Quotes About Leadership

And so that generation was deprived of the one element that is essential to the operation of a free society-the ability to assume, in the absence of good proof to the contrary, that men in public life are generally decent, honorable, and loyal.

For untaught soldiers it was rough, and men fought blindly, not knowing what they were doing; an officer came on one man who was loading his musket feverishly, firing straight up into the air, reloading and firing again, an automaton acting entirely by blind instinct.

Knox, who possessed a booming voice that could be heard throughout the camp, had never fired a cannon in his life when he became head of artillery in 1775. He was a local bookseller in Boston who was fascinated by weapons. He had read just about every book published on ordnance and convinced Washington to put him in charge of his artillery,

Everyone was impressed by his humility, and one visitor was stunned that "he speaks of the war as if he had not directed it;

He was strident in his writing, but never desperate. The tone let his officers and politicians know that the situation was critical, but that somehow a solution could be found. It was a tone he would maintain throughout the war, constantly preparing his correspondents for the worst, but hoping for the best.

Washington, who monitored his supplies on a daily basis, sometimes checking on them every few hours, complained bitterly about the inefficient operations

The commander spoke to them as he always did, with sincerity and determination, but without theatrics.

Often, the King would dance himself, rolling his scapulars and weaving his steps around the skulls of his favourite victims. Or he would amuse himself by teaching little boys to chop heads, and when they made a mess of it shout, 'Not that way, you fool! Think of chopping wood!' 

Our current public education system is good at producing workers, but it can be a miserable place for creators, artists, and future leaders.

To every man of vision the clear Voice speaks; there is no great leadership where there is not a mystic.

It is said that great leaders are born, not made. The saying is true to this degree, that no man can persuade people to do what he wants them to do, unless he genuinely likes people, and believes that what he wants them to do is to their own advantage.

First of all, I try to be a positive role model.

If you're asking your kids to exercise, then you better do it, too. Practice what you preach.

When leaders realize that people are what matter most in business, everything else falls in line.

Only the self-sufficient stand alone - most people follow the crowd and imitate.

A wise man can always be found alone. A weak man can always be found in crowd.

The way to get things done is to not mind who gets the credit for doing them." – Benjamin Jowett, British theologian and classicist.

the best school leaders are present in classrooms a lot, working constructively and supportively with teachers.

in order for students to develop skills of the type they are pushing for (such as creativity, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership), they must first have been taught knowledge.

Some teachers will appreciate being invited to a school leader's office to receive feedback, perhaps because they value time out of their classroom and they feel that doing so formalises the process, which they like; others will feel intimidated by this and would much prefer to receive feedback in the more familiar environment of their own classroom.

When a democracy which is thirsting for freedom," Plato writes, "has evil cupbearers presiding over the feast, and has drunk too deeply of the strong wine of freedom, then, unless her rulers are very amenable and give a plentiful draught, she calls them to account and punishes them.

Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.

You can't kill your way to security and you can't lead by scaring people.

People always asked me how the band played like it did night after night, almost murderously consistent, NEVER stagnant and always full balls to the wall. There are two answers. One is they loved and respected their jobs, one another, their leader and their audience. The other is . . . because I MADE them!