When the going gets tough, there is nothing better than a powerful quote to re-energize you, to remind you of who you truly are to give you back courage, to teach you how to lead an to sustain your leadership.

I have gathered 101 great leadership quotes that will inspire you to increase your personal power and achieve success.

1

The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.

Tony Blair

2

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

John Quincy Adams

3

Leadership is a choice, not a position.

Stephen Covey

4

Leaders live by choice, not by accident.

Mark Gorman

5

Trust is the essence of Leadership.

Colin Powell

6

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

John C. Maxwell

7

What you do has far greater impact than what you say.

Stephen Covey

8

A leader is best when people barely know he exists…when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: We did it ourselves.

Lao-Tzu

9

People who are truly strong lift others up. People who are truly powerful bring others together.

Michelle Obama

10

Always be the person you would want to work for.

Liz Brenner

11

To handle yourself, use your head; to handle other, use your heart.

Eleanor Roosevelt

12

He who asks a question is a fool for a minute; he who does not remains a fool forever.

Chinese Proverb

13

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

Dalai Lama

14

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

Albert Einstein

15

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.

George Addair

16

Nothing will work unless you do.

Maya Angelou

17

Don’t find fault, find a remedy.

Henry Ford

18

Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

Henry Ford

19

Leadership is a series of behaviors rather than a role for heroes.

Margaret J. Wheatley

20

Find the smartest people you can and surround yourself with them.

Marissa Mayer

21

Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.

Tina Fey

22

Well-behaved women rarely make history.

Eleanor Roosevelt

23

Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.

Jack Welch

24

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.

John C. Maxwell

25

I believe in a quiet, strong and grounded leadership. I think some of the best leaders are those whose work is widely known and respected but who, themselves, are relatively unknown.

Rachael Chong

26

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.

General Douglas MacArthur

27

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

Theodor Seuss Geisel

28

To lead people, walk behind them.

Lao Tzu

29

Don’t follow the crowd, let the crowd follow you.

Margaret Thatcher

30

Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.

Robert Louis Stevenson

31

Lead me, follow me, or get the hell out of my way.

George S. Patton Jr.

32

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

33

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

34

You do not lead by hitting people over the head — that’s assault, not leadership.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

35

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyway.

Eleanor Roosevelt

36

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.

Herbert Swope

37

Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.

Warren Bennis

38

A leader is a person you will follow to a place you would not go by yourself.

Joel Barker

39

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

Abraham Lincoln

40

A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others see.

Leroy Eimes

41

Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position.

Brian Tracy

42

People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.

John Maxwell

43

A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward.

Ovid

44

Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be led.

Ross Perot

45

What you do has far greater impact than what you say.

Stephen Covey

46

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

Arnold Glasow

47

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

48

There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage.

Fuchan Yuan

49

A cowardly leader is the most dangerous of men.

Stephen King

50

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples.

Mother Teresa

51

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King

52

The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.

Sheryl Sandberg

53

Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing.

Peter F. Drucker

54

Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.

Bill Bradley

55

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.

Thomas A. Edison

56

The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

Steve Jobs

57

Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.

Buddha

58

Believe you can and you’re halfway there.

Theodore Roosevelt

59

Faster. Stronger. Smarter. More humble. Less ego.

Jocko Willink

60

Leadership distilled down to 3 words: Make a difference.

Robin Sharma

61

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

Nelson Mandela

62

Leadership is a mindset in action. So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you – you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.

Travis Bradberry

63

Leaders don’t force people to follow – they invite them on a journey.

Charles S. Lauer

64

Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are.

Thomas John Carlisle

65

Leadership is not just about giving energy… it’s unleashing other people’s energy.

Paul Polman

66

The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people.

Simon Sinek

67

I think leadership is service and there is power in that giving: to help people, to inspire and motivate them to reach their fullest potential.

Denise Morrison

68

Being humble doesn’t mean that you lack self-confidence, or that you never stand up for your own opinions or principles. It does mean recognizing that you don’t know everything – and that you’re willing to learn from others.

Justin Bariso

69

A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

70

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.

Henry Ford

71

My jobs as a leader is to make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, and that they feel they’re having a meaningful impact.

Larry Page

72

I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.

Queen Elizabeth II

73

When people talk, listen completely.

Ernest Hemingway

74

Leadership is an ever-evolving position.

Mike Krzyzewski

75

What you do has far greater impact than what you say.

Steven R. Covey

76

Inspiring conduct has so much more of an impact than coercing it.

Thomas Friedman

77

Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determinations.

John Seaman Garns

78

True leadership lies in guiding others to success–in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well.

Bill Owens

79

It’s impossible to engage people when you’re not engaged yourself, and if you’re not engaged then why should they be.

Gordon Tredgold

80

But to practice leadership, you need to accept that you are in the business of generating chaos, confusion, and conflict.

Ronald Heifetz

81

Leaders should be able to stand alone, take the heat, bear the pain, tell the truth, and do what’s right.

Max De Pree

82

A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice.

James Callaghan

83

No pressure, no diamonds.

Thomas Carlyle

84

Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.

Wayne Huizenga

85

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.

Oprah Winfrey

86

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Winston S. Churchill

87

Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.

George Bernard Shaw

88

Success is a state of mind. If you want success, start thinking of yourself as a success.

Joyce Brothers

89

Successful people have no fear of failure. But unsuccessful people do. Successful people have the resilience to face up to failure—learn the lessons and adapt from it.

Roy T. Bennett

90

Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.

Sam Walton

91

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

Norman Schwarzkopf

92

In a moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Theodore Roosevelt

93

A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can succeed.

Ralph Nader

94

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again. This time more intelligently.

Henry Ford

95

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

Jack Welch

96

Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.

Dale Carnegie

97

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

Albert Einstein

98

Success isn’t about how much money you make; it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.

Michelle Obama

99

The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.

Ken Blanchard

100

Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.

Reed Markham

101

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

Epictetus

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