Leadership Quotes

"I speak directly to the people, and I know that the people of California want to have better leadership. They want to have great leadership. They want to have somebody that will represent them. And it doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican, young or old"

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actor

"Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it"

Omar N. Bradley, Soldier

"The cardinal responsibility of leadership is to identify the dominant contradiction at each point of the historical process and to work out a central line to resolve it"

Mao Tse-Tung, Leader

"I think our leadership team is a highly accountable leadership team"

Steve Ballmer, Businessman

"Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people"

John D. Rockefeller, Businessman

"I believe in the divine right of kings and the necessity of strong leadership"

Wilhelm II, Statesman

"Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time"

George W. Bush, President

"Clearly you need a new team to go out to bat on your behalf; to fight for your rights and to report back to you personally and to the leadership of the IFP"

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Leader

"Through the inspiration of Vaclav's words, the courage of his dissidence and the integrity of his leadership, Czechoslovakia successfully transitioned from an authoritarian state to a free democracy at the heart of Europe"

Michael D. Higgins, Politician

"I am delighted with the strong vote I have received. My message of positive leadership, patriotism and commitment clearly was resonating with tens of thousands of ordinary Irish people"

Michael D. Higgins, Politician

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen"

Barack Obama, President

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I, therefore, intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt"

Barack Obama, President

"There are many elements to a campaign. Leadership is number one. Everything else is number two"

Bertolt Brecht, Poet

"Leadership is diving for a loose ball, getting the crowd involved, getting other players involved. It's being able to take it as well as dish it out. That's the only way you're going to get respect from the players"

Larry Bird, Coach

"Leadership is getting players to believe in you. If you tell a teammate you're ready to play as tough as you're able to, you'd better go out there and do it. Players will see right through a phony. And they can tell when you're not giving it all you've got"

Larry Bird, Coach

"Leadership in today's world requires far more than a large stock of gunboats and a hard fist at the conference table"

Hubert H. Humphrey, Politician

"The atmosphere at my school was very competitive. Young girls were competing with each other every day for status, for leadership, for the affection of the teachers. I hated it"

Zhang Ziyi, Actress

"Clearly no one knows what leadership has gone undiscovered in women of all races, and in black and other minority men"

Gloria Steinem, Activist

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

Stephen Covey, Businessman

"Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out"

Stephen Covey, Businessman

"The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. This myth asserts that people simply either have certain charismatic qualities or not. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born"

Warren G. Bennis, Psychologist

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality"

Warren G. Bennis, Psychologist

"Presidential leadership needn't always cost money. Look for low- and no-cost options. They can be surprisingly effective"

Donald Rumsfeld, Politician

"If people want to compete for leadership of a religious group, they can compete in piety. A chilling thought. Or funny"

Mary Douglas, Scientist

"In our system leadership is by consent, not command. To lead a President must persuade. Personal contacts and experiences help shape his thinking. They can be critical to his persuasiveness and thus to his leadership"

Donald Rumsfeld, Politician

"Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership"

Donald Rumsfeld, Politician

"Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better"

Harry S. Truman, President

"On the other hand, the waging of peace as a science, as an art, is in its infancy. But we can trace its growth, its steady progress, and the time will come when there will be particular individuals designated to assume responsibility for and leadership of this movement"

Fredrik Bajer, Writer

"The things journalists should pay attention to are the issues the political leadership agrees on, rather than to their supposed antagonisms"

Michael Pollan, Educator

"I look forward to working with our leadership team to advance the causes of smaller government, lower taxes, eliminating terrorism, and providing affordable health care, among other issues"

Howard Coble, Politician

"We've been sitting at the compromise table for a long time. We're just waiting for that cold chair to be warmed up by the Republican leadership. They still have time to do the right thing and be responsible. They just seem to be moving further and further away from it"

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Politician

"Aren't we at the point where the closer we get to chaos, the more concern that there should be about coming to the table and compromising with Democrats? This is not leadership. This is almost like dictatorship"

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Politician

"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"

Bill Owens, Politician

"The Leadership Training Institute of America is a cultural think tank providing training and opportunity in leadership development and cultural dynamics"

Michael Burgess, Congressman

"He's a novice, but he's had these - he's experienced in leadership in tight circumstances. He started - he dropped the first bomb, led the first air strike into North Vietnam"

James Stockdale, Soldier

"Now, do I think there has to be shared sacrifice among other nations in the world who want a stable and secure world? Absolutely, there has to be. But I don't think that America can ever abdicate its leadership role in the world because of who we are and where we've come from. We are the symbol for the world for freedom and liberty"

Chris Christie, Politician

"The test of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there"

James Buchanan, President

"The Leadership Training Institute of America trains and equips young men and women to be leaders with high standards of personal morality and integrity"

Michael Burgess, Congressman

"Educationists should build the capacities of the spirit of inquiry, creativity, entrepreneurial and moral leadership among students and become their role model"

Abdul Kalam, Statesman

"The Irish Republican Army has kept every commitment made by its leadership"

Gerry Adams, Politician

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