Leadership & Management: Leadership Quotes

"Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan had tremendous influence on generations of American, because, even if people disagreed with them, they admired them because they made very strong commitments to things they believed in"

Phil Crane, Politician

"My job is to make sure we keep performing"

Mats Sundin, Athlete

"We need a government that is what we are at our best: smart, efficient, pragmatic and compassionate"

Deval Patrick, Politician

"On a Chinese film, you just give orders, no one questions you. Here, you have to convince people, you have to tell them why you want to do it a certain way, and they argue with you. Democracy"

Ang Lee, Director

"Bill Bradley is a serious politician, and if Al Gore stumbles seriously, then Bradley is there to take advantage of that"

Tom Mann, Businessman

"I'm proud to report that in 2004 alone, we approved 3,600 new units of housing - our best year ever!"

Thomas Menino, Politician

"When a man assumes leadership, he forfeits the right to mercy"

Gennaro Angiulo, Criminal

"We know the pain the president has caused our society and his family and his friends, but we know, too, how much the president has done for this country"

Charles Ruff, Lawyer

"I think there is value in having practising scientists as leaders of research institutions"

Thomas R. Cech, Scientist

"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself"

Thomas J. Watson, Scientist

"Why they vote for me is irrelevant, but if they do, they're in safe hands"

Pim Fortuyn, Politician

"And in another point of view, I think it is right that the address of a president should be on his own subject, and that different subjects should be thus brought in turn before the meetings"

Arthur Cayley, Mathematician

"We are given to the cult of personality; when things go badly we look to some messiah to save us. If by chance we think we have found one, it will not be long before we destroy him"

Constantine Karamanlis, Leader

"All leaders share something in common. They feel they are the only ones who can do the job"

Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Celebrity

"A king should die on his feet"

Louis XVIII, Royalty

"I am determined to hold on as long as possible, but if I should disappear, I should not have had the time to familiarize my successors with the necessary information"

Jean Moulin, Activist

"Ultimately, a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus"

Lloyd Banks, Musician

"You just don't want to push people into doing things that they really don't want to do. I don't think it's going to produce much"

William Scott, Writer

"Preparing our city to achieve its destiny will require strong leadership"

Thomas Menino, Politician

"My fellow citizens, the state of our city is strong"

Thomas Menino, Politician

"I would never abdicate, nor would I expect any other governor to abdicate, the responsibility to protect the people of my state"

Joe Manchin, Politician

"Well, I always hope that I'm a role model"

James Iha, Musician

"I think Bush has a very selfish, arrogant point of view. I think he is interested in power, I think he believes his truth is the only truth, and that he will do what he wants to do despite the people"

Harry Belafonte, Musician

"And, as a matter of fact, I am the chairman of the Amadou Diallo Foundation"

David Dinkins, Politician

"On the other hand, when I give it closer thought, I realize I'm not enough of a dictator to conduct an orchestra because it requires a pretty awful person. When you read these biographies of famous conductors, they are all awful people who fail in their private relationships"

Eberhard Weber, Musician

"The presidents of colleges have to have some courage to step forward. You can't limit alcohol in college sports, you have to get rid of it"

Dean Smith, Athlete

"When his nomination comes before the United States Senate, Timothy Batten can count on my strong support... He is the right person for the job"

Saxby Chambliss, Politician

"Basically, I have no place in organized politics. By coming to the British Parliament, I've allowed the people to sacrifice me at the top and let go the more effective job I should be doing at the bottom"

Bernadette Devlin, Politician

"I think they, Peter McCullough was, turns out, was not a good CEO"

Arthur Rock, Businessman

"I sleep each night a little better, a little more confidently, because Lyndon Johnson is my president"

Jack Valenti, Businessman

"In some South Pacific cultures, a speaker holds a conch shell as a symbol of temporary position of authority. Leaders must understand who holds the conch - that is, who should be listened to and when"

Max de Pree, Businessman

"I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future"

Van Jones, Activist

"Instead of sitting on the sidelines, President Obama has made it clear that the US is ready to lead a global effort to combat climate change"

Valerie Jarrett, Lawyer

"I think the President himself is a remarkably intelligent, decent, ethical man. I think he did very well, but I think the job builds up over expectations which all candidates contribute to, including this President, that simply cannot be fulfilled"

Lloyd Cutler, Lawyer

"To deny we need and want power is to deny that we hope to be effective"

Liz Smith, Journalist

"When you're leading, don't talk"

Thomas Dewey, Politician

"In exchange for power, influence, command and a place in history, a president gives up the bulk of his privacy"

Roger Mudd, Journalist

"Let no one think that flexibility and a predisposition to compromise is a sign of weakness or a sell-out"

Paul Kagame, Statesman

"Even the frankest and bravest of subordinates do not talk with their boss the same way they talk with colleagues"

Robert Greenleaf, Writer

"The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm"

Thomas J. Watson, Scientist

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