The feeling of satisfaction that people get when they achieve some goal is astounding. Success is something that all people always try to achieve, no matter if it was about something common, mediocre, or life-changing, it is about the feeling that we get, to feel satisfied with ourselves.
So, for every achievement in our life, we need some motivation. Everything that people do in their careers demands some hard work and dedication. Also, it is not everything so easy all the time, and there are always some struggles, but it is important to find the motivation for overcoming those difficulties.
For a successful life, business, career, besides motivation and commitment, some skills are also required. Those skills are about some professional knowledge or talent, but also, there are some universal set of skills, that everyone should use to achieve their goals. That set of skills is called Leadership skills.
Leadership skills are all about how we should do everything in the best way we could. They are about communication, creativity, integrity, commitment, and many more skills that would make someone get the best from themselves. Leadership is a topic that was discussed for a very long time, even in ancient times and middle ages. Many successful people stated their opinions about leadership. In this article, we are going to introduce you to the Leadership Quotes from some of the most successful people in various professions.
Best Leadership Quotes of All Time:
- “A leader is best when people barely know he exists…when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: We did it ourselves.” – Lao-Tzu, an ancient philosopher and founder of Taoism
- “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.” – Elon Musk, founder of PayPal and Tesla
- “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer
- “Management is doing the right thing; leadership is doing the right things.” – Peter F. Drucker
- “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor but without folly.” – Jim Rohn, entrepreneur and motivational speaker
- “Leaders are made; they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.” – Vince Lombardi, American football coach
- “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” -Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
- “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” -Andrew Carnegie, 19th-century business magnate and philanthropist
- “Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine.” – Chris Hadfield, astronaut and former Commander of the International Space Station
- “Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.” – Mwai Kibaki, Kenyan politician
- “People have to trust you. You have to build in trust for people.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
- “Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” – General Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State
- “Become the kind of leader that other people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or positon.” – Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, best-selling author and personal development expert
- “Often poor leadership is masked by those with the loudest voices and strongest opinions.” – Nick Fewings
- “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King, tennis champion
- “Leadership is not about men in suits. It is a way of life for those who know who they are and are willing to be their best to create the life they want to live.” – Kathleen Schafer, Founder, Leadership Connection
- “Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.” -Margaret J. Wheatley, author, management consultant, and leadership expert
- “My best successes came on the heels of failures.” – Barbara Corcoran, Entrepreneur
- “As a leader, it’s a major responsibility on your shoulders to practice the behavior you want others to follow.” – Himanshu Bhatia, founder, Rose International
- “People respond well to those that are sure of what they want.” – Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue
- “Strategic leaders must not get consumed by the operational and tactical side of their work. They have a duty to find time to shape the future.” – Stephanie S. Mead, Senior Vice President of CMOE
- “Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” – Anne Sweeney, television director and former Disney executive
- “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton, actress and singer
- “I have broken many glass ceilings – so I know it can be done.” – Helen Clark, former New Zealand Prime Minister
- “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States
- “Leadership is hard to define, and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader.” – Indra Nooyi, former CEO of PepsiCo
- “Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” – Joanne B. Ciulla, author and professor in ethics and leadership
- “Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?” – Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, UK
- “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin, author
- “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up; this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.” – Rosa Parks, civil rights activist
- “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States
- “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady of the United States
- “Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
- “The pressure of adversity does not affect the mind of the brave man. It is more powerful than external circumstances.” – Seneca, ancient philosopher
- “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” – John C. Maxwell, leadership author
- “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
- “The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps, we must step up the steps.” – Vance Havner, evangelist and author
- “A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can succeed.” – Ralph Nader, author and political activist
- “A lack of realism in the vision today costs credibility tomorrow.” – John C. Maxwell, leadership author
- “Forget about trying to compete with someone else. Create your own pathway. Create your own new vision.” – Herbie Hancock, Grammy Award-winning musician
- “Throughout the centuries there were men who took the first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.” – Ayn Rand, author and philosopher
- “Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” – Jonathan Swift, satirist and poet
- “Leadership is having a compelling vision, a comprehensive plan, relentless implementation, and talented people working together.” – Alan Mulally, former CEO of the Ford Motor Company
- “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” – Warren Bennis, scholar and leadership expert
- “When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde, writer and civil rights activist
- “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” – Robert Louis Stevenson, poet and writer
- “Making the decision to not follow a system, or someone else’s rules have allowed me to really dig into what my own strengths and gifts are without spending time feeling jaded or wasteful.” – Ishita Gupta, Founder of Fear.less Magazine
- “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” – Ida B. Wells, civil rights activist, journalist and educator
- “A leading predictor of C-suite success is insatiable curiosity and a willingness to learn. This learning agility includes learning to adjust the metrics by which you measure your progress.” – Whitney Johnson, author of Disrupt Yourself and Build an A-Team
- “Leadership is the ability to guide others without force into a direction or decision that leaves them still feeling empowered and accomplished.” – Lisa Cash Hanson, CEO of Snuggwugg and founder of Mompreneur Mogul
- “One bad day from one member of my staff doesn’t mean they are not really good at their jobs the rest of the time. I play a long game in terms of management.” – Helen McCabe, digital content director, Nine Entertainment
- “What I have learned is that people become motivated when you guide them to the source of their own power and when you make heroes out of employees who personify what you want to see in the organization.” – Anita Roddick, co-founder of The Body Shop
- “The difference between successful people and others is how long they spend feeling sorry for themselves.” – Barbara Corcoran
- “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” – Tina Fey, comedian
- “Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” – Michelle Obama, attorney and former First Lady of the United States
- “The best way to leapfrog in your career is to get advice from someone who’s done what you’re trying to accomplish. It helps clear all the doubt.” – Heather Anne Carson, co-founder, Repable
- “I’m a maniacal perfectionist. And if I weren’t, I wouldn’t have this company.” – Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
- “Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them.” – Marissa Mayer, Founder, Lumi Labs
- “We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.” – Whoopi Goldberg, comedian
- “We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.” – Queen Victoria
- “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” – Estée Lauder, Estée Lauder companies
- “Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average.” – Jim Rohn, entrepreneur and motivational speaker
- “A leader is someone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding the potential in people and processes.” – Brené Brown, research professor and best-selling author
- “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is a danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” – Nelson Mandela, South African political leader
- “Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration.” – Robin S. Sharma, Canadian writer and motivational speaker
- “If we cannot disconnect, we cannot lead. Creating the culture of burnout is opposite to creating a culture of sustainable creativity . . . This mentality needs to be introduced as a leadership and performance-enhancing tool.” – Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post
- “Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.” – Dianne Feinstein, U.S. senator
- “A leader is a dealer in hope.” – Napoléon Bonaparte, French military leader
- “Leaders need to provide strategy and direction and to give employees the tools that enable them to gather information and insight from around the world. Leaders shouldn’t try to make every decision.” = Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft
- “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” – Sheryl Sanberg, COO of Facebook
- “Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric
