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Earn Your Leadership Every Day: 25 Quotes on Being a Leader

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It doesn’t matter if you’re the CEO of a fast-growing tech startup or the owner of a little mom-and-pop shop on the corner—you’re an entrepreneur, the head of a business, a leader. Even with a good team to support you, the success or failure of your business is heavily dependent upon your leadership skills and the choices you make as a leader. With so much resting on your shoulders, it can be overwhelming at times. That’s why it’s often beneficial to step back, take a deep breath, and listen to the wisdom passed on by current and past leaders.

Here are 25 inspirational quotes on leadership to keep you motivated.

“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” —Ralph Nader

“The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” —Jim Rohn

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” —Jack Welch

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” —John F. Kennedy

“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” —Rosalynn Carter

“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. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” —Douglas MacArthur

“You don’t lead by hitting people over the head—that’s assault, not leadership.” —Dwight Eisenhower

“There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage.” —Fuchan Yuan

“The leaders who offer blood, toil, tears and sweat always get more out of their followers than those who offer safety and a good time. When it comes to the pinch, human beings are heroic.” —George Orwell

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” —Andrew Carnegie

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right—for you’ll be criticized anyway.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” —Bill Gates

“My job is not to be easy on people. My job is to take these great people we have and to push them and make them even better.” —Steve Jobs

“Power isn’t control at all—power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.” —Beth Revis

“A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.” —John Maxwell

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” —Warren Bennis

“A cowardly leader is the most dangerous of men.” —Stephen King

“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

“People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” —John Maxwell

“Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” —Peter Drucker

“Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” —Tom Peters

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” —Theodore Roosevelt

“If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.” —Maya Angelou

“Earn your leadership every day.” —Michael Jordan

And a special bonus quote:

“Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” –Michael Scott (Steve Carell), The Office

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