Leadership Quotes
Quotes about Accountability
"When things go wrong in your command, start searching for the reason in increasingly large circles around your own desk."
-- Gen. Bruce Clarke
"To complaints of a job poorly done, one often hears the excuse, 'I am not responsible.' I believe that is literally correct. The man who takes such a stand in fact is not responsible; he is irresponsible. "
-- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover
Quotes about Candor
"Followers who tell the truth, and leaders who listen to it, are an
unbeatable combination."
-- Warren Bennis
"In the face of leadership flaws, too many people assume cynical perspectives, rather than do the hard work of building relationships in which they can have more positive influence."
-- Ira Chaleff
Quotes about Caring
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
-- Maya Angelou
"A reflective reading of history will show that no man ever rose to military greatness who could not convince his troops that he put them first, above all else."
-- Gen. Maxwell Taylor
"People don't care how much you know--until they know how much you care."
-- John C. Maxwell
Quotes about Change
"Great things happen nationally when topmost leadership is goaded and
supported from below."
-- John W. Gardner
"Change from the top down happens at the will and whim of those below. "
-- Peter Block
"Nothing so undermines organizational change as the failure to think through the losses people face."
-- William Bridges
Quotes about Character
"Never has man reached his destination by persistence in deviation from the straight path."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-- Abraham Lincoln
