Leadership & Management: Leadership Quotes

"I'm one who demands a lot from people. I'm not afraid to look at alternative ways in city government. That's what I've done in my two years and will continue to do in the next four"

Richard M. Daley, Politician

"It is never too late to regain our credibility around the world"

Marty Meehan, Politician

"I fully appreciate the fact that George W. Bush won 49% of my district"

Jim Costa, Politician

"When I created Buffy, I wanted to create a female icon, but I also wanted to be very careful to surround her with men that not only have no problem with the idea of a female leader, but were in fact engaged and even attracted to the idea"

Joss Whedon, Writer

"The challenge in working in politics, particularly if you're working for a political party, is that everyone's a messenger"

Frank Luntz, Politician

"There are a lot of people who will come to me for advice or whatever"

Joe Mantegna, Actor

"I pick up the details that drive the organization insane. But sweating the details is more important than anything else"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"I'm the one who gets called up about a problem. I'm the one who gets called up about the street lighting and the abandoned car. I'm the one who gets blamed if the police don't arrive. I'm the one they blame if a city truck is broken down"

Richard M. Daley, Politician

"Let me clarify this very definitely. This is not an authoritarian organization"

L. Ron Hubbard, Author

"I see a trend here where the President seems to think his job is to count votes and then try to make a deal, That's what we in legislatures do. Mr. Obama's job is to travel the country, fight for the values that he cares about"

Anthony Weiner, Politician

"In the first State of the Union of his second term, President Bush made clear to Americans tonight that he is not going to play the role of a lame duck President"

Jim Sensenbrenner, Politician

"I am elected by the people of Bucharest, not the dogs"

Traian Basescu, Politician

"The people only understand what they can feel; the only orators that can affect them are those who move them"

Alphonse de Lamartine, Poet

"The distance between number one and number two is always a constant. If you want to improve the organization, you have to improve yourself and the organization gets pulled up with you. That is a big lesson. I cannot just expect the organization to improve if I don't improve myself and lift the organization, because that distance is a constant"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"In being strict, you were able to control"

Joseph Jackson, Businessman

"The language of America changed with the election of Bill Clinton, because with all due respect to my friends on the Republican side, Bill Clinton is the best communicator of the last 50 years. He felt your pain"

Frank Luntz, Politician

"As Southeast Texas's only Member of the House Transportation Committee, I'm especially proud of being able to help bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the region to create jobs and improve the area infrastructure"

Nick Lampson, Politician

"And then when they picked me as premiere, I don't think I feel, you know, different. For me, the position mean responsibility, but that's all"

Nguyen Cao Ky, Politician

"You can be a great president and be ridden with flaws. Of course, we know that"

Morley Safer, Journalist

"When one is required to preside over the Church, and be entrusted with the care of so many souls, the whole female sex must retire before the magnitude of the task, and the majority of men also"

John Chrysostom, Clergyman

"You can't control people. You must understand them. You have to know where they're coming from, their beliefs and values, what turns them off, what they're against"

Hayden Fry, Coach

"We always expect tremendous criticism. It is my role to be the lightning rod ... to attract the attacks against the organization for our work, and that is a difficult role. On the other hand, I get undue credit"

Julian Assange, Activist

"I think it was when I realised I could talk anybody into doing just about anything I wanted them to"

Jeremy London, Actor

"We have been frustrated that there are a number of incumbents in Maryland offices who have been in office for years and years and show no movement or desire to pass the torch"

John Mahoney, Actor

"The one thing I have learned as a CEO is that leadership at various levels is vastly different. When I was leading a function or a business, there were certain demands and requirements to be a leader. As you move up the organization, the requirements for leading that organization don't grow vertically; they grow exponentially"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"This emergency spending measure is certainly only the beginning, since we here in Washington will continue to work closely with the president and emergency agencies to ensure they continue receiving the funding they need"

Jo Bonner, Politician

"That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment"

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Historian

"There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. Every one of these must be right for that particular moment of history, or nothing happens"

Coretta Scott King, Activist

"Through leadership of the fight against French colonialism, Ho Chi Minh had made a name for himself in the international political arena"

Nguyen Cao Ky, Politician

"The Bush Cabinet is quite interesting, there are no flashy people in there. No stars. They all seem quite focused and serious and knowledgeable about the areas to which they have been appointed"

Morley Safer, Journalist

"When I was president of the company, I said, 'Okay, I can do this - piece of cake.' Then when you are the CEO, the responsibilities multiply enormously because you worry about everything"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"As a leader, I am tough on myself and I raise the standard for everybody; however, I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be me in the future"

Indra Nooyi, Businessman

"If we insist that public life be reserved for those whose personal history is pristine, we are not going to get paragons of virtue running our affairs. We will get the very rich, who contract out the messy things in life the very dull, who have nothing to hide and nothing to show and the very devious, expert at covering their tracks and ambitious enough to risk their discovery"

Charles Krauthammer, Journalist

"To have the opportunity to lead the Solicitor General's office is the honor of a lifetime. As you know, this is an office with a long and rich tradition, not only of extraordinary legal skill but also of extraordinary professionalism and integrity. That is due, in large measure, to the people who have led it"

Elena Kagan, Judge

"I hope I can do a better job than Mr. Bettman"

Bobby Hull, Athlete

"I don't want to talk in terms of miracles. I think this is a very serious situation. But I do want to talk in terms of Bush becoming a man of the hour, and I think this is way to do it"

F. Murray Abraham, Actor

"We in the press, by our power, can actually undermine leadership"

Christiane Amanpour, Journalist

"Well, there are other aspects, I still command very good support in the party"

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Politician

"I am convinced that dealing intelligently with the press is of the greatest importance to the success and effectiveness of a humanitarian mission"

Alvin Adams, Businessman

"I want our leaders to lead our country to greatness, but President Obama and his misguided policies and ideology have really fundamentally changed our country in the wrong way, more so than any president in our history"

Ben Quayle, Politician

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