Top 100 Real Leadership Quotes
#1. Real leadership means tackling tough problems ourselves and not leaving them to our children.
Jon Kyl
#2. Real leadership is not seeking the applause from followers; real leadership is applauding the followers who become leaders.
Onyi Anyado
#3. The idea that the UN system could provide real leadership on the great development challenges will strain credulity in some quarters.
Jeffrey Sachs
#4. It's sort of easy to make a challenge. It's very hard to put the full fate of your government behind the challenge and make it happen. That's real leadership.
Jody Williams
#5. REAL Leadership is the building of belief, that activates and aligns the full potential, for a meaningful cause
Tony Dovale
#6. Real leadership involves breaking through the limits of your mind so you can step into the highest strengths of your spirit.
Robin S. Sharma
#7. The principle of real leadership ignored, the immortal objects of society forgotten, practical conservatism degenerated into mere laudation of private enterprise, economic policy almost wholly surrendered to special interests.
Russell Kirk
#8. How long can we go without real leadership? It's like an experiment. It's [a problem with ] both parties, it's beyond belief.
Lewis Black
#9. We need real leadership, Democrat, Republican and independent to stand up and say, we have to live within our means.
Tom Coburn
#10. I hope many of you will be people that question why things are and why we have to do them the way we have always done them. I hope you will take some risks, exert some real leadership on issues, and if you will, dance along the edge of the roof as you continue for life.
Wilma Mankiller
#11. Bosses push, Leaders pull. Real leadership is servant leadership.
Dave Ramsey
#12. Real leadership comes from the quiet nudging of an inner voice. It comes from realizing that the time has come to move beyond waiting to doing.
Madeleine Albright
#13. Real leadership is about building people up and empowering them. Many leaders feel that empowering someone else will reduce their own authority. I ask you: When Rasulallah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam empowered the sahaba, did that take away from his authority or did it empower him?
Nouman Ali Khan
#14. Most leadership writing today advises us on how to prosper within the system. I believe real leadership is about transforming the system.
Ziad K. Abdelnour
#15. Employees who are controlled cannot respond caringly, you need superior knowledge and real leadership, not management. Because of this we specifically developed a selection process for leaders; we don't hire managers.
Horst Schulze
#16. Real leadership is not about prestige, power, or status. It is about responsibility.
Robert L. Joss
#17. I think the American people are looking for real leadership. That's what I've done in Louisiana, that's what I'll do in America.
Bobby Jindal
#18. Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.
John C. Maxwell
#19. If you can fix something that needs to be fixed, go ahead and fix it. But real leadership is most often needed where simple solutions have already been tried and have failed. When things are hard, sometimes the best thing you can do is to drown what's wrong in a sea of what's right.
Eric Greitens
#20. Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.
Pete Hoekstra
#21. Hope and change? We're not doing that anymore. They're doing attack and blame. And so, I just think people are going to see through this. They want real leadership. They want us to get this country on the right track.
Paul Ryan
#22. 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
#23. Doing the right thing isn't always easy - in fact, sometimes it's real hard - but just remember that doing the right thing is always right.
David Cottrell
#24. While followers idealize the real, leaders realize the ideal ... They outshine with their power of love those whose only motivation is love of power.
Debashis Chatterjee
#25. The real heart of strategy is the strategist.
Max McKeown
#26. The focus of pastoral leadership is so consistently on the people, in fact, that the spiritual condition of the flock is the only real measure of a leader's success.
Christopher A. Beeley
#27. Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes.
Joseph C. Rost
#28. 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
#29. ReThink Real Success: Keeping your word to others and never lying to yourself
Tony Dovale
#30. The opportunities that everyone cannot see are the real opportunities.
Jack Ma
#31. Intellectuals are rarely successful as leaders. They are so trapped in their ideals that they cannot venture out in the real world to win and lead.
Awdhesh Singh
#32. Rethink Your Success Mindset: With the right mindset, everything that you experience, along your journey towards success, is a blessing.
Tony Dovale
#33. Just like watering the field will cause both the desired seed and the undesirable weed to germinate, the opportunities for your mission in life will be equally presented with real-life threats.
Archibald Marwizi
#34. The intelligence and ability of a colored person are in pretty direct proportion to the amount of white blood he has, and ... most of the positions of leadership, influence, and prominence in the Negro race are held not by real Negroes but by Mulattoes, many of whom have very little Negro blood.
Madison Grant
#35. The real spiritual leader is focused on the service he and she can render to God and other people, not on the residuals and perks of high office or holy title. We must aim to put more into life than we take out.
J. Oswald Sanders
#36. An honorable leader must demonstrate a willingness to reveal his or her 'inner self' to their team. It builds trust and trust is essential. It's also a sign of strength and authenticity, and people are attracted to those who are 'real' and authentic.
Lee Ellis
#37. Real Fathers are Role Models worthy of emulation. They choose to live exemplary lifestyles of leadership and excellence
Fela Durotoye
#38. REAL Leaders are experts at bringing out the best in others ... Thinking , feelings and actions. They improve their teams' thinking skills and Mindsets.
Tony Dovale
#39. The real leader holds the power, not just the position.
John C. Maxwell
#40. We must remind our politicians that we expect them to speak honestly and to be concerned about real issues, and not simply with the obtaining or retaining of power.
Davis McCaughey
#41. It's a leadership function. They taught me that at Quantico. The troops have to see you doing the job. They have to know you're there for them. And I have to be sure that it's all real, that I actually am the President.
Tom Clancy
#42. Leaders of the future will have to be visionary and be able to bring people in - real communicators. These are things that women bring to leadership and executive positions, and it's going to be incredibly valuable and incredibly in demand.
Anita Borg
#43. Your real statesman is first of all, and chief of all, a great human being, with an eye for all the great fields on which men likehimself struggle, with unflagging, pathetic hope, toward better things ... He is a guide, a counselor, a mentor, a servant, a friend of mankind.
Woodrow Wilson
#44. Leadership is not about sitting and presiding, it's about a going somewhere. To be buoyant, you must not only ignite passion around a common quest, you must also mobilize your team to take a journey with you toward a common destination, or what I call a "real ambition."
Kevin Allen
#45. Rethink Your Success Mindset: Gratitude is the attitude, fuel and catalyst that transforms life's challenges into wisdom.
Tony Dovale
#46. Spiritual leadership is the power to change the atmosphere by one's presence, the unconscious influence that makes Christ and spiritual things real to others.
J. Oswald Sanders
#47. To all the young people out there who think money and fame is important: that's only a small piece of the pie. You need an education to be totally secure in life. I feel very secure I can go get a real job now.
Shaquille O'Neal
#48. The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
#49. The challenge for us is to find some response that actually inspires change rather than clinging to the old ways that cause resentment, and more importantly, distract from the real problem.
Adele Faber
#50. The best thing you can give as a leader is a reason to trust. People want to trust. They're hungry for it. But they're selective. They'll only give it to a motivator, a communicator, a teacher, a real person. Someone who in good times and bad always does the right thing.
Jeffrey R. Immelt
#51. When girls see women in leadership roles speaking out for what they believe in, they see it is possible for them, too. Instead of a faraway dream, their aspirations become real, concrete and achievable. Womanhood starts to look more inviting.
Tabby Biddle
#52. Most employees are never made or allowed to understand the real meaning behind the work that they are doing. So, for how long can someone remain motivated about chasing something without knowing what he is chasing and why?
Abhishek Ratna
#53. Greenhouse gas emissions and global warming are among humanity's most pressing concerns. Societal expectations on climate change are real, and our industry is expected to take a leadership role.
Ali Al-Naimi
#54. This was my first real lesson in politics ... If you are cast on a desert island with only a screwdriver, hatchet, and the chisel to make a boat with, why, go and make the best one you can. It would be better if you had a saw, but you haven't, so with men.
Theodore Roosevelt
#55. A real businessman or entrepreneur has no enemies. Once he understand this, the sky's the limit.
Jack Ma
#56. Vocational education programs have made a real difference in the lives of countless young people nationwide; they build self-confidence and leadership skills by allowing students to utilize their unique gifts and talents.
Conrad Burns
#57. The staff used to say, "When the president eats, everybody eats." That kind of leadership is real. I figured the saying applied to every president but really the saying came from Bush 41's years. He appreciated the lowest on the totem pole because he'd once pounded the Navy pavement.
Gary J. Byrne
#58. Communication is the real work of leadership.
Nitin Nohria
#59. In every situation, you must lead with your real self, because if you're going to be on the leading edge of management, you sometimes must be on the emotional edge as well.
James Autry
#61. Half a century ago, the amazing courage of Rosa Parks, the visionary leadership of Martin Luther King, and the inspirational actions of the civil rights movement led politicians to write equality into the law and make real the promise of America for all her citizens.
David Cameron
#62. If I think something's a waste of time or inappropriate I don't wait to point it out. I say it right away. It's real time. So you might hear me say 'That's the dumbest idea I have ever heard' many times during a meeting.
Bill Gates
#64. 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
#65. Every real human being has to be a 'rebel'...rebel against whom?? Against his own personality...the bits which have kept him from being the REAL him!
Abha Maryada Banerjee
#66. Anyone can show exceptional leadership ability in easy times. When all's going to plan, anyone can be inspirational/excellent/innovative and strong. The real question is how do you show up when everything's falling apart?
Robin S. Sharma
#67. It is sad that the Republican leadership is not as interested as they say they are in protecting the institution of marriage as they are in waging a campaign to divide and distract the American people from the real issues that need to be addressed.
Kendrick Meek
#68. If you want a strong future: You need to get past the stories that you have told yourself and others. You need to hear the heartbeat
that's the real you.
Bill Jensen
#69. Today's Arab crisis is not one of money, men, morale, land or resources ... The real crisis is rather one of leadership, management and perennial egotism.
Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
#70. Leaders are not the ones with the right position or a proclaimed or given title, the actual leaders are the people who start acting, who step up, who do change, no matter in what way or how small!
Akilnathan Logeswaran
#71. Managers and leaders cause most of the organizational confusion and frustration by not doing their jobs - their real jobs.
Liz Weber
#72. A real leader has the ability to motivate others to their highest level of achievement; then gives them the opportunity and the freedom to grow.
Buck Rodgers
#74. REAL success, satisfaction and joy has nothing to do with owning STUFF!
Tony Dovale
#75. If a guy is intimidated by a woman in leadership, he has real problems with his own concepts of masculinity. That's a harsh statement, but I believe it to be true.
Tony Campolo
#76. When Xi Jinping came to power, there were a series of hints that market-based capitalism would be allowed to move forward under his leadership. At the first real threat, they've fallen over themselves to impose government control.
Roger Altman
#77. The real role of leadership in education ... is not and should not be command and control. The real role of leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility.
Ken Robinson
#78. Leadership is not something that is added, but rather built in the DNA of creation, an orderly creation (1 Corinthians 12:12; 14:38-45; Titus 1:5; Genesis 1; 2). The real question is whether humanity has high-jacked Leadership?
Jonah Books
#79. My refusal to follow my husband's God-given leadership hurts the gospel, hurts the name of Christ, and repels unbelievers from finding the real love and real life that is only available in Jesus.
April Cassidy
#80. There are no reluctant leaders. A real leader must really want the job ... If you find the need for a leader and have to coax or urge your selection, you'll be well advised to pass him over. He's not the man you need.
Ira C. Eaker
#81. If you care about real change, deep structural change, that involves politics, and all politics is friction. It takes leadership, and the willingness to create that friction, that leads to social change.
Nick Hanauer
#82. Life of any real value or substance is not formed during good times merely enjoyed.
John Paul Warren
#83. If we fail in this country, it is because we are too timid. If we lose our way in America, it is because we are too complacent. We must become conscious to the real threats before us and act creatively, imaginatively, now. We can no longer look to leadership beyond ourselves.
Terry Tempest Williams
#84. Real leaders focus resources in areas that provide the greatest opportunity rather than making across-the-board decisions.
Frank Sonnenberg
#85. That's why I think that cultivation, 'becoming a real human being,' really is the primary leadership issue of our time, but on a scale never required before. It's a very old idea that may actually hold the key to a new age of 'global democracy.
Peter M. Senge
#86. Age in just a number. It carries no weight. The real weight is in impacts. The truth is that you can do it at any age. Get up and be willing to leave a mark.
Israelmore Ayivor
#87. The great difference between the real leader and the pretender is that the one sees into the future, while the other regards only the present; the one lives by the day, and acts upon expediency; the other acts on enduring principles and for the immortality.
Edmund Burke
#88. Through real-life stories, Kristin Kaufman illustrates the core idea of being present in the moment and opening oneself up to new ideas in order to become an authentic leader in life.
Stephen R. Covey
#89. I love free trade, but we need great leadership to have real free trade. And we don't have good leadership. We have leadership that doesn't know what it's doing.
Donald Trump
#90. Be willing to tolerate discomfort - being uncomfortable is often the price for making a real difference.
Al Ritter
#91. He was the first prime minister in a long time who did not have a son or a son-in-law in business or real estate
Sanjaya Baru
#92. Rethink Your Success Mindset: Times are getting tougher. We need tougher mindsets to ensure that we go beyond survive to thrive.
Tony Dovale
#93. There is a new model of leadership in the world that rides on the premise that every single person in the organisation can be a leader. Titles are important for structure and order, but real power does not come from titles.
Robin S. Sharma
#94. Voters - here's the real challenge: we don't need empty promises made by politicians whose only goal in life is to get elected or re-elected. We need leaders with attributes that qualify them to lead us through the difficult challenges we're facing.
Lee Ellis
#95. 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
#96. The reason most of your staff are asleep and disengaged, is because you have boring, and bully managers, and no REAL Leaders to inspire and unleash potential.
Tony Dovale
#97. Fresno is an All America city and deserves real, honest, strong leadership and I pledge to the people of Fresno to be that kind of leader.
Alan Autry
#98. The real architect of a life is the hard and almost impossible circumstances one faces.
John Paul Warren
#99. The only real training for leadership is leadership.
Antony Jay
#100. If we allow the celebrity rock-star model of leadership to triumph, we will see the decline of corporations and institutions of all types. The twentieth century was a century of greatness, but we face the very real prospect that the next century will see very few enduring great institutions.
James C. Collins
