Top 440 Leaders Quotes

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be devastating.

We are a democracy, and we get the leaders we deserve because we elect them.

I do not believe that the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, sexual orientation, colour or religion. I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts.

Now, look, it’s true, Americans do want leaders that will come to Washington, D.C. and work together to get things done, but that comes with a very important caveat, it depends what they’re trying to do.

On my show ‘One on One’, I interview leaders from around the world – in politics, business, art. My other show, ‘Her Village’, is more like ‘The View’.

I know that we shall meet problems along the way, but I’d far rather see for myself what’s going on in the world outside, than rely on newspapers, television, politicians and religious leaders to tell me what I should be thinking.

Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today’s Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

The trust of the people in the leaders reflects the confidence of the leaders in the people.

I just believe in speaking truth and probably that is why leaders are scared of my statements.

You can almost see voters nodding their heads at home: The public’s faith in politicians and political institutions has been on a steep and dangerous decline for decades, because elected leaders fail to deliver.

During the 2008 campaign, I strongly endorsed Barack Obama for president. I did so early, when many Democratic leaders – including many prominent African-American politicians – believed the safe bet was to back then-front-runner Hillary Clinton.

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

Leaders who are kind of insecure or egocentric, they basically sabotage themselves.

As the leaders and decision-makers of this great state, it is our responsibility to strive for perfection.

Our leaders are acting like lemmings.

As a businessperson, I don’t have the power to change the government. That is in the hands of the political leaders. However, as a taxpayer, we have the right to be critical of the government and demand change.

Great leaders are willing to sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Poor leaders sacrifice the people to save the numbers.

It’s better for candidates to suggest ideas that are responsible, not ones that are incapable of being executed. People are influenced by what their leaders tell them. And bringing the level of rhetoric down brings the temperature down.

Very few of the great leaders ever get through their careers without failing, sometimes dramatically.

I fell in love with the topic of leadership. For three decades, that has been a major focus of my hands-on work: listening to and working with leaders, their teams and their organizations.

The leaders of the world’s largest economies agreed during the November 2008 G20 summit not to create barriers hindering global trade and capital flows. Russia shares these principles.

I think the obligation of an artist is to make a difference in the world. That is what matters most to me. I think that artists are the leaders of the world because they do not have a connection to the industrial complex, the day-to-day short-term survival that most people are involved with.

I’ve had some Democrat African-American leaders tell me they’re really not all that comfortable with Obama as the lead at the MLK festivities ’cause he’s not down for the struggle. He does not have that in his roots.

We named the book ‘Extreme Ownership’ because we really found that when we looked at not only at leaders but at teams that were the most successful, we found that the ones that had this attitude of extreme ownership were the ones that did the best, and it’s definitely an attitude that I had.

Too often in the past, U.S. leaders have forced Israel to pay the price for American strategic interests in the Middle East – through concessions in the peace process as well as passivity in the face of Iraqi attacks.

The American people, in their own families, they understand that you have to do that. You have to make the tough decisions. You have to get your budget. You have got to put it in order. And they expect their elected officials and their leaders to do likewise.

Sometimes, leaders’ failures can cost these young people’s lives.

We need to make sure we’re creating spaces to create new leaders and new types of leadership.

Great leaders have a heart for people. They take time for people. They view people as the bottom line, not as a tool to get to the bottom line.

Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.

The Summit of the Americas is an excellent platform to raise awareness and secure commitments from heads of state and different sector leaders regarding Early Childhood Development.

Leaders are not dogmatic. They are principled and know that change is never easy, but when it’s necessary, they must lead.

So many other countries have had female leaders, in fact the U.S. ranks 61st in female representation in government and I think it is startling and sign of a change that needs to be made.

We need a T governance structure capable of responding to the depth of our regional transportation crisis while tearing down silos that keep municipal leaders and state officials from working together with urgency on shared goals.

Pheu Thai has to find prominent party leaders that can solve the problems of the country now. If we can find those types of people, then we can win. There are many good people in Thailand but we have to recruit them.

Leaders should lead as far as they can and then vanish. Their ashes should not choke the fire they have lit.

Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.

The secret lives of politicians are always shady. People need to accept the fact that their leaders aren’t perfect. No one is.

When the world is in the midst of change, when adversity and opportunity are almost indistinguishable, this is the time for visionary leadership and when leaders need to look beyond the survival needs of those they’re serving.

The legitimacy of the leadership depends on what that country thinks of its leaders.

If NATO goes in and solves the crisis in Darfur, when the next one comes along Africa’s leaders will just sit back.

I feel that business leaders with their ability to create businesses, with their ability to scale, need to play an important role in social service.

Many leaders of big organizations, I think, don’t believe that change is possible. But if you look at history, things do change, and if your business is static, you’re likely to have issues.

The West needs leaders with the courage and the will to fight the scourge of radical Islam.

We can’t wait for Washington. Business leaders are going to have to galvanize their own constituencies and do everything they can to demonstrate confidence in the economy, and I think that can be contagious.

In real life, the most practical advice for leaders is not to treat pawns like pawns, nor princes like princes, but all persons like persons.

We need the help of other member countries and leaders who, like us, want to see a change in Europe’s direction. That’s also my logic when I tell voters that electing me president will not only shape France’s future, but also initiate change across all of Europe.

When I speak of the fear, intimidation, arrests, and public shaming of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I’m from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?

It is proclaimed by the great leaders of that party, by its political conventions, by its ministers of the Gospel, and by every other means they have of giving currency and importance to the declaration, that it is its mission to abolish slavery in the Union.

The danger of leaving overwhelming wealth and power in the grasp of a small minority is a lesson that leaders such as ousted Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have learned a little too late, as the demonstrations across the Arab world indicate.

People like leaders who look like they are dominant, optimistic, friendly to their friends, and quick on the trigger when it comes to enemies. They like boldness and despise the appearance of timidity and protracted doubt.

All companies of any size have to continue to push to make sure you get the right leaders, the right team, the right people to be fast acting, and fast moving in the marketplace. We’ve got great leaders, and we continue to attract and promote great new leaders.

Most people don’t like change. They revolt against it unless they can clearly see the advantage it brings. For that reason, when good leaders prepare to take action or make changes, they take people through a process to get them ready for it.

When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.