170 Leadership Development Quotes

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

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Famous Leadership Development Quotes

Great leaders encourage leadership development. By openly developing themselves — Marshall Goldsmith

Great leadership is by definition relentlessly developmental. — Bill Hybels

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 very exercise of leadership fosters capacity for it. — Cyril Falls

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

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better. - Bill Bradley

Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better. — Bill Bradley

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

Leadership is about empowering others to achieve their full potential and fostering an environment of trust and collaboration. — Michael Abrashoff

The individual leads in order that those who are led can develop their potential as human beings and thereby prosper. — Socrates

The leader for today and the future will be focused on how to be - how to develop quality, character, mind-set, values, principles, and courage. — Frances Hesselbein

It's important to get in the habit of growing as a human being, developing and refining leadership and management skills and entrepreneurial instincts and changing to accommodate the times. — Ivanka Trump

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. — John F. Kennedy

Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average. - Jim Rohn

Leadership is the challenge to be something more than average. — Jim Rohn

It is the responsibility of leadership and management to give opportunities and put demands on people which enable them to grow as human beings in their work environment. — John Harvey-Jones

One key to successful leadership is continuous personal change. Personal change is a reflection of our inner growth and empowerment. — Robert E. Quinn

Short Leadership Development Quotes

  • Leadership is demonstrated at the moment of need. You learn to be a leader by acting, by doing — Carlos Ghosn
  • Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. — Warren G. Bennis
  • Great leaders encourage and enable others to become great. — Susan McCann
  • Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience. — Colin Powell
  • Leadership is not for the faint of heart — Bill Hybels
  • Leadership is about setting the stage for others to shine. — Jensen Huang
  • The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers. — Ralph Nader
  • Leadership is hard. It's a skill. It's a technique. — Jocko Willink
  • Leadership is about persuasion, presentation and people skills. — Shiv Khera
  • Leadership cannot really be taught. It can only be learned. — Harold Geneen

Leadership Development Image Quotes

Leadership development 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.

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

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

Leadership development 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.

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

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

Leadership development quote Leadership is an action, not a position.
Leadership is an action, not a position.

Community leadership is the courage, creativity and capacity to inspire participation, development and sustainability for strong communities. — Gustav Nossal

All human development, no matter what form it takes, must be outside the rules; otherwise we would never have anything new. — Charles Kettering

All leaders are influenced by those they admire. Reading about them and studying their traits inevitably allows an inspiring leader to develop his own leadership traits. — Rudy Giuliani

The more seriously you take your growth, the more seriously your people will take you. — John C. Maxwell

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

Leadership development 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.

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 development 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.

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

Leadership Training Quotes

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

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

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

Leadership development quote The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.
The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow.

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

I am endlessly fascinated that playing football is considered a training ground for leadership, but raising children isn't. — Dee Dee Myers

One man cannot make a team. — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Everybody says they want to be free. Take the train off the tracks and it’s free-but it can’t go anywhere. — Zig Ziglar

The leader works in the open and the boss in covert. The leader leads, and the boss drives. — Theodore Roosevelt

No amount of training in leadership skills, courses in management methods, power titles, promotions, or associations can substitute for the right attitudes. — Myles Munroe

The Leadership Training Institute of America is a cultural think tank providing training and opportunity in leadership development and cultural dynamics. — Michael Burgess

Leadership Skills Quotes

Those who are skilled in combat do notbecome angered, those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win. — Zhuge Liang

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. — Harry S Truman

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

Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. — Harry S. Truman

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

Vocational education programs have made a real difference in the lives of countless young people nationwide; they build self-confidence and leadership skills by allowing students to utilize their unique gifts and talents. — Conrad Burns

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

He that cannot obey, cannot command. — Benjamin Franklin

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

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

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

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

Effective Leadership Quotes

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

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

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

History has shown that a country most effectively speaks with one voice. When nationally elected officials work together, build consensus, and provide leadership, the American people will follow. — Chuck Hagel

Build what you want to see in the world. — Jack Dorsey

Be the compromise you want to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

Be the compromise you want to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi

Definition Of Leadership Quotes

My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. — Bernard Law Montgomery

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 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

To me, a leader is a visionary that energizes others. This definition of leadership has two key dimensions: a) creating the vision of the future, and b) inspiring others to make the vision a reality. — Vince Lombardi

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

Continuing to believe the same thing, even in the face of new evidence to the contrary, is the definition of insanity - except in politics where it's called leadership. — Scott Adams

I definitely wasn’t cool in high school. I really wasn’t. I did belong to many of the clubs and was in leadership on yearbook and did the musical theater route, so I had friends in all areas, but I certainly did not know what to wear, did not know how to do my hair, all those things. — Dianna Agron

Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence." (Harvard Business School definition of leadership) — Sheryl Sandberg

God's definition of success is really one of the significant differences our lives can make in the lives of others. — Tony Dungy

The building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. — Peter Drucker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leadership Potential Quotes

The tragedy of life is not found in failure but complacency. Not in you doing too much, but doing too little. Not in you living above your means, but below your capacity. It's not failure but aiming too low, that is life's greatest tragedy. — Benjamin E. Mays

Leadership isn't about simply being in charge and treating your people like soldiers and barking orders. Leadership is sharing your knowledge and your direction so that others grow and reach their potential. — Cal Ripken, Jr.

Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It's dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great. — Billie Jean King

The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict? — Max De Pree

Whether you have a leadership title or not, you have the potential to either lead your organization beyond all expectations or inhibit its growth through entropy. — Simon T. Bailey

The better you are at surrounding yourself with people of high potential, the greater your chance for success. — John C. Maxwell

Good communications are central to leadership, conflict resolution, business success, family and the potential of all of your relationships. — Bryant H. McGill

To fulfill you potential, you need to move out of your comfort zone and into the legacy zone. — David Cottrell

Leadership is not something that is done to people, like fixing your teeth. Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better. — Bill Bradley

Leadership is a group project, and all of us are necessary to fill it. Wise leaders will realize this and encourage their groups to develop their own evolving leadership potential. — Arnold Mindell

Leadership And Management Quotes

The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you, and you may not even be aware of the extent to which this is happening. — Edgar Schein

Management is, above all, a practice where art, science, and craft meet - Henry Mintzberg

Management is, above all, a practice where art, science, and craft meet — Henry Mintzberg

You manage things, you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. — Grace Hopper

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

If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself. Do that well and you'll be ready to stop managing. And start leading. — Mark Gonzales

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 Murray Hopper

Be the trouble you want to see in the world. — Joey Comeau

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

Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. — Colin Powell

Leadership is working with goals and vision management is working with objectives. — Russel Honore

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More Leadership Development Quotes

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

Developing excellent COMMUNICATION skills is absolutely essential to effective leadership. The leader must be able to share knowledge and ideas to transmit a sense of urgency and enthusiasm to others. If a leader can't get a message across clearly and motivate others to act on it, then having a message doesn't even matter. — Gil Amelio

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

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

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

Positive deviance means doing the right thing for sustainability, despite being surrounded by the wrong institutional structures, the wrong processes and stubbornly uncooperative people. That is what sustainability-literate leadership means today. Surrounded by evidence of rampant unsustainability it is not possible to say 'I did not know' — Sara Parkin

I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among men the greatest asset I possess. The way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement. — Charles R. Schwab

One must also acknowledge that there are moments in an organisation's development when fresh blood and new vision are required, which may imply that an outsider may be better suited to the leadership role. — Kofi Annan

The more that social democracy develops, grows, and becomes stronger, the more the enlightened masses of workers will take their own destinies, the leadership of their movement, and the determination of its direction into their own hands. — Rosa Luxemburg

The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. — Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is learned, earned, and discerned. You develop it. It's based on trust and credibility. Others see it in you. You can't demand it. — Rick Warren

Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. Our requirements for world leadership, our hopes for economic growth, and the demands of citizenship itself in an era such as this all require the maximum development of every young American's capacity. The human mind is our fundamental resource. — John F. Kennedy

Employees who are controlled cannot respond caringly, you need superior knowledge and real leadership, not management. Because of this we specifically developed a selection process for leaders; we don't hire managers. — Horst Schulze

The leader beyond the millennium will not be the leader who has learned the lessons of how to do it, with ledgers of 'hows' balanced with 'its' that dissolve in the crashing changes ahead. The leader for today and the future will be focused on how to be - how to develop quality, character mind-set, values, principles, and courage. — Frances Hesselbein

Perhaps the most promising trend in our thinking about leadership is the growing conviction that the purposes of the group are best served when the leader helps followers develop their own initiative, strengthens them in the use of their own judgment, enables them to grow, and to become better contributors. — John W. Gardner

I'll bet most of the companies that are in life-or-death battles got into that kind of trouble because they didn't pay enough attention to developing their leaders. — D. Wayne Calloway

But no nation can base its survival and development on luck and prayers alone while its leadership fritters away every available opportunity for success and concrete achievement. — Ibrahim Babangida

Leadership has become a heavy industry. Concern and interest about leadership development is no longer an American phenomenon. It is truly global. Though I will probably be in less demand, I wanted to move on. — Warren Bennis

That's good advice for any young person to remember who aspires to leadership in corporate or public life. Develop a thick skin when it comes to the press. Remember you're never as bad-or as good-as the press says you are. — William Schreyer

The Leadership Training Institute of America is a cultural think tank providing training and opportunity in leadership development and cultural dynamics. — Michael C. Burgess

Leadership has become a heavy industry. Concern and interest about leadership development is no longer an American phenomenon. It is truly global. Though I will probably be in less demand, I wanted to move on. — Warren G. Bennis

Winning companies win because they have good leaders who nurture the development of other leaders at all levels of the organization. — Noel Tichy

I emphasize self-esteem, self-confidence, and dignity, not as an ideal, but as a real test of community organization. Without leadership development, community organizations do not have staying power. — Paul Wellstone

Leaders don't rise to the pinnacle of success without developing the right set of attitudes and habits; they make every day a masterpiece. — John C. Maxwell

Leadership is accomplishing something through other people that wouldn't have happened if you weren't there. . . Leadership is being able to mobilize ideas and values that energize other people. . . . Leaders develop a story line that engages other people. — Noel Tichy

A new leader has to be able to change an organization that is dreamless, soulless and visionless... someone's got to make a wake up call. — Warren G. Bennis

There is one lesson from the past, in particular, that we cannot afford to ignore: You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development, without safeguarding women's reproductive health and rights. — Hillary Clinton

Ill can he rule the great that cannot reach the small. — Edmund Spenser

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