Top 100 Leadership Character Quotes
#1. If you don't demonstrate leadership character, your skills and your results will be discounted, if not dismissed.
Mark Miller
#2. Unless today is well lived, tomorrow is not important.
Alan Sakowitz
#3. 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
#5. When making the problem go away is more important than solving the problem leadership begins to fail. The easy way vs. The character way.
William James Moore
#6. We tend to select top men for their character and capacity, then overload them according to their willingness.
Clarence Benjamin Jones
#7. 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
#8. Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of another.
Winston Churchill
#9. Leadership is about inspiration with character, not manipulation with position!
Israelmore Ayivor
#10. Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
#11. 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
#12. 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
#13. In leadership, skills may take you where character won't keep you.
Mike Ayers
#15. 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
#16. Keeping or holding on to a concept shows belief but building or adding to it shows confidence and depth of character.
Delma Pryce
#17. Where your flesh is in front, your future is behind.
Paul Enenche
#18. Every leadership role has a character driving force that will fulfill or decimate the ultimate purpose of the role.
Ikechukwu Joseph
#19. To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.
J. C. Watts
#20. It takes strong, sound leadership, that correspondingly rare commodity, which is afflicted with neither an excess of pity nor callousness, to stand against the insipid tide of superficiality that is sweeping the world.
Tim Macartney-Snape
#21. 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
#22. Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody's watching, doing as you say you would do.
Roy Bennett
#23. To guard our character with unwavering commitment, our best protection comes from being humbly aware of our vulnerability.
Lee Ellis
#24. 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
#25. Leader of Character: someone who uses influence to achieve a moral or ethical goal.
Dave Anderson
#26. What are we if we are not disciplined?
Rob Liano
#28. Only people of proven character should be placed in positions of spiritual leadership.
Max Anders
#29. 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
#30. 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
#31. Character is what you are. Reputation is what people think you are.
Ashwin Sanghi
#32. Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.
Norman Schwarzkopf
#33.
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
#34. 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
#35. People will follow you when you build the character to follow through.
Orrin Woodward
#36. 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
#37. 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
#38. 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
#39. 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
#40. 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
#41. I wish I had played team sports. I think every kid should. Teamwork builds character - teaches people about leadership and cooperation.
Mo Rocca
#42. 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
#43. Leadership is an active, living process. It is rooted in character, forged by experience, and communicated by example.
John Baldoni
#44. We have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone.
Roy Bennett
#45. Honesty is doing what you know or believe is right. Integrity is doing what is right and truthful.
Roy Bennett
#46. 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
#47. The strength of the group is in the will of the leader, and the will is character in action.
Vince Lombardi
#48. 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
#49. Leadership, in other words, is a matter of character, not goals.
Ted Malloch
#50. The road is long if one proceeds by way of precepts but short and effectual if by way of personal example.
Seneca.
#51. great attitude make your character and sets your path.
Jose Melendez
#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. Authentic Christians are persons who stand apart from others. Their character seems deeper, their ideas fresher, their spirit softer, their courage greater, their leadership stronger, their concerns wider, their compassion more genuine and their convictions more concrete.
Bill Hybels
#54. 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
#55. 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
#56. 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
#57. The character to follow thru on commitments made to others is built by following thru on commitments made to self.
Orrin Woodward
#59. 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
#60. Character in many ways is everything in leadership. It is made up of many things, but I would say character is really integrity.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
#61. Leadership is more about purpose than it is about position.
Michele Jennae
#62. Becoming a Leader of Character changes lives - our lives and the lives of the people we touch.
Dave Anderson
#63. 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
#64. The time it takes to fall from the top of a mountain to the floor it shorter than what it takes to climb from the floor to the top. Only leaders with character can maintain their trusts.
Israelmore Ayivor
#65. 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
#67. Character makes trust possible, and trust is the foundation of leadership.
John C. Maxwell
#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 haven't found yourself yet, it's difficult to help someone to discover himself. False leaders make more false leaders!
Israelmore Ayivor
#78. 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
#79. 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
#80. If you have no character to lose, people will have no faith in you.
Mahatma Gandhi
#81. Leaders always choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong.
Orrin Woodward
#82. Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.
Albert Schweitzer
#83. 1 Timothy 3 lists only one gift, teaching, then follows w a list of character traits.
Derwin L. Gray
#84. 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
#85. There is a continuum that runs from character to productivity. Who you are and what you believe make a difference to those who look to you for leadership. The values you live will reach the bottom line of your company.
Walter Wright
#86. 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
#87. 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
#88. Character matters; leadership descends from character.
Rush Limbaugh
#89. 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
#90. Stress builds character and failure breeds motivation. I guess I'm a Optimist.
Noel DeJesus
#91. 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
#92. Character is more important than any other leadership trait.
John Wooden
#93. You can't be a successful leader or mentor until you have served. You can't serve until you have stepped out of your comfort zone. And you can't step out of your comfort zone unless you have character and keep your word.
Bill Courtney
#94. Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.
Marva Collins
#95. Think of strength, dream of strength, live of strength.
Abhijit Naskar
#96. 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
#97. 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
#98. Great leadership has more to do with character, courage, and conviction than it does with specific skills or competencies.
William A. Adams
#99. 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
#100. Character primarily is honesty with God, ones-self, and others."
~R. Alan Woods [2013]
R. Alan Woods
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