A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow. – General George S. Patton
A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. – James Crook
Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. – George S. Patton
Few people are successful unless other people want them to be. – Charlie Brown
Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. – William Arthur Ward
I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones. – John Cage
I have three treasure which I guard and keep. The first is compassion. The second economy.
The third humility. From compassion comes courage. From economy comes the means to be generous. From humility comes responsible leadership. – Lao-tse
I never criticize a player until they are first convinced of my unconditional confidence in their abilities. – John Robinson
If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. – Anonymous
If people are coming to work excited… if they know they’re making a difference in the world…if they’re making mistakes freely and fearlessly…if they’re having fun…if they’re concentrating on getting things done, rather than preparing reports — then somewhere (perhaps everywhere) you have leaders. – Robert Townsend
If there is no wind, row. – Japanese proverb
Leadership can’t be claimed like luggage at the airport. Leadership can’t be inherited, even though you may inherit a leadership position. And leadership can’t be given as a gift — even if you’ve been blessed with an abundance of leadership skills to share with someone else. Leadership must be earned by mastering a defined set of skills and by working with others to achieve common goals. ~David Cottrell
Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. – Dwight Eisenhower
Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it. – Marian Anderson
Nothing stops an organization faster than people who believe that the way you worked yesterday is the best way to work tomorrow. – Jon Madonna
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. – Henry Ford
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. – Confucius
Outstanding people have one thing in common: an absolute sense of mission. – Zig Ziglar
People cannot be managed. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led. – H. Ross Perot
People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. – John C. Maxwell
People prefer to follow those who help them, not those who intimidate them. – C. Gene Wilkes
Tell me, I’ll forget. Show me, I may remember. But involve me, and I’ll understand. – Chinese Proverb
The goal of many leaders is to get people to think more highly of the leader. The goal of a great leader is to help people to think more highly of themselves. – J. Carla Nortcutt
The marksman hitteth the mark partly by pulling, partly by letting go. – Egyptian proverb
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
The question, ‘Who ought to be boss?’, is like asking, ‘Who ought to be the tenor in the quartet?’ Obviously, the man who can sing tenor. – Henry Ford
To grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership. – Ronald Reagan
We must be silent before we can listen. We must listen before we can learn. We must learn before we can prepare. We must prepare before we can serve. We must serve before we can lead. – William Arthur Ward
We’ll either find a way or make a way. – Hannibal
What I need is someone who will make me do what I can. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him. – Viktor Frankl
What you cannot enforce, do not command. – Sophocles