"Leadership is influence. No more, no less." John Maxwell

"The souls of emperors and cobblers are cast in the same mold. The same reason that makes us wrangle with a neighbor creates a war betwixt princes." Michel de Montaigne, essayist (1533-1592)

"You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." Leo Aikman

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams

"He who would be a leader must be a bridge." Welsh proverb

"A key--perhaps the key--to leadership is the effective communication of a story." Howard Gardner, Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership

"One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency." Arnold Glasow

"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself." Thomas J. Watson

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away." Ronald Reagan (1911 - 2004)

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

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” Henri B. Stendhal

“Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off! But if you don't have one, realize it's your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.” Amelia Earhart

“The power to command frequently causes failure to think.” Barbara Tuchman, author and historian (1912-1989)

“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

“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.” Colin L. Powell

“The leadership instinct you are born with is the backbone. You develop the funny bone and the wishbone that go with it.” Elaine Agather

“The man who gets the most satisfactory results is not always the man with the most brilliant single mind, but rather the man who can best coordinate the brains and talents of his associates.” W. Alton Jones

“Failing organizations are usually over-managed and under-led.” Warren G. Bennis

“It's always easier in the long run to point people to where they need to go, instead of just telling them they aren't in the right place.” Heather King

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” Napoleon Bonaparte (Maxims)

“I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don't think that's quite it; it's more like jazz. There is more improvisation. Someone once wrote that the sound of surprise is jazz, and if there's any one thing that we must try to get used to in this world, it's surprise and the unexpected. Truly, we are living in world where the only thing that's constant is change.” Warren G. Bennis

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.” Arnold Glasow

“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” Max Lucado