts, values ... and a heart. ~ Ziad K. Abdelnour

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

Leaders stand out. Good leaders succeed. Great leaders make a difference in the world. ~ Cheryl Richardson

FDR's struggle with illness and subsequent metal-filled life are remarkably similar to the story of another great leader who was part robot: Iron Man. FDR, much like Tony Stark, was cocky and arrogant before his life-changing diagnosis, but the years of suffering changed all of that, and he emerged more humble, more fearless, and ready to defend America. Also, FDR wore iron braces and used a wheelchair, which, for the purposes of this comparison, is exactly like a well-armed robot suit. ~ Daniel O'Brien

Shiloh is a wonderfully dramatic battle. The leader of one side is killed, and the other one is going on to glory, and it was the first great battle. It lasted two days. ~ Shelby Foote

Every great leader of the past, whose record I have examined, was beset by difficulties and met with temporary defeat before 'arriving ~ Napoleon Hill

A great leader has the ability to instill within his people confidence in themselves. ~ John C. Maxwell

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

What is especially ironic about these professors' rhetoric of "otherness" and "queerness" is that they are, in fact, by any real-world measure, extremely conservative, lockstep, institutional, careerist creatures. Their sense of identification with their universities, their departments, and their fields of "study", not to mention the obvious way they size one another up by their titles, academic affiliation, and publications, is stifling. So are their endless pious references to Marx, Foucault, and Derrida, which bring to mind the obligatory nods to the Great Leader at some Communist Party congress. ~ Bruce Bawer

If you think that leadership is deciding what you want and telling people to do it, I feel sorry for you. Reality is going kick your ass so far that not even Google will find you. The goal of this chapter is to help you become such a great leader that you'll appear on the first page of a Google search for leader. ~ Guy Kawasaki

To become a great leader, you have to keep trying. ~ Paul King

It's not easy, being the best at what he does but still having the humility and desire to be close to those around him. In private, Messi is a great leader, a great captain. Usually the best in any area see things differently but in this case Leo is still an ordinary person and that makes our relationship work. He's the leader of ARG, he has helped us to reach two finals in one year. I have great respect for Messi the person and player. ~ Javier Mascherano

Well, Dwight was born to be No. 2 and I don't think he would know what to do as a leader. But he loves following. He would have made a great fascist. ~ Rainn Wilson

Great leaders don't play by the existing rules. ~ Mark V. Hurd

I do think stories are one of the best tools for communicating across any number of cultures. But I also think there are wildly successful leaders who are introverted, disciplined, lead via spreadsheets and goals, and might not "appear" to be a great leader ... but in retrospect, made a massive impact. ~ David Livermore

Billy Graham is one of my great lifetime heroes. I think he epitomizes the essence of what a Christian leader should be. I have participated in some of his crusades a couple of times in Atlanta. I've seen the profound impact he's had on me personally, and on other people who were not Christians and accepted Christ as Savior. ~ Jimmy Carter

I hear people everywhere saying that the trouble with our time is that we have no great leaders any more. If we look back we always had them. But to me it seems there is a very profound reason why there are no great leaders any more. It is because they are no longer needed. The message is clear. You no longer want to be led from the outside. Every man must be his own leader. He now knows enough not to follow other people. He must follow the light that's within himself, and through this light he will create a new community. ~ Laurens Van Der Post

When leadership rises to genius it has the power of transforming, of transforming experience into power. And that is what experience is for, to be made into power. The great leader creates as well as directs power. ~ Mary Parker Follett

The problems we have now in communities and societies are going to be resolved only when we are brought together by a common sense that each of us is a visionary. Each of us must come to the realization that we can function and live at the level of vision rather than following some great leader's vision. Instead of looking for a great leader, we are in an era where each of us needs to find the great leader in ourselves. ~ Werner Erhard

I was writing a chapter of Beautiful Evidence on the subject of the sculptural pedestal, which led to my thinking about what's up on the pedestal - the great leader. ~ Edward Tufte

The mob is primarily a group in which the residue of all classes are represented. This makes it so easy to mistake the mob for the people, which also comprises all strata of society. While the people in all great revolutions fight for true representation, the mob always will shout for the "strong man," the "great leader." For the mob hates society from which it is excluded, as well as Parliament where it is not represented. ~ Hannah Arendt

A great leader cannot worry about being well liked. ~ Andrew Hill

I'm not a great manager; I try to be a great leader. And for me, that's been going through a process of not how to be a great CEO but how to be a great Evan, and that's really been the challenge. ~ Evan Spiegel

Warren Berger's book is a cure for a disease in large enterprises. A More Beautiful Question provides a framework to help leaders ask the most important questions - which is one of the most fundamental characteristics of a great leader - while sharing inspiring stories to show the incredible power of this concept. ~ Jim Stengel

Terak, you are not a fool. You are a great leader, ~ Danielle Monsch

I would say a good leader brings results. A great leader writes a new story, it's different. Obviously a new story has to incorporate a lot of results. But a story is a chapter in the life of a company that people want to write and want to remember. ~ Carlos Ghosn

Sex energy is the creative energy of all geniuses. There never has been, and never will be a great leader, builder or artist lacking in the driving force of sex. ~ Napoleon Hill

Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint. ~ Lewis H. Lapham

The essential attributes of a great leader are a positive attitude, humility, and gratitude. ~ Debasish Mridha

Not everyone will become a great leader, but everyone can become a better leader. ~ John C. Maxwell

Two of the great leaders of the past - Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass - had White fathers - who deserted them. Now Margo Jefferson, who is hard on me and the fellas, wrote in the Times that she has nocturnal, erotic fantasies about John Wayne. What's up with these feminists? Do you see these double standards these feminists have? They dream about John Wayne, but they're hard on us [Black men]. ~ Ishmael Reed

All great leaders find a sense of balance through their levels of reception. For instance, those who support a leader may soften him, those who ignore him may challenge him, and those who oppose him may stroke his ego. ~ Criss Jami

A true leader is one who creates a favourable environment to bring out the energy and ability of his team. A great leader creates more great leaders, and does not reduce the institution to a single person. ~ Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Ted Turner is still a leader. And he sets a great example. His ability financially has been reduced, but his influence and his example still is an important asset to the whole environmental movement. ~ Maurice Strong

If one has the answers to all the questions - that is the proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble. ~ Pope Francis

He [Mikhail Gorbachev] has, as many great leaders have, impressive eyes ... There's a kind of laser-beam stare, a forced quality, you get from Gorbachev that does not come across as something peaceful within himself. It's the look of a kind of human volcano, or he'd probably like to describe it as a human nuclear energy plant. ~ Dan Rather

Margaret Thatcher was a great leader for her nation at a pivotal and a perilous time. So, I find the comparison flattering, but that's up to others to say whether that comparison is justified. ~ Carly Fiorina

He's very competitive and knows what he wants. He has developed toughness in character and that is what is needed for Indian cricket. Ganguly has proved to be one of the best captains. He has now acquired great leadership qualities. ~ Steve Waugh

The world doesn't need more great leaders, it needs more great people who lead. ~ Erwin McManus

I don't want to be a great leader; I want to be a man who goes around with a little oil can and when he sees a breakdown, offers his help. To me, the man who does that is greater than any holy man in saffron-colored robes. The mechanic with the oil can: that is my ideal in life. ~ Baba Amte

Any great leader in any society probably gives better than he gets ~ Rick Atkinson

A great leader needs to love and respect people, and he needs to be comfortable with himself and with the world. He also needs to be able to forgive himself and others. In other words, a leader needs grace. ~ Leo Hindery

..:"Out of humiliation comes humility." Your humiliation brings forth humility that will enables you to be able to lead and live by your deeds and actions and not by words alone. For a great leader guides, and any other random boss or "leader" will just tell you what to do:.. ~ Rafael Garcia

Commit to Excellence. Become massively innovative and wear your passion on your sleeve. They might call you different or weird or even crazy. But please remember, every great leader (or visionary or brave thinker) was initially laughed at. Now they are revered. ~ Robin Sharma

Every great leader is a great teacher, and the greatest leaders seize every opportunity to teach well. ~ Albert Mohler

Cause I was such a novice and thank God that Sarah was as seasoned as she was because she was really a great leader in that regard in the sense that she would communicate really well with the crew. ~ Charisma Carpenter

The best form of leadership is to be conscious of the leadership potential with the followers and to let them unleash this potential in a spontaneous way. When a great leader accomplishes this task with effortless ease, the followers say, "We did it ourselves." ~ Laozi

Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart,
a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference. ~ Mac Anderson

The immortality of Thomas Jefferson does not lie in any one of his achievements, or in the series of his achievements, but in his attitude towards mankind and the conception which he sought to realize in action of the service owed by America to the rest of the world ... Thomas Jefferson was a great leader of men because he understood and interpreted the spirits of men. ~ Woodrow Wilson

I think of Pope Gregory the Great. He wanted the cloister. He wanted to pray and study, and yet he was thrust into this administrative job, and he submitted to that. And in that submission, he became a great leader. You could say that the only person who is safe to lead is the person who is free to submit. ~ Richard Foster

Great leader knows that under the turmoil of chaos and change, there is a beauty of patterns and designs. ~ Amit Ray

Good leaders set vision, missions, and goals. Great leaders inspire every follower at every level to internalize their purpose, and to understand that their purpose goes far beyond the mere details of their job. When everyone is united in purpose, a positive purpose that serves not only the organization but also, hopefully, the world beyond it, you have a winning team. ~ Colin Powell

At the heart of great leadership is a curious mind, heart, and spirit. ~ Chip Conley

Becoming a great leader, a great athlete, or great chef takes more than desire or even knowledge. It takes effort. It takes practice. ~ Dave Anderson

The bad leader is he who the people despise; the good leader is he who the people praise; the great leader is he who the people say, We did it ourselves ~ Peter M. Senge

No man can become a great leader of men unless he has the milk of human kindness in his own heart, and leads by suggestion and kindness, rather than by force. ~ Napoleon Hill

You can't be a great leader if your heart is not filled with greatness. ~ Debasish Mridha

Wayne Downing is also a great leader, has served our nation very well, and I think it's great that he's coming back to join a very capable administration already of dealing with this problem, and it will just strengthen that team. ~ Hugh Shelton

A great leader must always keep in mind the golden rule: respect for their subordinates.
Tribute to Noah Sealth. ~ Miguel El Portugues

Every great leader has a dream, my dream is to dream bigger. ~ Cole Melanson

To be a great leader of people - inspire them to follow you, not your rules. ~ Jeffrey Gitomer

North Koreans were indoctrinated from birth to believe that their lives were meaningless, that they existed only to serve the State, the Revolution, and the Great Leader. ~ Max Brooks

Great leaders must have two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate that vision clearly. ~ Simon Sinek

In other words, don't expect to always be great. Disappointments, failures and setbacks are a normal part of the lifecycle of a unit or a company and what the leader has to do is constantly be up and say 'we have a problem, let's go and get it'. ~ Colin Powell

Great leaders make leadership look so easy. ~ Pat Heim

The male-dominated systems know they cannot maintain their current power structures if and when the woman is restored to her natural and powerful state as a great leader and co-creator. ~ Bryant McGill

To be a great leader, you must be a great listener ~ Richard Branson

Misfortunes, untoward events, lay open, disclose the skill of a general, while success conceals his weakness, his weak points. ~ Horace

Be wary of great leaders. ~ Pete Seeger

It's been 35 years since I left school. Almost nine of them were in government; all the rest were in the private sector. And I've proven over time to be a great leader. ~ Joe Lhota

A poor leader will tell you how many people work for them. A great leader will tell you how many people they work for. ~ Simon Sinek

It has become a commonplace that aggressiveness also often has its roots in fear. I am inclined to think that this theory has been pushed too far. [ ... ] The type of aggressiveness that is the outcome of timidity is not, I think, that which inspires great leaders; the great leaders, I should say, have an exceptional self-confidence which is not only on the surface, but penetrates deep into the subconscious. ~ Bertrand Russell

I am a leader. Leaders always get heat. They're always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you're doing something right. ~ Ziggy Marley

Though there are lessons that can be learned about becoming a great leader, most exist inherently in the bellies of those who lead. ~ Simon Sinek

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is humility. ~ James C. Collins

Poor leaders push us towards the goal. Great leaders guide us through the journey. ~ Simon Sinek

Every great leader has a generosity gene. ~ Jack Welch

The third big war will begin when the big city is burning ~ Nostradamus

Ya know, Hitler was a great leader, too. ~ Lou Holtz

Anyone can face ease and success with confidence. It is the way we face trouble and misfortune that defines us. Self-pity goes with selfishness, and there is nothing more to be deplored in a leader than that. Selfishness belongs to children, and to halfwits. A great leader puts others before himself. You would be surprised how acting so makes it easier to bear one's own troubles. In order to act like a king, one need only treat everyone else like one. ~ Joe Abercrombie

Our great leader, Chairman Mao, has taught us, 'Every reactionary is the same; if you do not hit him, he will not fall. This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish by itself.'" Her ~ Ji-li Jiang

The leader is the bell ringer, the trumpet blower, the drum beater, the vibration maker, and the vision caster ... A great leader imparts the burden, inspires commitment, and sets the pace for achievement of God's purpose. ~ Phil Pringle

What's important is that I do my job really well, that I build great products and that I'm a great leader. All those things matter independent of gender. But I do think there's a responsibility for me to support other women at Google. ~ Susan Wojcicki

A great leader never sets himself above his followers except in carrying responsibilities. ~ Jules Ormont

Great leaders never accept the world as it was and always work for the world as it should be ~ Condoleezza Rice

He wove those three threads into a talk ranging from annually spending a week at Halloween as a child collecting candy to giving candy to hundreds of children at Halloween as an adult; from childhood assistance he received from adults, particularly after his parents divorced, to saying I challenge you to be a caring adult in someone's life ... Great times call forth great leaders. ~ Thomas Jefferson

WITHIN A FEW HOURS of the noon announcement, people all around North Korea began converging on statues of Kim Il-sung to pay their respects. By one frequently cited figure there are 34,000 statues of the Great Leader in the country and at each of them loyal subjects prostrated themselves with grief. People didn't want to be alone with their grief. They burst out of their homes and ran toward the statues, which were in fact the spiritual centers of each city.

Chongjin is home to some 500,000 people, but has only one twenty-five-foot bronze statue, at Pohang Square. People filled the vast square, and spilled over into the front lawn of the Revolutionary History Museum directly to the east. The crowds extended down the wide Road No. 1 all the way to the Provincial Theater and radiated out into the surrounding streets like spokes from a wheel. From above, the people looked like a line of ants streaming toward a common goal.

Hysteria and crowds make for a lethal combination. People started to surge forward, knocking down those in line, trampling people already prostrate on the ground, flattening the carefully trimmed hedges. From blocks away, the noise from the square carried through the humid air and sounded like the roar of a riot. The weather alternated between violent downpours and searing heat. No one was allowed to wear a hat or carry a parasol. The sun beat down on the bare heads and the wet sidewalks turned the streets into a roiling steambath. Peop ~ Barbara Demick

Steve held us to a high standard. He told us he was going to when we first met him at the USA camp. He's been a great leader. I mean, the guy always keeps his composure. He has an amazing mind for the game, and man, Steve, I'm just proud of him. The way he's balanced everybody and let us know what our roles are, he's been great for us. Him and the whole coaching staff. We all deserve this together, we work so hard. ~ Klay Thompson

Great leadership is about human experiences, not processes. ~ Lance Secretan

The price that must be paid for mastery is discipline. No one achieves lasting success without it. So from the moment you awake each day, devote yourself to the perfection of whatever you pursue. Do this and you will achieve self-mastery. Achieve self-mastery and you will have the makings of a great leader ... Discipline is all about cultivating powerful habits that become part of your lifestyle. ~ Robin Crow

If Captain Jean-Luc Picard asked you to serve him aboard the starship Enterprise, you'd likely be happy to. You would recognise him as a great leader and a good man, and so you wouldn't have any problem following his orders. This is basically the relationship God wants with us - not slaves, not pets, not possessions, we would be co-workers and friends. ~ Lewis N. Roe

Not even a great leader can get very far without great people to lead. ~ Ashleigh Brilliant

Great leadership is not the visit of an unexpected fate but rather a flame which is kept burning in spite of the winds of risk and opposition. ~ Mary Anne Radmacher

When you find the way to empower others, you will find that you are a great leader. ~ Debasish Mridha

Great leaders live and leave noble and indelible footprints. Any leader can start something. Any leader can do anything but, the real hallmark and a great measure of a great leader is not necessarily what happens now but, what happens later. The noble works of a true and a great leader stand the test of time and never vanish with time. ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

You talk about seeing around corners as an element of success. That's what differentiates the good leader. Not many people have it. Not many people can predict that corner. That would be a characteristic of great leaders. ~ Jack Welch

thought a glass of lassi would be refreshing. In the shop I noticed that the fan was on, but turned away from both customers and the owner. I was curious and asked why it was so. The owner glared at me and said: 'Can't you see?' I looked. The fan was pointed in the direction of a poster of our great leader, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. I shouted, 'Pakistan Zindabad!' and left without the lassi. In front of a shop, a man ~ Saadat Hasan Manto

Every great leader is clearly teaching and every great teacher is leading ~ Robert J. Marzano