Top 100 Character Leadership Quotes
#1. But the person who scored well on an SAT will not necessarily be the best doctor or the best lawyer or the best businessman. These tests do not measure character, leadership, creativity, perseverance.
William Julius Wilson
#2. Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.
Norman Schwarzkopf
#3. Character is what you are. Reputation is what people think you are.
Ashwin Sanghi
#4.
a man without birth, without courage, without conduct. For my part, I declare, sir, it shall never be said that I made such a man my master.
Sarah Vowell
#5. The real character of leaders does not show in fair weathers. When the sun of life begins to go hot, you will see for yourself some leaders are already melting off!
Israelmore Ayivor
#6. A title or promotion does not make anyone a leader. Leadership emerges from the character, qualities, and capacities of the individual. Make no mistake about it, authentic leadership is personal.
George B. Bradt
#7. One of the surest signs of the estimated changes in the consciousness of the American proletariat is to be found in the character of the demands now being put forward by the leadership.
C.L.R. James
#8. The first time I was privileged to meet president Mandela was during his visit to Malawi ... shortly after he was released from prison. I was amazed by his humility and his great sense of leadership ... Mandela's character has shaped my life.
Joyce Banda
#9. True leadership is often the mantle of the meek, who are rarely are prepared for such responsibility; which builds character in those who embrace it.
M.J. Stoddard
#10. I wish I had played team sports. I think every kid should. Teamwork builds character - teaches people about leadership and cooperation.
Mo Rocca
#11. When you are a person people can trust, they will call on upon you, love to be around you and work with you.
Israelmore Ayivor
#12. Leadership is an active, living process. It is rooted in character, forged by experience, and communicated by example.
John Baldoni
#13. Honesty is doing what you know or believe is right. Integrity is doing what is right and truthful.
Roy Bennett
#14. In the birth of societies it is the chiefs of states who give it its special character; and afterward it is this special character that forms the chiefs of state.
Baron De Montesquieu
#15. The strength of the group is in the will of the leader, and the will is character in action.
Vince Lombardi
#16. Successful leadership is not about being tough or soft, sensitive or assertive, but about a set of attributes. First and foremost is character
Warren G. Bennis
#17. Leadership, in other words, is a matter of character, not goals.
Ted Malloch
#18. If you don't know what you value in life, then you won't be able to make any meaningful decisions you can live with in the future.
Shannon L. Alder
#20. People will not follow a leader with moral incongruities for long. Every time you compromise character you compromise leadership. The foundation of firm leadership is character.
Bill Hybels
#21. Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of another.
Winston Churchill
#22. Leadership is about inspiration with character, not manipulation with position!
Israelmore Ayivor
#23. Which do you want to be: a proficient manager or a Leader of Character? The first creates compliant employees. The second leads committed followers!
Dave Anderson
#24. Society gains nothing whilst a man, not himself renovated, attempts to renovate things around him; he has become tediously good insome particular but negligent or narrow in the rest; and hypocrisy and vanity are often the disgusting result.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
#26. The more consistent a father can be or a mentor can be in the person's life and teach them principles of real solid manhood, character, integrity and leadership, the more consistent you can be in the person's life and teach them those things at a younger age, and then the better off they'll be.
Allan Houston
#27. Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint.
Lewis H. Lapham
#28. I believe that he will prosper most whose mode of acting best adapts itself to the character of the times; and conversely that he will be unprosperous, with whose mode of acting the times do not accord.
Niccolo Machiavelli
#30. Leadership rests not only upon ability, not only upon capacity; having the capacity to lead is not enough. The leader must be willing to use it. His leadership is then based on truth and character. There must be truth in the purpose and will power in the character.
Vince Lombardi
#31. You need a strategy to assume leadership, but only the character can sustain leaders as who they really are.
Pearl Zhu
#32. One thing I've learned in life is that I can speak for myself, that I can fight my own battles. I don't like anyone telling me how I'm supposed to feel or think or what I'm supposed to say.
Hope Solo
#33. Divine persons are character born, or, to borrow a phrase from Napoleon, they are victory organized.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
#34. A tough hide with a tender heart is a goal that all leaders must have.
Wayde Goodall
#35. Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time.
George W. Bush
#36. Honesty and integrity are the yardsticks by which we measure our intrinsic value.
Orly Wahba
#37. Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
Norman Schwarzkopf
#38. The present goal of the individual
in group enterprises is to avoid dominance; leadership is felt to be a character disorder.
Donald Barthelme
#39. Governor Sanders showed true leadership and character by supporting civil rights for all during a time when many were not, His lasting positive impact on our state will be felt by many future generations of Georgians.
Nathan Deal
#40. Keeping or holding on to a concept shows belief but building or adding to it shows confidence and depth of character.
Delma Pryce
#41. Individual effort is good but collective effort is better. We need a NETWORK of nation builders
Fela Durotoye
#42. EYou reveal your character by what you do with what you have.
GE Paulus
#43. Over time, is it easier or harder to sustain your influence within your organization? With charisma alone, influence becomes increasingly more difficult to sustain. With character, as time passes, influence builds and requires less work to sustain.
John C. Maxwell
#44. Leadership consists of character and strategy. If you can't have both, opt for character.
Norman Schwarzkopf
#45. Valor in the leader is often an expression of the leader's character, fortitude, grace, vulnerability, openness, and honesty.
Catherine Robinson-Walker
#47. Perfecting your character isn't a marathon, a race, or a competition. It can only be won in stride with daily motivation.
Orly Wahba
#48. The greatest crisis in the world today is a crisis of leadership, and the greatest crisis of leadership is a crisis of character.
Aubrey Malphurs
#49. The most important thing about leadership is your character and the values that guide your life.
Brenda Barnes
#50. Only people of proven character should be placed in positions of spiritual leadership.
Max Anders
#51. He knows that in leadership cleverness is not as important as content, that charisma and dash are not as vital as character and doctrine.
Neal A. Maxwell
#52. Character is the direct result of mental attitude. I believe that character is higher than the intellect. I believe that leadership is in sacrifice, in self-denial, in humility and in the perfectly disciplined will. This is the distinction between great and little men.
Vince Lombardi
#53. Great leadership has more to do with character, courage, and conviction than it does with specific skills or competencies.
William A. Adams
#54. His was the strong soul, gentle, but tempered with fire, fervent, heroic and good, the helper and friend of mankind. It is such as he who make progress possible.
Thomas W. Martin
#55. Character primarily is honesty with God, ones-self, and others."
~R. Alan Woods [2013]
R. Alan Woods
#56. Your reputation is what others think of you; your character is what you truly are. Reputations can be manipulated; character can only be developed and maintained.
Bohdi Sanders
#57. Character creates consistency, and if your people know what they can expect from you, they will continue to look to you for leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#58. Who you are when you have no power to say anything, and who you become when you have power to say everything will determine whether you are a leader or not.
Israelmore Ayivor
#59. The man who commands efficiently must have obeyed others in the past, and the man who obeys dutifully is worthy of someday being a commander.
Marcus Tullius Cicero
#60. The character to follow thru on commitments made to others is built by following thru on commitments made to self.
Orrin Woodward
#62. What an amazing creative way to magnify, and illuminate the courage of 30 Sheroes whose courage, leadership and character is symbolic of the many unsung Women Sheroes of past and present.
Emory Douglas
#63. Leadership is more about purpose than it is about position.
Michele Jennae
#64. I'm not concerned with whether you got to the top. I want to know how far you climbed. That is where the real achievement is found.
William James Moore
#65. Your character and attitude is what takes the lead in your leadership role and you follow them as a true leader. Poor character and attitude is eventually poor leadership.
Israelmore Ayivor
#67. If you don't demonstrate leadership character, your skills and your results will be discounted, if not dismissed.
Mark Miller
#68. From her character in the HBO miniseries: The art of politics is the art of applying the seat of the britches to the seat of the chair.
Abigail Adams
#69. Great men are strong men with great leadership qualities. They inspire others to be loving and caring like themselves. By this their character is made stronger.
Ellen J. Barrier
#70. My own definition of leadership is this: The capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.
Bernard Law Montgomery
#71. Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain. Its qualities are sacrifice and self-denial. Also, most importantly, it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in. It's a state of mind-you could call it character in action.
Vince Lombardi
#72. Your talent and giftedness as a leader have the potential to take you farther than your character can sustain you. That ought to scare you.
Andy Stanley
#73. The great leader attracts to himself men of kindred character, drawing them towards him as the loadstone draws iron.
Samuel Smiles
#74. Character in leadership is the most important balance for leadership. Without character, leaders have no safety. Leadership has no protection without character.
Myles Munroe
#75. If you want to know the real character of man, intentionally and timely give him the test of 3d's; delay, denial and disappointment
Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
#76. He's very competitive and knows what he wants. He has developed toughness in character and that is what is needed for Indian cricket. Ganguly has proved to be one of the best captains. He has now acquired great leadership qualities.
Steve Waugh
#77. If you have no character to lose, people will have no faith in you.
Mahatma Gandhi
#78. Every leadership role has a character driving force that will fulfill or decimate the ultimate purpose of the role.
Ikechukwu Joseph
#79. You may gain a position, but that does not mean you've gained leadership. You may lose position, but that does not mean you've lost leadership! When you gain true character, you can leadership and when you lose it, you cease to be a leader!
Israelmore Ayivor
#80. Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody's watching, doing as you say you would do.
Roy Bennett
#81. To guard our character with unwavering commitment, our best protection comes from being humbly aware of our vulnerability.
Lee Ellis
#82. Character in leadership comes down to two questions: Would you trade places with anyone under your command? Do you hold yourself to the same level of accountability as those for whom you bear responsibility?
Gary J. Byrne
#83. Leader of Character: someone who uses influence to achieve a moral or ethical goal.
Dave Anderson
#84. What are we if we are not disciplined?
Rob Liano
#85. I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character. Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership.
S. Truett Cathy
#86. Effective leadership is the only competitive advantage that will endure. That's because leadership has two sides- what a person is character and what a person does- competence.
Stephen Covey
#87. Leaders show examples. They have something to offer and they'll offer it by the process of how they got it. Anyone who has no examples to show may not lead better.
Israelmore Ayivor
#88. There's no doubt West Point impacted who I am ... It has an enormous emphasis, not only on military aspects, but character development. Whether it's the honor code, or the interactions you have, both with the cadet leadership and the academy leadership, every place you are is a character test.
Mike Pompeo
#89. Where your flesh is in front, your future is behind.
Paul Enenche
#90. 1 Timothy 3 lists only one gift, teaching, then follows w a list of character traits.
Derwin L. Gray
#91. Leadership is first and foremost bout character, one who is in power but not subordinate to it, one has control of money but is not lured by it, one whose position opens all doors but prefers the simplicity of lifestyle, and one who is followed by many but takes the heart of a servant.
Wilfrido V. Villacorta
#92. Leadership is not about personality, possessions, or charisma, but all about who you are as a person. I used to believe that leadership was about style but now I know that leadership is about substance, namely character.
James Hunter
#93. Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully.
John A. Lejeune
#94. Character matters; leadership descends from character.
Rush Limbaugh
#95. If you haven't found yourself yet, it's difficult to help someone to discover himself. False leaders make more false leaders!
Israelmore Ayivor
#96. Trust is equal parts character and competence ... You can look at any leadership failure, and it's always a failure of one or the other.
Stephen Covey
#97. Character is more important than any other leadership trait.
John Wooden
#98. Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.
Marva Collins
#99. Think of strength, dream of strength, live of strength.
Abhijit Naskar
#100. Sitting at a candidate rally is similar to sitting in a ballyard. Both give you the opportunity to assess the technical metrics and reflect on the intangibles - what baseball calls 'make up' and politics calls 'character' - the leadership, talent and maturity to add value to a venture.
Christine Pelosi
