47 quotes on leadership worth repeating

What does it take to be a good leader? From Aristotle to Bill Gates, here are 47 empowering quotes from some of the greatest leaders of our time.

1. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle

2. A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte

3. If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. — Maya Angelou, writer

4.

5. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. — Warren Bennis, scholar and author

6. Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. — Jack Welch, American business executive

7. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — John Maxwell, author

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9. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist

10. The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. — Sir Winston Churchill

11. Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. — Publilius Syrus, Latin writer

12. A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together. — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, writer

13. I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader, American political activist

14. The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. — Kenneth Blanchard, author and management expert

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16. A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. — Polybius, Greek historian of the Hellenistic period

17. A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. — Rosalynn Carter, former first lady of the United States

18. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. — Mark Twain, author

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20. Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. — General Dwight Eisenhower

21. The leader has to be practical and a realist yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist. — Eric Hoffer, philosopher

22. Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. — Brian Tracy, author

23. Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. — General George Patton, military commander

24. As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others. — Bill Gates

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26. Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway. — Eleanor Roosevelt

27. Education is the mother of leadership. — Wendell Willkie, American lawyer and business executive

28. Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths. — John Zenger, German journalist

29. He who has great power should use it lightly. — Seneca

30. He who has learned how to obey will know how to command. — Solon, Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet

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32. The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. — Tony Blair

33. If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing. — Benjamin Franklin

34. In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. — Thomas Jefferson

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36. 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 danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership. — Nelson Mandela

37. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. — John F. Kennedy

38. If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. — Napoleon Hill, author

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40. No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. — Abraham Lincoln

41. To do great things is difficult; but to command great things is more difficult. — Friedrich Nietzsche

42. Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. — Albert Einstein

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44. I must follow the people. Am I not their leader? — Benjamin Disraeli, former British prime minister

45. Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. — Winston Churchill

46. You don’t have to hold a position in order to be a leader. — Henry Ford

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Have you read?
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10 steps to becoming a successful leader
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Author: José Santiago, Digital Content Specialist, Public Engagement, World Economic Forum

Image: A woman walks through Brookfield Place off Bay Street, on the day of their annual general meeting for shareholders in Toronto REUTERS/Mark Blinch