Leadership & Management: Servant Leadership Quotes

Discover thoughtful quotes that capture the heart of servant leadership, where influence begins with listening, humility, and a commitment to others. These selections highlight how service, trust, and empathy strengthen teams and nurture resilient cultures. Use these reflections to center your leadership on purpose, develop emotional intelligence, and encourage shared ownership. Whether you guide a small group or a large organization, the insights here can spark meaningful dialogue, motivate daily practices, and help align decisions with values.

Similar topics:Decision-Making Leadership Management Team Building Vision & Strategy

"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, Author

"To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them"

Charles de Montesquieu, Philosopher

Charles de Montesquieu

"Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care"

Theodore Roosevelt, President

Theodore Roosevelt

"I really do not want my pictures in your offices, for the President is not an icon, an idol or a portrait. Hang your kids' photos instead, and look at them each time you are making a decision"

Volodymyr Zelensky, President

Volodymyr Zelensky

"To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less"

Andre Malraux, Author

"There go my people, I must find out where they are going so I can lead them"

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin, Revolutionary

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin

"To lead people walk behind them"

Lao Tzu, Author

"I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?"

Benjamin Disraeli, Statesman

Benjamin Disraeli

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit"

Harry S. Truman, President

Harry S. Truman

"Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth"

Shirley Chisholm, Politician

"Care more than others think wise"

Howard Schultz, Businessman

"He who is not a good servant will not be a good master"

Plato, Philosopher

Plato

"There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets"

Fiorello LaGuardia, Politician

Fiorello LaGuardia

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

John Buchan, Politician

"I never ran my train off the track, and I never lost a passenger"

Harriet Tubman, Activist

"It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear his sheep, not to skin them"

Tiberius, Statesman

Tiberius

"If your treat an individual... as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Writer

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Build your reputation by helping other people build theirs"

Anthony J. D'Angelo, Author

Anthony J. D'Angelo

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership"

Nelson Mandela, Statesman

Nelson Mandela

"It's vital that the monarchy keeps in touch with the people. It's what I try and do"

Princess Diana, Royalty

Princess Diana

"I think you can be the greatest orator of all time, the greatest motivator of all times, but if those players know that you don't care about them, and you don't try to understand them, then they're never going to hear what you have to say"

Mike Singletary, Athlete

"Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it"

Marian Anderson, Musician

"When the best leader's work is done the people say, "We did it ourselves.""

Lao Tzu, Author

"In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant"

Charles de Gaulle, Leader

Charles de Gaulle

"Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring your own life"

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actor

Arnold Schwarzenegger

"I feel that my job is to create an atmosphere where creative people can do their best work"

John Frankenheimer, Director

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"

John F. Kennedy, President

John F. Kennedy

"Go before the people with your example, and be laborious in their affairs"

Confucius, Philosopher

"Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, 'Make me feel important.' Never forget this message when working with people"

Mary Kay Ash, Businesswoman

Mary Kay Ash

"As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others"

Bill Gates, Businessman

Bill Gates

"Your position never gives you the right to command. It only imposes on you the duty of so living your life that others can receive your orders without being humiliated"

Dag Hammarskjold, Diplomat

Dag Hammarskjold

"Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made"

Grover Cleveland, President

Grover Cleveland

"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed"

Napoleon Hill, Writer

Napoleon Hill

"The purpose of getting power is to be able to give it away"

Aneurin Bevan, Politician

"Great leaders have a heart for people. They take time for people. They view people as the bottom line, not as a tool to get to the bottom line"

Pat Williams, Athlete

"I believe that government is the servant of the people and not their master"

David Rockefeller, Businessman

"He serves his party best who serves his country best"

Rutherford B. Hayes, President

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

Harvey S. Firestone, Businessman

"Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance"

J. Donald Walters, Author

"Learn to obey before you command"

Solon, Statesman

Solon

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