Top 50 quotes about true leadership

There have been many charismatic and strong leaders throughout history who have passed down their words of wisdom through memorable leadership quotes to help people appreciate their power and the responsibility that comes with it. Many people have changed their lives and the lives of others around them as a result of such leadership quotes.

These quotes, which range from bold changemakers like Nelson Mandela to fashion icons like Coco Chanel, will make you feel invincible and ready to take on the world. Don’t forget to include some on your vision board or post them somewhere you’ll see often to remind yourself of how powerful you are!

50 Leadership Quotes

• “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

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

• “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” — Henry Adams

• “The price of greatness is responsibility.” — Winston Churchill

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

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

• “A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others see.” — Leroy Eimes

• “The right ingredients can create a legend.” — Coco Chanel

• “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” — Theodore Roosevelt

• “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

• “Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.” — Thomas Jefferson

• “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

• “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment and it comes with plenty of failures along the way.” — Barack Obama

• “See the good in people and help them.” — Mahatma Gandhi

• “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” — John C. Maxwell

• “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” — Plato

• “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.” — Douglas MacArthur

• “Great leaders do not desire to lead but to serve.” — Myles Munroe

• “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” — Abraham Lincoln

• “A boss has the title, the leader has the people.” — Simon Sinek

• “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” —  Ralph Nader

• “Leadership should be focused on extending the ladder of opportunity for everyone.” – Justin Trudeau

• “If you think you are leading and turn around to see no one following you, then you are just taking a walk.” — John C. Maxwell

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

• “Recognise when you are wrong and make amends. Never be too proud to apologise or patch things up.” — Kator Tarkaa

• “Connect deeply with others. Our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.” — Melinda Gates

• “Leadership is an action, not a position.” — Donald McGannon

• “Integrity, insight, and inclusiveness are the three essential qualities of leadership.” — Sadhguru

• “Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them.” — Marissa Meyer

• “Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” — Bill Bradley

• “As we look ahead to the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” — Bill Gates

• “A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” — John C. Maxwell

• “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

• “Leadership is not a popularity contest; it’s about leaving your ego at the door. The name of the game is to lead without a title.” — Robin S. Sharma

• “Leaders walk a fine line between self-confidence and humility.” – Stanley McChrystal

• “The role of leadership is to transform the complex situation into small pieces and prioritize them.” — Carlos Ghosn

• “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” — Andrew Carnegie

• “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

• “The task of the leader is to get their people from where they are to where they have not been.” — Henry Kissinger

• “Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.” — J. Donald Walters

• “Leadership is not just about giving energy… it’s unleashing other people’s energy.” — Paul Polman

• “Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.” — Pete Hoekstra

• “A real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that at the end of the debate, we should emerge stronger and more united than ever before.” — Nelson Mandela

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

• “People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.” — Michelle Obama

• “The hardest thing about being a leader is demonstrating or showing vulnerability.  When the leader demonstrates vulnerability and sensibility and brings people together, the team wins.” — Howard Schultz

• “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader. A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

• “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” — Sheryl Sanberg

• “We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.” — J.K. Rowling

• “If you delegate tasks, you create followers. If you delegate authority, you create leaders.” — Craig Groeschel

The most important takeaways from these top leadership quotes:

Each of the people named at the end of these leadership quotes developed their words as a result of their own life experiences directing and educating others. They all held various positions and had distinct leadership styles, but they all had basic values about what it takes to be a leader. Leadership is about influence rather than authority. Great leaders inspire and motivate others to work together for a purpose greater than themselves. In doing so, they alter the course of history.

There’s a reason why one or more of these leadership quotes sparked a surge of inspiration in you. They reveal the truth about who you are, who you aspire to be, and who you are becoming.

If some of those quotes have resonated with you and you want to develop your leadership skills contact us at mindsetshift.co.uk or you can link it to the coaching page on the website