We consider a leader to be a person or persons capable of organizing and guiding the conduct of a group towards one or several concrete objectives, being recognized by those whom they lead. This position, associated with power but at the same time with responsibility and commitment, can become a hard burden.

Leading is not easy: you have to assume the direction that the team takes, face the difficulties both in the task and among the members of the group or the consequences and responsibilities that arise from the decisions taken. That is why in this article we will see some great leadership phrases that can serve as inspiration.

A quarantine of great leadership phrases

Many authors have reflected their thoughts on what leadership implies, due to the high impact that the role of those who are considered leaders can have on all those who follow or lead them. Below is a small selection of phrases on leadership proposed by different thinkers, experts and leaders throughout history .

1. To lead people, walk behind them (Lao Tzu)

This first sentence reflects a fundamental fact: the leader is a leader because he has someone who recognizes him and follows him, being a true leader not the one who does what he likes supported by power but the one who truly cares about those who have put him where he is.

2. He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander (Aristotle)

The author reflects the need for those who lead to know how to put themselves in the place of those they lead.

3. The task of the leader is to bring people from where they are to where they have not been (Henry Kissinger)

Brief phrase that reflects that the leader arises when it is necessary to reach a point that the members of the group are not able to solve individually or without a coordination.

4. Power is not control. Power is strength and it is giving that strength to others. A leader is not someone who forces others to become stronger (Beth Revis)

This reflection makes clear reference to the existence of a difference between leading and oppressing to get or keep power.

5. A great person attracts great people and knows how to keep them together (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

A phrase that shows the relevance of personality and the disposition towards others when it comes to leading effectively.

6. The good leader knows what is true; the bad leader knows what sells best (Confucius)

Confucius tells us in this sentence that the good leader is not the one who manipulates others to preserve his image and power but the one who works for the welfare of those he leads even though it may harm him.

7. Wild ducks follow the leader of their flock by the shape of its flight and not by the force of its squawk (Chinese proverb)

This proverb reflects the idea that the important thing is to give and be an example, not to give an image of force or oppress the led.

8. A good leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes them where they don’t necessarily want to go but they should be (Rosalynn Carter)

The former First Lady refers to the fact that the decisions that must be taken are not always in accordance with the majority’s current of thought, and it is sometimes necessary to promote an approach towards a certain position.

9. Anyone can hold the rudder when the sea is calm (Publilio Siro)

This author tells us that authentic leadership is shown when difficulties arise, being simple to lead without any real problem.

10. The supreme quality of leadership is integrity (Dwight Eisenhower)

Eisenhower indicates the importance of integrity within the role of the leader.

11. The best executive is one who has enough sense to choose good men to do what they want to do and enough restraint not to mess with them while doing it (Theodore Roosevelt)

A good leader is capable of making the best use of the skills of those he leads, always respecting them for what they are: those who have put him in a position of power.

12. It’s better to lead from the back and put others in front, especially when things are going well. Instead, you should take the front line when there is danger. That is when people will appreciate your leadership (Nelson Mandela)

Mandela reflects in this sentence on the importance of allowing others to develop freely but acting quickly and standing up in times of need.

13. People should not feel obligated. They should be able to choose their own leader (Albert Einstein)

True leadership is that which arises from recognition rather than imposition, as the well-known author of this phrase indicates.

14. The Art of Communication is the Language of Leadership (James Humes)

This phrase indicates the importance of the leader being able to correctly communicate the different objectives and aspects that those who follow him must take into account, as well as being able to accept and value the opinions of each one of them.

15. Don’t go where the road leads. Go where there is no road and leave a trail (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

A phrase that reflects that the leader is not limited to following the path set out, but is capable of creating new solutions and paths for others to follow.

16. In terms of style, he swims with the flow. In terms of principle, it remains a rock (Thomas Jefferson)

This sentence reflects the need to be adaptable but at the same time to maintain the principles and values that guide you .

17. A good leader does not get stuck behind his desk (Richard Branson)

If someone wants to be a good leader, he cannot be passive: he must be able to observe and respond to changes in the environment and in the needs of those he leads, offering his support and truly exercising his role in contact with reality

18. Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing (Albert Schweitzer)

As we have mentioned before, setting an example is what makes someone recognized and worthy of respect and even leadership.

19. A true leader has the confidence to be alone, the courage to make difficult decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one because of his actions and the integrity of his intention (Douglas MacArthur)

Being a leader is not a right, but something that comes from deserving it. Likewise, the good leader is capable of facing what is necessary, what has to be done to achieve it and its consequences.

20. Stay with a leader when he is right, stay with him when he is still right, but leave him when he is no longer right (Abraham Lincoln)

A phrase that refers to the need to show that leadership is not something eternal or absolute, or that a leader does not always have to be right, and it is important not to be obsessed with or idealize that leader and to know how to separate oneself from him when he stops fighting for what is right.

21. There’s a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through knowledge and trust (Klaus Balkenhol)

Phrase that clearly differentiates between the position obtained by position or imposition and the one obtained out of respect.

22. A good leader is not a consensus seeker, but a consensus builder (Martin Luther King)

The leader must not simply wait for everyone to agree, but must actively seek to ensure that consensus is generated and directed towards something positive.

23. Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other (John F. Kennedy)

Leadership needs to learn in order to exercise and regulate its functions, while learning needs guidance in order to be carried out

24. Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to make them better (Bill Bradley)

The good leader helps others to optimize and develop their full potential

25. Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts, but about one life influencing another (John Maxwell)

The importance of leadership is really the effect it has on those being led and the repercussions its actions can have on their lives.

26. Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but by the presence of clear strengths (John Zenger)

Although in some of the above sentences we have mentioned some typical characteristics of a good leader, the truth is that this does not mean that they cannot have weaknesses: we all have a wide range of defects and weaknesses. In what the personalities that act as leaders stand out, it is usually in the existence of great strengths.

27. The secret of leadership is simple: do what you believe in, draw a picture of the future and go there (Seth Godin)

Striving for a goal, and helping to guide towards it, is ultimately the only sense of leadership.

28. The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist hopes it will change. The leader fixes the sails (John Maxwell)

The leader’s role is to guide the action, and he or she must be a fundamentally active element in the achievement of the objectives.

29. If a leader does not transmit passion and intensity, then there will be no passion and intensity within the organization and they will start to fall and become depressed (Colin Powell)

A phrase that reflects the need for those who lead to do so with motivation and with the purpose of generating it in others.

30. The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude, kind but not weak, thoughtful but not lazy, confident but not arrogant, humble but not shy, proud but not arrogant, humorous but not foolish (Jim Rohn)

We have already commented that the role of the leader is difficult, being of great utility the existence of certain factors as the mentioned ones but without taking them to the extreme.

31. The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say “I”. They do not think “I”. They think “we”. They think “team” (Tom Peters)

Phrase that highlights the importance of focusing on the well-being of the team and on the team reaching its goals, leaving aside the “itself”.

32. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results (George S. Patton)

The leader should not mark every step of the way, but indicate the direction in which to go and allow the capacities of each to flow.

33. Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of probability against them (Robert Jarvik)

While some prudence is good, fear should not allow the leadership to lose its steam, but rather the leader should take risks and pursue the proposed goals.

34. If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and be more, you are a leader (John Quincy Adams)

A leader not only leads, but also serves as an example and inspiration

35. People who are really powerful are very humble. They do not try to impress, they do not try to influence others. They are simply. Other people are magnetically attracted to them (Sanaya Roman)

A beautiful phrase that reflects the fact that those who get the most recognition are usually the really humble ones, which usually makes them beloved leaders.

36. Leadership means that a group, large or small, is willing to entrust authority to a person who has demonstrated ability, wisdom and competence (Walt Disney)

A brief but accurate definition of what leadership involves.

37. A leader is better when people hardly know he exists, when his work is done and his goal accomplished they will say: we did it (Lao Tzu)

This author reflects the idea that the best leader is the one who is able to convince others that the results obtained are due solely to his own actions , despite the fact that there has been a little perceived guide behind it. Likewise, this implies that the leader in question does not lead by obtaining recognition but by true interest in achieving the proposed goals.

38. Become the kind of leader that people would voluntarily follow, even if you had no title or position (Brian Tracy)

In line with the meaning of the previous sentence, this one talks about the importance that before becoming a leader we try to become the kind of person we really want to follow.

39. A leader is someone you follow to a place you wouldn’t go on your own (Joel Barker)

This sentence tells us again that good leadership enables all the members of a group to achieve results that they would not achieve on their own.

40. He who has great power should use it lightly (Seneca)

This last sentence tells us that power is not something to be abused, but should only be used when necessary.