Leaders come in all shapes and sizes but they will often have a number of similar qualities that have ultimately helped them to reach the pinnacle of their career.
There are a number of things that we can then learn from them if we study the way in which they act or things they say. After all, what better way to attempt to overcome our own problems or issues by listening to those that have achieved something?
So, what we have done is sought to produce a list of 50 quotes from the greatest leaders that have ever lived that we hope will inspire. Our aim is to provide you with something that you can relate to when things are tough.
“Don’t find the fault, find the remedy” — Henry Ford
Henry Ford is responsible for the mass explosion of the automobile changing the way in which we travel forever. In this, he is stating how it is useless to focus on what has gone wrong. Instead, we must look forward to determine how we can either resolve the issue or how to proceed in life. Focusing on the problem means we stay stuck.
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” — John F. Kennedy
In order to become a leader, you must have a willingness to learn. This means learn from your mistakes as well as dealing with problems. Being unwilling to adapt leads to mistakes and your leadership will then come under scrutiny.
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” — Steve Jobs
A strong leader is one who can take a problem or issue and create solutions. A failure to do this means you are the follower who takes the orders and carries out the actions. If you feel that your mind is creative, then you are tailor-made for becoming a leader.
“A leader is a dealer in hope.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
A leader is the one that provides those that listen to them with a sense that anything is possible. They can help people to lift their head when times are tough and see that all is not as bad as they fear.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Nobody else is going to make the changes for you. It all rests on your shoulders. Your vision of the world around you is unique to you, so the only person capable of altering things has to be the only person with that vision.
“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.” — Isaac Newton
Your vision for the future or ability to achieve amazing things is built on you using what has gone before you. By taking those achievements as your foundation, your own ability to do better will then become easier.
“Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” — Albert Einstein
Your ability to think for yourself mixed with the freedom that comes with that is something that you should use on a daily basis.
Don’t be afraid to break free from the norm if that is what your mind is telling you to do rather than follow along the same path as everyone else.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
An individual that is aware that they cannot do something all on their own is one that is in a stronger position than most.
The stress associated with tackling things in this way is too great for any individual to bear and you will achieve so much more by welcoming others into the fray.
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” — Faye Wattleton
Your strength can shine through when times are tough as that is where a leader comes into their own.
You can unlock that inner strength that you may not have even known that you had during a crisis, and the safety that you can give to others means so much when you have a calm head.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
The only way in which you will make progress in life when you come up against an obstacle is to be willing to go down a new path and to have the confidence that you will get to the other side.
Doing the same thing over and over again will only lead to the same results.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama
If we hang around for something to happen due to someone else, then we will wait for a long time.
The only person you can truly rely on is yourself.[1] If you find yourself in a position where you are frustrated at the lack of action, then look to yourself for the solution.
“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett
A good leader will plan ahead and predict potential problems long before they occur. This could mean providing your team with rest and relaxation with slumber search so they feel motivated and energized to perform.
By doing this, it means the future is smoother than it would have otherwise been while also limiting the possibility of things going wrong.
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
No matter the size of the task before you, it will never get done unless you take that all important first step.
By merely putting one foot in front of the other, you will make a difference no matter the length of the road ahead of you. However, fail to take that step and you will remain where you are.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
Those inner feelings that we experience are the strongest things of all. Your ability to influence the way that people feel about you lies at the heart of your leadership.
Make them feel good and you will always be viewed in a better light.
“To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
With the heart being linked to the way in which we feel our emotions, it is better to focus on that area when dealing with others.
In doing so, you can touch them more deeply than would have otherwise been possible.
“We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.” — Mark Zuckerberg
Focus on what is important in order to further yourself. Plan how you can achieve those things in advance rather than attempting to deal with it all as it happens.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison
Repetition is key. A failure is merely a way of discovering that the initial plan was not as good as you hoped. A strong individual will then seek an alternative option and keep on going until they get to where they want to be.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” — Steve Jobs
Your passion for something will always come across in what you do. That passion cannot be masked or faked. If you do not have that emotion, then you are doing the wrong thing and working in the wrong areas.
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” — Buddha
Devotion to what you are doing and putting your heart and soul into it generates results. Anything that fails to include all of that will be half-hearted and is more likely to lead to failure.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” — Leo Tolstoy
We are guilty of looking externally to try to resolve our internal problems. We believe that the answers lie elsewhere when, in actual fact, it is often deep inside us where resolutions have to be found.
“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.” — Lao Tzu
The best leader is not one that bears down over everyone. Instead, they provide more of a guiding hand while also offering a sense of free-will.
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill
You must trust your own thoughts and beliefs. If you are capable of coming up with them, then you are capable of achieving them. Our own mind and thoughts will often be our biggest enemy, but only if we allow them.
“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.” — Peter McWilliams
You will never make progress if you refuse to move out of your comfort zone in any way.
Being uncomfortable will push us into taking action that will propel us forward even if it’s to get us out of a particular situation.
“Mountaintops inspire leaders but valleys mature them.” — Winston Churchill
The only way in which you can achieve the heights of being on top of the mountain is by working your way through the strong foundations that lie at the foot.
No mountain is complete without a valley before it, and without it the mountain would never exist.
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein
We are guilty of thinking that success if everything. Being of value in some way is better as it means you are providing something to others rather than purely being all about your own self.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Our own thoughts are guilty of tripping us up more than anything else.
If you work hard at believing that you can achieve something, then all that is required is to do the actions to reach your desired target. Fail to even imagine it and you will always get nowhere.
“Our destiny is not written for us, but by us.” — Barack Obama
We are the only ones that can take control of our destiny. Nobody else will do it for us. If you want to achieve your dreams, then it rests on your shoulders.
“Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.” — H. Ross Perot
People require that sense of guidance to get anywhere. A leader is the one that is able to offer this while also being capable of guiding their own self to their own destination. This means your team must be managed carefully. In business this can take many forms.
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
Being quite happy with what you have will prevent you from moving into a world where everything is better. A willingness to push forward will be rewarded whereas accepting your lot will result in you becoming stuck in life.
“Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things.” — Jesse Jackson
Just waiting and hoping that something will happen will lead to nothing. Those that take the ball and run with it are the only ones that can change the world, and it is those individuals that become the leaders.
“Leadership is a mindset in action. So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you – you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.” — Travis Bradberry
Once again this quote stresses the need for action to be taken rather than hoping that something will come your way. The great leaders had to fight and scrape to get to their pinnacle, and you have to be willing to do the same.
“It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone.” — Mark Cuban
You must have that constant desire to better yourself in life in order to get anywhere. External things may play a part, but it has to come from within you and to have that desire to make a difference for the right things to then occur.
“The task of the leader is to get their people from where they are to where they have not been.” — Henry Kissinger
The ability to guide others into new areas and to have the confidence to tackle whatever faces them is essential for any leader. We all have to encounter fear at some point, but it’s what we do with that fear that will prove to be the most important thing of all.
“It’s your unlimited power to create and to love that can make the biggest difference in the quality of your life.” — Tony Robbins
We have undiscovered strengths deep inside our inner core. Our main difficulty is in managing to unleash them and to put them to good use. Our continual desire to look at our own self to make a difference is the thing that can propel us forward.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi
Give up on the idea of perfection as that adds stress with something that we cannot achieve. We need to lower our sights from the impossible to the possible and to then make sure that we hit those targets instead.
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
No matter how tough a situation may be, there is always a way around it. The way in which the airplane takes off against the wind means it has to work harder to achieve its aim, and that is the exact same as you.
“When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.” — Michelle Obama
There is a real sense of having to be grateful to others for what you have achieved. Also, a strong individual will have a desire to help others to achieve after them as that is the way in which the world operates.
“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” — Theodore Roosevelt
Knowing when to help and when to adopt the hands-off approach is important and a sign of a good leader. The desire to meddle can overpower people, so your ability to refrain from doing this is important.
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” — Henry Ford
If you work as a team and share responsibilities for anything in life, then you can achieve amazing things.
However, if all are not pulling in the same direction, it will then slow progress down and lead to additional problems that could have been avoided.
“When people talk, listen completely.” — Ernest Hemingway
You never know what you may learn from others or when that will happen. Believing that someone has nothing to offer you is wrong and the only way to discover this is to give full attention to everyone.
“Communication is the most important skill any leader can possess.” — Richard Branson
Poor communication means an inability to get your point across in the correct manner. The problems that can then arise will often become too difficult to comprehend, and it would never have happened if you had the skill of communication.
“I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” — Mahatma Gandhi
The ability to manage others cannot be overlooked. In the past, a leader was in charge of an army and had to be physically strong. Now, the strength is in people management, and if you are lacking in this area, then you ability to lead is compromised
“My jobs as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact.” — Larry Page
Everyone must feel as if they are part of the same team. They must also believe that what they are doing is making a difference and they are capable of making an impact. Individuals feeling lost will lead to problems, so you must address this before it’s too late.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” — Michael Jordan
Teamwork is at the root of success. Knowing who you can rely on at various times makes the entire process so much smoother as is knowing when to use their skills to gain the best possible results.
“You have to learn the rules of the game. And then, you have to play it better than anyone else.” — Albert Einstein
The only way to become the best is to know every aspect of the game and to then understand how to possibly get any advantage. A failure to know the rules leads to problems and mistakes.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” — Charles Darwin
An inability to change will lead to no progress being made. A reluctance to accept that the old way of doing things may not have worked shows intelligence and that you aren’t stubborn. Adaptation leads to progress while rigidity means the opposite.
“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.” — Lao Tzu
Accept that things change no matter how much you don’t want them to. This inability to prevent it has to be understood to allow you to make progress in life.
“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
A willingness to share responsibilities and achievements are the best attributes for a leader to have. Passing praise onto others leads to them feeling better about things rather than merely being a pawn in a game.
“A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs.” — Robert Townsend
A good leader provides people with the impetus to achieve things. They provide them with the correct tools to get to where they want to be. They help them to get there rather than focusing on their own individual selves and by doing so they will also vastly improve their own life.
