170 Good Leader Quotes

Following is our list of good leader quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about quality of a good leader.

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Famous Good Leader Quotes

The best leader brings out the best in those he has stewardship over. — J. Richard Clarke

Let me define a leader. He must have vision and passion and not be afraid of any problem. Instead, he should know how to defeat it. Most importantly, he must work with integrity. — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances. — George S. Patton

As a leader of people, you have to be a great listener, a great motivator, be very good at praising and bringing out the best in people. — Richard Branson

A good leader has a compass in their head and a magnet in their heart. - Howard G. Hendricks

A good leader has a compass in their head and a magnet in their heart. — Howard G. Hendricks

Every great leader knows that his or her role comes with responsibility for those who follow him or her, and in ensuring they provide value in return for their loyalty. — Lewis Howes

Strong leaders understand that action cures indecision — Toyotomi Hideyoshi

If your leadership is ample, you will be a great example. - Daniel Evans

If your leadership is ample, you will be a great example. — Daniel Evans

A leader has been defined as one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. — Unknown

Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader. — Tacitus

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

A leader is a dealer in hope. - Napoleon Bonaparte

A leader is a dealer in hope. — Napoleon Bonaparte

A person always doing his or her best becomes a natural leader, just by example. — Joe Dimaggio

A leader is a visionary who successfully carries others along to achieve a particular goal, within a specific time frame. — Folorunsho Alakija

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done. — Ralph Lauren

Short Good Leader Quotes

  • A leader leads by example not by force. — Sun Tzu
  • A good leader gets people to follow him because they want to, not because he makes them. — Tony Dungy
  • Good leaders must first become good servants. — Robert K. Greenleaf
  • Good leaders must first become good servants. — Robert Greenleaf
  • Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. — George S. Patton
  • Great leaders inspire, they don't manipulate. — Andy Mineo

Top 10 Good Leader 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

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

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

Hate is too great a burden to bear. - Coretta Scott King

Hate is too great a burden to bear. — Coretta Scott King

Good leaders don’t make excuses. Instead, they figure out a way to get things done. — Jocko Willink

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

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

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

He that cannot obey, cannot command. — Benjamin Franklin

Good Leader Image Quotes

Good leader quote He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.
He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.

Not A Good Leader Quotes

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning. — Warren Bennis

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens people feel centered and that gives their work meaning. — Warren G. Bennis

A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. — Lao Tzu

Good leader quote Good leaders develop ideas.Great leaders develop people.The best leaders develop new leaders.
Good leaders develop ideas.Great leaders develop people.The best leaders develop new leaders.

I am an organizer, not a union leader. A good organizer has to work hard and long. There are no shortcuts. You just keep talking to people, working with them, sharing, exchanging and they come along. — Cesar Chavez

A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. — Polybius

Leadership is defined by results not attributes. — Peter Drucker

Good leader quote A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.
A good leader leads the people from above them. A great leader leads the people from within them.

Good leaders need a positive agenda, not just an agenda of dealing with crisis. — Michael Porter

Putin is a leader of his country. I say it's better to get along with Russia than not. And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world major fight, that's a good thing. — Donald Trump

As a leader, you're probably not doing a good job unless your employees can do a good impression of you when you're not around. — Patrick Lencioni

Leaders are not born, they're made. — Vince Lombardi

Quality Of A Good Leader Quotes

A leader is one who, out of madness or goodness, volunteers to take upon himself the woe of the people. There are few men so foolish, hence the erratic quality of leadership in the world. — John Updike

One of the key qualities a leader must possess is the ability to detach from the chaos, mayhem, and emotions in a situation and make good, clear decisions based on what is actually happening. — Jocko Willink

The quality of a good leader therefore is his vision, tenacity, and his capability. — Jack Ma

Well, the first quality of being a good leader is you have to be able to follow. See, a good leader cant just be the leader all the time, I have to be able to follow. — Lisa Leslie

Being A Good Leader Quotes

A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed. — Nelson Mandela

I am glad that the Crown have proved that I am the leader of the Half-breeds in the North-West. I will perhaps be one day acknowledged as more than a leader of the Half-breeds, and if I am I will have an opportunity of being acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country. — Louis Riel

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

I pray to be a good servant to God, a father, a husband, a son, a friend, a brother, an uncle, a good neighbor, a good leader to those who look up to me, a good follower to those who are serving God and doing the right thing. — Mark Wahlberg

Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I'm merely teaching you to be someone of pride and to be a good leader and that's the message I want you to take away from my music. — Sizzla

Being a good leader today doesn't mean you'll be a good leader 10 years from now. You have to adapt to the times — Carlos Ghosn

There is no real magic to being a good leader. But at the end of every week, you have to spend your time around the things that are really important: setting priorities, measuring outcomes, and rewarding them. — Jeffrey R. Immelt

To be a good boss, you must be transparent. Theres a correlation between worker happiness and workplace transparency. Leaders and managers who offer transparency will earn the respect and devotion of their team. — David Niu

He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. — Aristotle

Good Leadership 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

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

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

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

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

If you tell the truth you do not need a good memory! — Mark Twain

A good example is like a bell that calls many to church. — Danish Proverbs

True Leader 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

Freedom, by definition, is people realizing that they are their own leaders. — Diane Nash

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. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. — Douglas MacArthur

The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations. — Haile Selassie

Woe to the people that fails to honor its heroes! It will cease producing them, cease knowing them. Heroes spring from the essence of their people. A people without heroes is a people without leaders, for only a heroic leader is a true leader able to withstand the challenge of difficult times. — Rudolf Hess

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

A leader has to be one of two things: he either has to be a brilliant visionary himself, a truly creative strategist, in which case he can do what he likes and get away with it; or else he has to be a true empowerer who can bring out the best in others. — Henry Mintzberg

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

Leadership is standing with your people. People say you have to live to fight another day, but sometimes you have to show you are a true leader. — Leymah Gbowee

If in the darkness of ignorance, you don’t recognize a person’s true nature, look to see whom he has chosen for his leader. — Rumi

Qualities Of A Leader Quotes

If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. — Jim Rohn

There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader. — Rudy Giuliani

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

The leader is one who can organize the experience of the group ... and thus get the full power of the group. The leader makes the team. This is pre-eminently the leadership quality - the ability to organize all the forces there are in an enterprise and make them serve a common purpose. — Mary Parker Follett

The quality of a leader cannot be judged by the answers he gives, but by the questions he asks. — Simon Sinek

A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or regard that quality in its chosen leaders today - and in fact we have forgotten. — John F. Kennedy

Preparedness and punctuality are two of the most important qualities of a leader. — John Andreas Widtsoe

One of the qualities that all the leaders have is a voracious appetite to learn whatever they do not as yet know and understand, coupled with an openness to new experiences. — Warren G. Bennis

One quality of leaders and high achievers in every area seems to be a commitment to ongoing personal and professional development. — Brian Tracy

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force. — Andre Maurois

Bad Leader Quotes

We [Israel people] always blame Moses, that he was our greatest leader and one of the most gifted people in the world. He brought us the moral code and so on, belief in one God, but then he was a bad navigator. He brought us to the only part of the Middle East without any gas, without any oil. — Benjamin Netanyahu

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

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team. — John C. Maxwell

The best thing you can give as a leader is a reason to trust. People want to trust. They're hungry for it. But they're selective. They'll only give it to a motivator, a communicator, a teacher, a real person. Someone who in good times and bad always does the right thing. — Jeffrey R. Immelt

Nothing will undermine your effectiveness as a leader faster than a bad marriage. — Michael Hyatt

The Muslim leaders swallow the advice of the Western powers and bodies like the IMF and World Bank, even when it is bad for their countries and they know this. — Abu Bakar Bashir

A good leader is someone who knows what he's bad at, and hires someone who's good at it to take care of it for him. — John Flanagan

I always believe that ultimately, if people are paying attention, then we get good government and good leadership. And when we get lazy, as a democracy and civically start taking shortcuts, then it results in bad government and politics. — Barack Obama

A strong leader is not necessarily a bad leader. — Paul Kagame

Bosses and leaders everywhere should cherish the people who bring them bad news, disappointing data or hard problems. — Margaret Heffernan

Being A Leader Quotes

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be. — Rosalynn Carter

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

He who finds a new path is a pathfinder, even if the trail has to be found again by others; and he who walks far ahead of his contemporaries is a leader, even though centuries pass before he is recognized as such. — Ibn Khaldun

If I have any merit, it is getting along with individuals, according to their ways and characteristics. At times it involves suppressing yourself. It is painful, but necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection. — J. R. D. Tata

Be with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but, leave him when he is wrong. — Abraham Lincoln

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

Producing major change in an organization is not just about signing up one charismatic leader. You need a group - a team - to be able to drive the change. One person, even a terrific charismatic leader, is never strong enough to make all this happen. — John P. Kotter

A leader. . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind. — Nelson Mandela

All of us, who are members of the Germanic peoples, can be happy and thankful that once in thousands of years fate has given us, from among the Germanic peoples, such a genius, a leader, our Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, and you should be happy to be allowed to work with us. — Heinrich Himmler

As worship leaders we might use music as a tool, but music is only ever just that - a tool with which to encourage lives to be renewed and awakened to God. — Reuben Morgan

Strong Leaders Quotes

A country without a strong leader will go down. — Recep Tayyip Erdogan

My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders. — Ella Baker

You didn't see me on television, you didn't see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders. — Ella Baker

Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving. — Jesse Jackson

Women are leaders everywhere you look - from the CEO who runs a Fortune 500 company to the housewife who raises her children and heads her household. Our country was built by strong women and we will continue to break down walls and defy stereotypes. — Nancy Pelosi

Strong leaders engage their critics and make themselves stronger. Weak leaders silence their critics and make themselves weaker. — Adam Grant

Internationally, President Obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. He believes America's role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. I believe a strong America must - and will - lead the future. — Mitt Romney

You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington. — Grace Hopper

A strong leader accepts blame and gives the credit. A weak leader gives blame and accepts the credit. — John Wooden

By the time I stepped down as Xerox's CEO in 2009 - and as chairman in January 2010 - Xerox had become the vibrant, profitable and revitalized company that it still is today. What made the difference was a strong turnaround plan, dedicated people and a firm commitment from company leaders. — Anne M. Mulcahy

Becoming A Leader Quotes

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. — Jack Welch

The best leaders understand the motivations of their team members and know their people - their lives and their families. But a leader must never grow so close to subordinates that one member of the team becomes more important than another, or more important than the mission itself. — Jocko Willink

One revolution is still necessary: the one that will not end with the rule of its leader. It will be the revolution against revolutions, the uprising of all peaceable individuals, who will become soldiers for once so that neither they nor anyone else will ever have to be a soldier again. — Jose Marti

If your goal is anything but profitability - if it's to be big, or to grow fast, or to become a technology leader - you'll hit problems. — Michael Porter

Start with a growing market. Swim in a stream that becomes a river and ultimately an ocean. Be a leader in that market, not a follower, and constantly build the best products possible. — Robert Noyce

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

It was always my dream to be a director. A lot of it had to do with controlling my own destiny, because as a young actor you feel at everyone's disposal. But I wanted to become a leader in the business. — Ron Howard

Enclave life becomes very tense, Even when they do elect a leader, the factions remain, with the threat of splitting off. — Mary Douglas

There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader. — Mahatma Gandhi

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More Good Leader Quotes

The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says I; The leader says WE. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, GO; the leader says Lets GO! — Harry Gordon Selfridge

I love experienced people. I love people who are phenomenally talented. I love people who've worked so hard and been so courageous and are the leaders in their fields. For me to meet somebody like that and learn from them and share words with them -to me that's magic. — Michael Jackson

Since the team understands that the leader is de facto in charge, in that respect, a leader has nothing to prove. But in another respect, a leader has everything to prove: Every member of the team must develop the trust and confidence that their leader will exercise good judgment, remain calm, and make the right decisions when it matters most. — Jocko Willink

No one is born a good citizen or a good democrat or a good leader; it takes time and education. — Kofi Annan

Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar. — Orrin Woodward

Good leaders don't tell people what to do, they give teams capability and inspiration. — Jeffrey R. Immelt

Strategy equals execution. All the great ideas and visions in the world are worthless if they can't be implemented rapidly and efficiently. Good leaders delegate and empower others liberally, but they pay attention to details, every day. — Colin Powell

I believe a good leader brings out the best in people by listening to them, trusting in them, believing in them, respecting them and letting them have a go. — Richard Branson

We don’t recruit volunteers; we release leaders. Volunteers do good things but leaders change the world. — Craig Groeschel

One of the keys to leadership is recognizing that everybody has gifts and talents. A good leader will learn how to harness those gifts toward the same goal. — Benjamin Carson

Never underestimate the power of people who are determined to change life and work with all their might towards it. They are the ones who turn into leaders and revolutionize the world around us. — Peter White

I believe that the mindset that allows you to spend your working life thanking and congratulating people rather than being unpleasant to them is the mainstay of good leadership. — Tim Waterstone

Good leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. — Warren G. Bennis

True leadership has people who follow when they have the freedom not to. — James C. Collins

A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit. — Arnold Glasgow

The difference between a good leader and a great leader is humility. — James C. Collins

All good leaders are connectors. They relate well and make people feel confident about themselves and their leader. — John C. Maxwell

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