Servant Leader Quotes

The servant-leader is servant first ... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first ... ~ Robert K. Greenleaf

Love may challenge and love may correct but love will never shame. Love may call us out to uncomfortable places but love will never cast us aside. Love may demand but will never demean. Love will never ask us to dim our light lest we shine too brightly. Love will never ask us to be less than we were created to be.
By this we know God. By this we follow Jesus. By this we serve one another.
Love.
Not fear. ~ Peggy Haymes

Are you serving others or your are being served by others? ~ Saji Ijiyemi

Don't believe everything you think. Our minds are thought-creating machines. Most of these thoughts are fear-based. Our authentic self has the power to pick the thoughts that best serve us and those we lead. ~ Henna Inam

Be Chris LeDoux, Not Garth Brooks ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Show Us, Don't Tell Us ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Life is special when you reach out beyond yourself to be a true servant leader for others. ~ Ken Blanchard

President Obama appears to me to have elevated and implemented the artist-activist concept to the role of empowered servant-leader ... ~ Aberjhani

Serving others prepares you to lead others. ~ Jim George

Servant-leader ship is all about making the goals clear and then rolling your sleeves up and doing whatever it takes to help people win. In that situation, they don't work for you, you work for them. ~ Ken Blanchard

We all have something to offer, and we must choose to focus on what we do have to offer, not what we don't. And remember the dirty little secret is that those who are acting like they have it all together really don't. ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Each life experience poses this question: how do you want to be changed because of me? ~ Mollie Marti

As a servant leader the way you serve the vision is by developing people so that they can work on that vision even when you're not around. The ultimate sin of an effective servant leader is what happens when you are not there. That was the power of Jesus' leadership-the leaders He trained went on to change the world when He was no longer with them in bodily form. ~ Ken Blanchard

Macromanage, Not Micromanage ~ Miles Anthony Smith

You Either Trust Someone or You Don't ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Adversity Isn't to Be Avoided ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil's fools. ~ Martin Luther

The king should be the servant of his people, and seek to uplift them and their lives. ~ Aleksandra Layland

Overoptimism Is More Dangerous Than Overpessimism ~ Miles Anthony Smith

That was my first real experience at feeling set apart. Not only did I not knock them dead, but rather it was I that died...acutely aware of being mutton dressed up as lamb. I exchanged my white tie and tails for a white waiter's jacket and got back to my proper calling! ~ Graham Kerr

The theory of servant leadership is vital, but it's the active Serving Leader that makes the critical difference. ~ Ken Jennings

Seek the Blame; Give Away the Fame ~ Miles Anthony Smith

The sacrifice 'of' self for the greater good is the greatest calling imaginable, and it is the bedrock of the greatest nations. The sacrifice 'for' self is the most pathetic calling imaginable, and it is the quicksand within which nations perish. ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough

Contrary to conventional leadership in which the leader's focus is on himself and what he can accomplish and achieve. Rather, the focus is on those being served. Servant leaders do many of the same things other leaders do - cast vision, build teams, allocate resources, and so on. The big difference is their orientation and their motivation; these make all the difference in the world. They possess an others-first mindset. The servant leader constantly works to help others win. ~ Mark Miller

I chose to take the oath of office with my personal copy of the Bhagavad Gita because its teachings have inspired me to be a servant-leader, dedicating my life in the service of others and to my country. ~ Tulsi Gabbard

I learned that if I could read, I could cook. I surprised myself I like it. ~ Pat Conroy

To serve the many, you first serve the few. ~ Ken Jennings

A noble leader answers not to the trumpet calls of self promotion, but to the hushed whispers of necessity. ~ Mollie Marti

The best organizations regard the nurturing of their employees as a spiritual mandate. ~ Nancy Pearcey

Build Icebergs, Not Skyscrapers ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Being others-focused instead of self-focused changes your worldview. Living in a selfless manner and seeking to help others enriches our very existence on a daily basis. Get your hands dirty once in a while by serving in a capacity that is lower than your position or station in life. This keeps you tethered to the real world and grounded to reality, which should make it harder to be prideful and forget where you came from. ~ Miles Anthony Smith

We have all been called to be foot-washers".

~R. Alan Woods [2006] ~ R. Alan Woods

Finish Well; Anyone Can Start Well ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Don't Give Someone Responsibility without Requisite Authority ~ Miles Anthony Smith

In a servant leadership culture we learn by choice or example that if we want to be great, we have to serve others respectfully. ~ Vern Dosch

Listen for the call of your destiny, and when it comes, release your plans and follow. ~ Mollie Marti

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

Exercising adaptive leadership is about giving meaning to your life beyond your own ambition. ~ Ronald A. Heifetz

We practice mastering ourselves in the moment so that we can better open ourselves to being a servant leader and to harness our emotions and choose what to do with our reactions. ~ Lyssa Adkins

Stop Destroying Shareholder Value ~ Miles Anthony Smith

Abdication Isn't Empowerment ~ Miles Anthony Smith

I don't look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball. ~ Mike Krzyzewski

Belief in oneself is a crucial quality of leadership, because 'a house divided against itself cannot stand.' A leader who fluctuates back and forth sends a very wavery signal. Like the soprano who can shatter glass by finding that high note and holding it, a leader who can hold that high note, without wavering, can shatter walls. ~ Laurie Beth Jones

What is important in a leader is a resolute will and determination. A man may be versatile and learned, but if he lacks resoluteness and determination, of what use will he be? ~ Yoshida Shoin

Our
hunters come from a diversified set of beliefs, but work together toward one goal. And we're the best
at what we do."
"But you guys were at the church."
Jayden shrugged. "Father Bancroft is an area leader, so the church is our base, but elsewhere it
could be a synagogue, mosque, Buddhist temple. Any holy place will do. We fight demons, not each
other. ~ A&E Kirk

A leader without followers is just a person walking around. ~ Linda Galindo

Churchill wrote his own speeches. When a leader does that, he becomes emotionally invested with his utterances ... If Churchill had had a speech write in 1940, Britain would be speaking German today. ~ James C. Humes

An interesting side effect of the battle was that Ender emerged at the top of the soldier efficiency list. Since he hadn't fired a shot, he had a perfect record on shooting - no misses at all. And since he had never been eliminated or disabled, his percentage there was excellent. No one else came close. It made a lot of boys laugh, and others were angry, but on the prized efficiency list, Ender was now the leader. ~ Orson Scott Card

When catering for your spiritual needs make sure that you authenticate the capacity and qualification of the person or people you allow access to your spiritual being. Being careless in this regard is as dangerous as allowing an untrained person to treat you or operate on you to address a medical condition. While the bush-doctor kills your body, the false spiritual leader will destroy body, soul and spirit. Therefore use your belief's spiritual standard, not a merely mental or intellectual standard, to get spiritual help. ~ Archibald Marwizi

I shake my head. Scoffing, I look down. "It's over."

Griffin pinches my chin and forces my head back up. "You're the leader. You don't get to look down. You look straight ahead and acknowledge the damage you cause. ~ Amanda Bouchet

I pray that I'll have wings one day, in which Your light adorns; but for now please let me be Your servant, Lord, like an angel not yet born. ~ Lisa Mischelle Wood

Suffer all things and strive to please Christ. Your well-wisher and servant, Tychon, Bishop of Voronezh September 1773. ~ G.P. Fedotov

There is real hope for a culture that makes it as easy to buy a book as it does a pack of cigarettes."--a civic leader quoted in a New American Library ad (1951) American Pulp tells the story of the midcentury golden age of pulp paperbacks and how they brought modernism to Main Street, democratized literature and ideas, spurred social mobility, and helped readers fashion new identities. ~ Paula Rabinowitz

My final advice for young people is to not wait for leadership from adult politicians. Step forward today, because our current leaders are denying the dire reality we are facing. Leadership can come form anywhere. ~ Kumi Naidoo

The first day you're a leader is the beginning of the end of your political career. ~ Jenny Shipley

The innovative leader has to be an arsonist and a firefighter. ~ Paul Sloane

Worship offered with stale flower and an unclean mind is of no value ~ Radhe Maa

With his pewter-colored locks and sturdy jaw, Graham Seymour was the archetypal British civil servant, a man who'd been born, bred, and educated to lead. He was handsome, but not too; he was tall, but not remarkably so. He made others feel inferior, especially Americans. ~ Daniel Silva

He will never, ever, give up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever, let you down. Donald is, and always has been, an amazing leader. Now, he will go to work for you. ~ Melania Trump

I don't think leaders are born. Well, they're born; everybody's born, but I think leadership can be enhanced, they can be developed, and I think that it's important we do that, particularly with our youngsters. ~ Pat Williams

Parents provoke their children to anger by not practicing biblical love, not considering their children as more important than themselves, and not dying to self to become a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. ~ John C. Broger

Everyone else got to wear their regular outfits from the first movie. I had to wear my outfit that Jabba picked out for me. Jabba the Hutt - the fashionista. Jabba the Hutt - the Coco Chanel of intergalactic style. Trendsetter, fashion maven, leader of women's looks in his world, on his planet and the next. In wax, I would forever be outfitted by outlaw Jabba. In wax and out, I would forever be stone-faced. ~ Carrie Fisher

Leadership is an act of submission to God. To be a leader means listening to all kinds of people and situations. Out of that listening, we are hoping to discern the mind of God as best we can. This is the price of leadership - it's an act of sacrifice. So leadership is part and parcel of the work of submission to God. ~ Richard Foster

All conflicts are rooted in emotions. If you can satiate the emotions, you can resolve the conflicts. ~ Krishna Saagar Rao

If you can't force or are unwilling to force your people to follow you, with or without threats, you are not a leader. ~ Lee Kuan Yew

Anyone in command feigns ease when death is near. We do it for those around us, and we do it for ourselves. We do it because the sole alternative is to die cringing. The difference between an experienced leader and an untested one is that only the untested one is shocked at how well they can pretend when their hand is forced. ~ Scott Lynch

but does it serve any useful purpose to know that Pompey was the first to exhibit the slaughter of eighteen elephants in the Circus, pitting criminals against them in a mimic battle? He, a leader of the state and one who, according to report, was conspicuous among the leaders28 of old for the kindness of his heart, thought it a notable kind of spectacle to kill human beings after a new fashion. Do they fight to the death? That is not enough! Are they torn to pieces? That is not enough! Let them be crushed by animals of monstrous bulk! Better would it be that these things pass into oblivion lest hereafter some all-powerful man should learn them and be jealous of an act that was nowise human.29 O, what blindness does great prosperity cast upon our minds! When he was casting so many troops of wretched human beings to wild beasts born under a different sky, when he was proclaiming war between creatures so ill matched, when he was shedding so much blood before the eyes of the Roman people, who itself was soon to be forced to shed more. he then believed that he was beyond the power of Nature. But later this same man, betrayed by Alexandrine treachery, offered himself to the dagger of the vilest slave, and then at last discovered what an empty boast his surname30 was. ~ Seneca

Acquire knowledge before you become leaders and pride prevents you from learning and you live in ignorance. ~ Umar

Most of the European leaders look at themselves as having to follow the United States, because if the US opposes them, there will be a regime change. ~ Michael Hudson

In the life of the human spirit, words are action, much more so than many of us realize who live in countries where freedom of expression is taken for granted. The leaders of totalitarian nations understand this very well. The proof is that words are precisely the action for which dissidents in those countries are being persecuted. ~ Jimmy Carter

We shall miss Leopardstar. I remember her from all the way back when I was an apprentice in ThunderClan. I always respected her, and, though her loyalty to RiverClan never wavered, she was a leader who understood the importance of keeping every Clan strong. She had the heart, courage, and strength of the mighty cat she was named for. ~ Erin Hunter

The greatest way to ensure your company's failure is to appoint leaders who see a divide between themselves and the team; who are more fixated on their elevated role than on the act of leading. ~ Steve Maraboli

Some people did not like this ceremonious style. But after all when you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite. [Churchill ended his December 8, 1941 letter to the Japanese Ambassador, declaring that a state of war now existed between the United Kingdom and Japan, with the courtly flourish "I have the honour to be, with high consideration, Sir, Your obedient servant".] ~ Winston Churchill

The Lord makes his servants bold. ~ Henry B. Eyring

Only experience can refine a leader's art. High-uncertainty projects are full of anxiety, change, and ambiguity that the team must deal with. It takes a different style of project management, a different pattern of team operation, and a different type of project leader. I've labeled this type of management leadership-collaboration. ~ Jim Highsmith

The slave of the belly ponders the menu with which to celebrate the feast. The servant of God, however, thinks of the graces that may enrich him. ~ John Climacus

The Bishop observed later that Trinidad was treated very much like a poor relation or a servant. He was sent on errands, was told without ceremony to fetch the Padre's boots, to bring wood for the fire, to saddle his horse. Father Latour disliked his personality so much that he could scarcely look at him. His fat face was irritatingly stupid, and had the grey, oily look of soft cheeses. The corners of his mouth
were deep folds in plumpness, like the creases in a baby's legs, and the steel rim of his spectacles, where it crossed his nose, was embedded in soft flesh. He said not one word during supper, but
ate as if he were afraid of never seeing food again. When his attention left his plate for a moment, it was fixed in the same greedy way upon the girl who served the table - and who seemed to regard him with careless contempt. The student gave the impression of being always stupefied by one form of sensual disturbance or another. ~ Willa Cather

Consider the whole thing as occupational therapy. Power as cottage industry for the mad. The shepherd is slave to the sheep. A gardener is in thrall to his carrots. Only a lunatic would want to be president. These lunatics are created deliberately by those who wish to be presided over. You've seen it a thousand times. We create a leader by locating one in the crowd who is standing up. This may well be because there are no chairs or because his knees are fused by arthritis. It doesn't matter. We designate this victim as a 'stand-up guy' by the simple expedient of sitting down around him. ~ Katherine Dunn

Gentlemen lacking substantial sympathy with their leader found it to be comfortable to deceive themselves, and raise their hearts at the same time by the easy enthusiasm of noise. ~ Anthony Trollope

In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Leadership is first and foremost bout character, one who is in power but not subordinate to it, one has control of money but is not lured by it, one whose position opens all doors but prefers the simplicity of lifestyle, and one who is followed by many but takes the heart of a servant. ~ Wilfrido V. Villacorta

The first time the word worship appears in the King James Version of the Old Testament, it appears with appalling import. 'Abide ye here,' Abraham tells his servant, while 'I and the lad go yonder and worship.' The terrible offering of his son's life is what the Bible's first instance of 'worship' portends. In the New Testament, the word worship first appears again in conjunction with a costly offering. It is used in reference to the wise men, who 'worshipped' the Christ child by 'open[ing] their treasure' and 'present[ing] unto him gifts.' Worship, then, is about what we are prepared to relinquish--what we give up at personal cost. ~ Terryl L. Givens

And I pray that you no longer seek happiness from the past, but rather you set your sails forward, to a land that is pure and wonderful. I pray that you no longer stare into the shallows of empty promises, but that you dive into the depth of an ocean of guarantees. May you feel the winds of hope, and smell the scent of joy, may your heart be alive again as it was meant to be. For you are with a better captain, you are with a true sailor, a true leader; You are sailing with Christ, and He is always sure to lead us home. ~ T.B. LaBerge

A servant who serves excellently from his whole heart with due courage and humility is never a servant, but a master of his work! ~ Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

The dangerously high level of stupidity surplus was once again the lead story in The Owl that morning. The reason for the crisis was clear: Prime Minister Redmond van de Poste and his ruling Commonsense Party had been discharging their duties with a reckless degree of responsibility that bordered on inspired sagacity. Instead of drifting from one crisis to the next and appeasing the nation with a steady stream of knee-jerk legislation and headline-grabbing but arguably pointless initiatives, they had been resolutely building a raft of considered long-term plans that concentrated on unity, fairness and tolerance. It was a state of affairs deplored by Mr. Alfredo Traficcone, leader of the opposition Prevailing Wind Party, who wanted to lead the nation back to the safer ground of uniformed stupidity. ~ Jasper Fforde