I was recently reading about the highly successful Marc Leder, co-founder of Sun Capital Partners, the private equity investment firm. Leder has been successful throughout his life from education to his first job at Lehamn Brothers where he worked himself up from junior analyst to Senior Vice President. Mr. Leder has also involved himself in philanthropic activities as well as his success with Sun Capital Partners, a truly inspirational man.
I am often inspired in business by stories like Leder’s as well as inspirational quotes which I have posted all over my house and office. I wanted to share with you some of my favorites in the hope that they can inspire you too.
“There is a difference between being a leader and being a boss. Both are based on authority. A boss demands blind obedience; a leader earns his authority through understanding and trust.” Klaus Balkenhol
“Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?” Margaret Thatcher
“If a rhinoceros were to enter this restaurant now, there is no denying he would have great power here. But I should be the first to rise and assure him that he had no authority whatever.” G.K. Chesterton
“Great leadership is about human experiences. It’s not a formula or a program, it is a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It is an attitude, not a routine.” Lance Secretan
“Leadership is not magnetic personality that can just as well be a glib tongue. It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’–that is flattery. 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 F. Drucker
All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: It was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” John Kenneth Galbraith
“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow a weak trumpet.” Theodore Hesburgh
“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.” Colin Powell
“Leaders aren’t born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” Vince Lombardi
Do you have some favorite leadership quotes? If so let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear what you think.
