164 Business Leadership Quotes

Following is our list of business leadership quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about positive business leadership.

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Famous Business Leadership Quotes

Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. — John Welch

As a business owner, leadership is more than just telling others what to do. — Lewis Howes

Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully. — John A. Lejeune

If you work for and eventually lead a company, understand that companies have multiple stakeholders including employees, customers, business partners and the communities within which they operate. — Don Tapscott

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. - Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. — Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is not for the faint of heart - Bill Hybels

Leadership is not for the faint of heart — Bill Hybels

Observing many companies in action, I am unable to point to a single instance in which stunning results were gotten without the active and personal leadership of the upper managers. — Joseph M. Juran

Leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills. — Shiv Khera

Leadership is a way of thinking, a way of acting and, most importantly, a way of communicating. — Simon Sinek

Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts. — Erskine Bowles

Education is the mother of leadership. — Wendell L. Willkie

Great leadership usually starts with a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference. — Mac Anderson

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes. - Margaret J. Wheatley

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes. — Margaret J. Wheatley

Leadership requires the courage to make decisions that will benefit the next generation. — Alan Autry

A leadership will be successful if it is able to serve the bottom. — Joko Widodo

Short Business Leadership Quotes

  • Leadership happens at every level of the organization and no one can shirk from this responsibility. — Jerry Junkins
  • Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average. — Jim Rohn
  • Leadership is mostly the art of doing simple things very well. — Michael Abrashoff
  • Character matters; leadership descends from character. — Rush Limbaugh
  • Leadership is demonstrated at the moment of need. You learn to be a leader by acting, by doing — Carlos Ghosn
  • Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character. — Lewis H. Lapham
  • Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. — John F. Kennedy
  • Leadership is hard. It's a skill. It's a technique. — Jocko Willink
  • Leadership is defined by results not attributes. — Peter Drucker
  • Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable. — Lance Morrow

Business Leadership Image Quotes

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. - Henry Ford quote

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. — Henry Ford

You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it. - Boris Yeltsin quote

You can build a throne with bayonets, but it's difficult to sit on it. — Boris Yeltsin

Business leadership quote A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compas
A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.
It's alright to be Goliath but always act like David. - Phil Knight quote

It's alright to be Goliath but always act like David. — Phil Knight

Business leadership quote Be a leader by example. Be confident and humble. Love the unloved.
Be a leader by example. Be confident and humble. Love the unloved.

Inspirational Business Leadership Quotes

The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. — Ronald Reagan

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced. — James A. Baldwin

Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to. — Richard Branson

Business leadership quote Leadership is an action, not a position.
Leadership is an action, not a position.

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. — Andrew Carnegie

There are only two options regarding commitment; you’re either in or you’re out. — Pat Riley

You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life. — Steve Jobs

Business leadership quote Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.
Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.

Be strong, but not rude; Be kind, but not weak; Be bold, but not bully; Be humble, but not timid; Be prooud, but not arrogant. — Zig Ziglar

You are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped. — Melinda Gates

Don't sell life insurance. Sell what life insurance can do. — Ben Feldman

To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks. - Bill Gates

To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks. — Bill Gates

Positive Business Leadership Quotes

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. - John Steinbeck

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him. — John Steinbeck

You learn far more from negative leadership than from positive leadership. Because you learn how not to do it. And, therefore, you learn how to do it. — Norman Schwarzkopf

The best way to support dreams and stretch is to set apart small ideas with big potential, then give people positive role models and the resources to turn small projects into big businesses. — Jack Welch

Business leadership quote Kindness is not a business. True kindness expects nothing in return and should never act with condit
Kindness is not a business. True kindness expects nothing in return and should never act with conditions.

When people are placed in positions slightly above what they expect, they are apt to excel. — Richard Branson

Leadership Quotes

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. — Colin Powell

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. — Jim Rohn

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. - Peter Drucker

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. — Peter Drucker

Business leadership quote Leadership simply begins with the courage to be yourself. So everyone else can be, too.
Leadership simply begins with the courage to be yourself. So everyone else can be, too.

Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could. — Steve Jobs

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

The most important ingredient of leadership is character. Most of the proficiencies can be learned, but what's inside you is something that's difficult to change. — Jesse Robredo

Leadership is all about people. It is not about organizations. It is not about plans. It is not about strategies. It is all about people-motivating people to get the job done. You have to be people-centered. — Colin Powell

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. - Harry S. Truman

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. — Harry S. Truman

You see things and you say, 'Why?'. But I dream things and I say, 'Why not?'. — George Bernard Shaw

Business Leaders Quotes

If you're going to be thinking anyway, think big! — Donald Trump

In a democracy the people choose a leader in whom they trust. Then the chosen leader says, 'Now shut up and obey me.' People and party are then no longer free to interfere in his business. — Max Weber

The single biggest way to impact an organization is to focus on leadership development. There is almost no limit to the potential of an organization that recruits good people, raises them up as leaders and continually develops them. — John C. Maxwell

Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist--while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist! — Lori Greiner

It doesn't matter if you are a musician, a business leader, a president or a student. We all have a responsibility to give back. — Shakira

You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. - Theodore Hesburgh

You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. — Theodore Hesburgh

Many business leaders still believe that time on-task equates to productivity. — Matthew Walker

Leaders are people who can discern the inevitable and act accordingly. When people talk about business acumen, discernment is a big part of it. It's a bit like gut instinct, but a little more developed. — Donald Trump

How do you know you have won? When the energy is coming the other way and when your people are visibly growing individually and as a group. — John Harvey-Jones

Your most important task as a leader is to teach people how to think and ask the right questions so that the world doesn't go to hell if you take a day off. — Jeffrey Pfeffer

Business Management Quotes

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. - Michael Porter

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. — Michael Porter

What gets measured gets managed. — Peter Drucker

As a goalkeeper you need to be good at organising the people in front of you and motivating them. You need to see what's going on and react to the threats. Just like a good manager in business. — Peter Shilton

All progress depends on the unreasonable man. — George Bernard Shaw

Since retiring from the FBI in 2007, I've traveled the world and worked with everyone from CEOs to their managers and everyday workers on how to apply techniques from hundreds of high-stakes, life-or-death negotiations to business negotiations. — Chris Voss

If you begin to think business whether you own it or work for it like you would a well managed sports team you will learn a lot of very interesting lessons — Strive Masiyiwa

What’s kept me intrigued is that it is one of the few jobs where everyday you can study something new. You are constantly learning about new businesses, new situations, new management teams, new issues. So it’s infinitely challenging. — Bill Ackman

My father was a middle manager at an oil company, but I never knew anything about his work. Whatever business acumen I have just got gleaned over the years. — Donna Mills

My biggest regret in business is not starting sooner. It took 4 years to build my first website, but the day I actually started to build my website it only took me 10 hours. — Alex Hormozi

The untold secret of McDonald’s is that when you sell a restaurant to a franchisee, sales typically go up a lot because the franchisees do a much better job managing the store. — Bill Ackman

Strategic Leadership Quotes

A leader's role is to raise people's aspirations for what they can become and to release their energies so they will try to get there. — David Gergen

The expert in battle seeks his victory from strategic advantage and does not demand it from his men. — Sun Tzu

Presenting leadership as a list of carefully defined qualities (like strategic, analytical, and performance-ori ented) no longer holds. Instead, true leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed.... Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection. — Sheryl Sandberg

Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success — Stephen Covey

Don't just let your career happen to you. You need to be strategic about how you define your leadership journey and where that takes you. — Denise Morrison

Most leadership strategies are doomed to failure from the outset. As people have been noting for years, the majority of strategic initiatives that are driven from the top are marginally effective - at best. — Peter Senge

So has the strategic decision been made to disarm Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction by the leadership in Baghdad? I think our judgment has to be clearly not. — Colin Powell

I have led the way for moving women from traditional roles to strategic positions and inspired girls and women throughout Africa to seek leadership positions. — Dalia Grybauskaite

The conduct of President Bush's war of choice has been plagued with incompetent civilian leadership decisions that have cost many lives and rendered the war on and occupation of Iraq a strategic policy disaster for the United States. — John Olver

We are not responsible for our endowments or natural abilities, but we are responsible for the strategic use of time. — J. Oswald Sanders

Effective Leadership Quotes

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. — Peter Drucker

Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience. — Colin Powell

The greatness of a leader is measured by the achievements of the led. This is the ultimate test of his effectiveness. — Omar N. Bradley

Effective leaders help others to understand the necessity of change and to accept a common vision of the desired outcome. — John P. Kotter

To manage a system effectively, you might focus on the interactions of the parts rather than their behavior taken separately. — Russell L. Ackoff

A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. - Witter Bynner

A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. — Witter Bynner

The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I'. They don't think 'I'. They think 'we'; they think 'team'. — Tom Peters

He who has learned how to obey will know how to command. — Solon

In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. — Harry S. Truman

I can't give you the sunset, but I can give you the night. — Erin McCarthy

Leadership Development Quotes

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. - Stevie Wonder

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. — Stevie Wonder

The most valuable "currency" of any organization is the initiative and creativity of its members. Every leader has the solemn moral responsibility to develop these to the maximum in all his people. This is the leader's highest priority. — W. Edwards Deming

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born. — Warren G. Bennis

The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. - Harvey S. Firestone

The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. — Harvey S. Firestone

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. — Max De Pree

People who consider themselves victims of their circumstances will always remain victims unless they develop a greater vision for their lives. — Stedman Graham

A leader's job is to develop committed followers. Bad leaders destroy their followers' sense of commitment. — Dean Smith

Leadership is providing inspiration and vision, then developing and empowering others to achieve this vision. — Marshall Goldsmith

I've developed a much greater respect for our politicians and every high-tech CEO. — Michael Saylor

Failing forward is the ability to get back up after you've been knocked down, learn from your mistake, and move forward in a better direction. — John C. Maxwell

Good Leadership Quotes

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. — Aristotle

A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops. — John J. Pershing

You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others. — Gordon B. Hinckley

Good generals select intelligent officers, thoughtful advisors, and brave subordinates. They oversee their troops like a fierce tiger with wings. — Zhuge Liang

He who neither drinks, nor smokes, nor dances, he who preaches & even occasionally practice piety, temperance and celibacy, is generally a saint, or a mahatma or more likely a humbug but he certainly won't make a leader or for that matter a good soldier — Sam Manekshaw

My philosophy of leadership is to surround myself with good people who have ability, judgment and knowledge, but above all, a passion for service. — Sonny Perdue

Good leaders must first become good servants. - Robert K. Greenleaf

Good leaders must first become good servants. — Robert K. Greenleaf

The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better. — Tony Dungy

If there is such a thing as good leadership, it is to give a good example. I have to do so for all the Ikea employees. — Ingvar Kamprad

Leadership is hard to define and good leadership even harder. But if you can get people to follow you to the ends of the earth, you are a great leader. — Indra Nooyi

Personal Leadership Quotes

Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed. — Mwai Kibaki

We want women leaders today as never before. Leaders who are not afraid to be called names and who are willing to go out and fight. I think women can save civilization. Women are persons. — Emily Murphy

People who are role models for the principles and values of the organization, who buy in and understand the vision of what the organization is trying to accomplish, and have the personality to inspire other people to the vision. You know, that’s what team chemistry and leadership is all about. — Nick Saban

Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right. - Lao Tzu

Those who are right do not argue. Those who argue are not right. — Lao Tzu

The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first. — Robert K. Greenleaf

The leader sees leadership as responsibility rather than as rank and privilege. - Peter Drucker

The leader sees leadership as responsibility rather than as rank and privilege. — Peter Drucker

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. — Lao Tzu

The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example. - John Wooden

The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example. — John Wooden

You can't run a government from one single person. What instead matters is that leadership be about gathering around extraordinary individuals and getting the best out of them. — Justin Trudeau

Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off. — Colin Powell

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More Business Leadership Quotes

I didn't follow the policies of those already in the business. If I had, I would never have made a go of it. Instead, I started out with the determination to make a better nickel chocolate bar than any of my competitors made, and I did so. — Milton S. Hershey

A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. — Mahatma Gandhi

If you see a bandwagon, it's too late. — James Goldsmith

A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off forever. — P. J. Plauger

Remember that the six most expensive words in business are: 'We've always done it that way' — Catherine DeVrye

If you do not know where your competitor is, or overconfident and snobbish about your competitor, or are unable to comprehend how yourcompetitor became a real threat, you will surely fall behind him. Don't be the "they" in this idiom: First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. — Jack Ma

When all think alike, then no one is thinking — Walter Lippmann

The great vice of democracy is that for a generation we have been busy getting ourselves on to the list of beneficiaries and removing ourselves from the list of contributors, as if somewhere there was somebody else's effort on which we could thrive. — Robert Menzies

Innovation is the process of turning ideas into manufacturable and marketable form. — Watts Humphrey

A great company in the media business needs visionary leaders, not a conglomerate structure headquartered in Columbus Circle that second guesses. — Carl Icahn

Remember the difference between a boss and a leader. A boss says, Go! A leader says, Let's go! — George E. M. Kelly

The most important ingredient for the success of any company is the quality of its people, starting with its leadership team. — Vivek Ramaswamy

The quality of your business is directly proportional to the quality of the people you hire which is directly proportional to your character and your ability to cast a clear vision and how they fit in it. — Alex Hormozi

I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership. — S. Truett Cathy

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. — Babe Ruth

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable and which motivates them over the long haul. — Ordway Tead

To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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

To succeed in sales, simply talk to lots of people every day. And here's what's exciting: There are lots of people! — Jim Rohn

Never hire or promote in your own image. It is foolish to replicate your strength and idiotic to replicate your weakness. It is essential to employ, trust, and reward those whose perspective, ability, and judgment are radically different from yours. It is also rare, for it requires uncommon humility, tolerance, and wisdom. — Dee Hock

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