Best Leadership Quotes

"At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from low and justice he is the worst."

"Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things."

"Leaders conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts."

“It turns out that doing the right thing, treating people right, is also the right thing for the company.”

"Society is a troop of thinkers and the best heads among them take the best places."

"The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men, the conviction and the will to carry on."

"People who matter are most aware that everyone else does, too."

"We're going to do the right thing for the company and our customers, all things considered."

"Leader in its most important sense means being the agent of your own life, influencing the things you care about most in the world to make it a richer life."

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership."

"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity."

"Speaking for and acting in the best interests of others requires cohesiveness and is most effectively done when leaders see themselves as members of their group."

"The Band-Aid solution is actually the best kind of solution because it involves solving a problem with the minimum amount of effort and time and cost.”

“Things get in the way of letting people be human. Particularly quarterly reports and business schools. I think what we try to do is make it very clear that what’s important is doing the right thing. And if we do the right thing, all the other things take care of themselves.”

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It's the only thing."

"Firms that draw commitment from customers and staff give them a way to sign up for something that can allow them to be their best self."

"To lead people, walk beside them … As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate … When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves!"

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"Do the best job and you can and you will never have any competition."

"Let him who would be moved to convince others, be first moved to convince himself."

"Victory belongs to the most persevering."

"The best public policy is made when you are listening to people who are going to be impacted."

"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth--and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up--that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had."

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

"The best is he who calls men to the best. And those who heed the call are also blessed. But worthless who call not, heed not, but rest."

"The wisest mind has something yet to learn."

"He is greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own."

"Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall."

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

"I strongly believe that the responsibility of leadership is to shape the debate -- to practice and project the right attributes -- whether in a business enterprise, in our society, and even in our religions."

"Integrity is the most valued and respected quality of leadership. Always keep your word."

"Leading people is the most challenging and, therefore, the most gratifying undertaking of all human endeavors."

"Help your people grow and perform at their highest possible levels."

"The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people."

"The most effective leaders aren't extraverts or introverts. They're ambiverts: people who strike a balance of talking and listening."

"Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers."

"The best way to lead people into the future is to connect with them deeply in the present."

"True leadership lies in guiding others to success–in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well."

"The most important quality in a leader is integrity: doing the right thing even when it's hard."

"The very best leaders take the blame but share the credit."

"Leaders should be able to stand alone, take the heat, bear the pain, tell the truth, and do what's right."

"The greatest leaders mobilize others by coalescing people around a shared vision."

"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things."

“Developing talent is business’ most important task—the sine qua non of competition in a knowledge economy.”