Great Throughts Treasury

"Polling is merely an instrument for gauging public opinion. When a president or any other leader pays attention to poll results, he is, in effect, paying attention to the views of the people. Any other interpretation is nonsense. " - George Gallup, also Gallop

"A true leader has to have a genuine open-door policy so that his people are not afraid to approach him for any reason." - Harold Geneen, fully Harold "Hal" Sydney Geneen

"The boss drives people; the leader coaches them. The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm. The boss says I; The leader says WE. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss says, GO; the leader says lets, GO! " - Harry Gordon Selfridge, Sr.

"If you have fear, you are bound by tradition, you follow some leader or guru. When you are bound by tradition, when you are afraid of your husband or your wife, you lose your dignity as an individual human being." - Jiddu Krishnamurti

"A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn't go by yourself." - Joel A. Barker

"The new leader is a facilitator, not an order giver. " - John Naisbitt

"A leader who produces other leaders multiples their influences." - John C. Maxwell

"A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others. " - John C. Maxwell

"People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." - John C. Maxwell

"Great communication depends on two simple skills—context, which attunes a leader to the same frequency as his or her audience, and delivery, which allows a leader to phrase messages in a language the audience can understand. Earn the right to be heard by listening to others. Seek to understand a situation before making judgments about it. Take the emotional temperature of those listening to you. Facial expressions, voice inflection and posture give clues to a person’s mood and attitude. Persuasive communication involves enthusiasm, animation, audience participation, authenticity and spontaneity." - John C. Maxwell

"Credibility is a leader's currency. With it, he or she is solvent; without it, he or she is bankrupt. Speak the truth. Transparency breeds legitimacy. Don’t hide bad news. With multiple information channels available, bad news always becomes known. Be candid right from the start. A highly credible leader under-promises and over-delivers. Diligent follow-up and follow-through will set you apart from the crowd and communicate excellence. A trustworthy leader goes the extra mile to remedy strained relationships, even when it doesn’t appear to be required." - John C. Maxwell

"When you are the leader in your field, it takes a greater level of innovation and commitment to stay there. Make a point to continually search for a better way of doing things, even when things are going well, to ensure that a better alternative has not been overlooked and to keep your creative talents in practice. Practice mental agility: Before you write off a far-fetched idea, back up and look at the big picture, because it might fit perfectly on another level. Have fun: When you are truly having fun in your work, creativity flows freely." - John C. Maxwell

"Don't judge what your people want to tell you before they've told you. Listen to them. Part of your job as a leader is to help your people figure out what they're most passionate about, and then to help them pursue it. " - John C. Maxwell

"Although it's admirable to be ambitious and hard-working, it's more desirable to be smart-working. The key to becoming a more efficient leader isn't checking off all the items on your to-do list each day. It's in forming the habit of prioritizing your time so that you are accomplishing your most important goals in an efficient manner. " - John C. Maxwell

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails." - John C. Maxwell

"There are three qualities a leader must exemplify to build trust: competence, connection, and character." - John C. Maxwell

"The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership THE LAW OF THE LID — Leadership Ability Determines a Person’s Level of Effectiveness. THE LAW OF INFLUENCE — The True Measure of Leadership is Influence — Nothing More, Nothing Less. THE LAW OF PROCESS — Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day. THE LAW OF NAVIGATION — Anyone Can Steer the Ship, But It Takes a Leader to Chart the Course.. THE LAW OF ADDITION — Leaders Add Value by Serving Others. THE LAW OF SOLID GROUND — Truth is the Foundation of Leadership. THE LAW OF RESPECT — People Naturally Follow Leaders Stronger Than Themselves. THE LAW OF INTUITION — Leaders Evaluate Everything with a Leadership Bias. THE LAW OF MAGNETISM – Who You Are is Who You Attract. THE LAW OF CONNECTION. – Leaders Touch a Heart Before They Ask for a Hand. THE LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE – A Leader’s Potential is Determined by Those Closest to Him. THE LAW OF EMPOWERMENT – Only Secure Leaders Give Power to Others. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE – People Do What People See. THE LAW OF BUY-IN – People Buy into the Leader, Then the Vision. THE LAW OF VICTORY – Leaders Find a Way for the Team to Win. THE LAW OF THE BIG MO – Momentum is a Leader’s Best Friend. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES – Leaders Understand that Activity is Not Necessarily Accomplishment. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE – A Leader Must Give Up to Go Up. THE LAW OF TIMING – When to Lead is As Important as What to Do and Where to Go. THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH – To Add Growth, Lead Followers – To Multiply, Lead Leaders. THE LAW OF LEGACY – A Leader’s Lasting Value is Measured by Succession." - John C. Maxwell

"Leaders inspire people with clear visions of how things can be done better." The best leader do not provide a step-by-step instruction manual for workers. The best leaders are those who come up with new idea, and articulate a vision that inspires others to act." - Jack Welch, fully John Francis "Jack" Welch, Jr.

"People are more inclined to be drawn in if their leader has a compelling vision. Great leaders help people get in touch with their own aspirations and then will help them forge those aspirations into a personal vision." - John Kotter, fully John Paul Kotter

"A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not." - John Quincy Adams

"Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity." - Carl von Clausewitz, fully Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz, also Karl von Clausewitz

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. " - Lao Tzu, ne Li Urh, also Laotse, Lao Tse, Lao Tse, Lao Zi, Laozi, Lao Zi, La-tsze

"I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men. " - Lao Tzu, ne Li Urh, also Laotse, Lao Tse, Lao Tse, Lao Zi, Laozi, Lao Zi, La-tsze

"A good leader needs to stand behind his or her followers as often as he or she needs to stand in front of them." - Marilyn vos Savant, born Marilyn Mach

"The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang." - Mary Kay Ash, fully Mary Kathlyn Wagner Ash

"Remember that a leader has two important characteristics: First, she is going somewhere; secondly, she is able to persuade others to go with her. " - Mary Kay Ash, fully Mary Kathlyn Wagner Ash

"Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. Certainly all historical experience confirms the truth - that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible. But to do that a man must be a leader, and not only a leader but a hero as well, in a very sober sense of the word. And even those who are neither leaders nor heroes must arm themselves with that steadfastness of heart which can brave even the crumbling of all hopes. This is necessary right now, or else men will not be able to attain even that which is possible today." - Max Weber, formally Maximilian Carl Emil Weber

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader." - Max DePree, alternatively De Pree or Depree

"If the test of patriotism comes only by reflexively falling into lockstep behind the leader whenever the flag is waved, then what we have is a formula for dictatorship, not democracy." - Michael Parenti

"A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity...one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul." - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, native form is Csíkszentmihályi Mihály

"It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing." - Muhammad, also spelled Mohammad, Mohammed or Mahomet, full name Muhammad Ibn `Abd Allāh Ibn `Abd al-Muttalib NULL

"In Aristotelian terms, the good leader must have ethos, pathos and logos. The ethos is his moral character, the source of his ability to persuade. The pathos is his ability to touch feelings to move people emotionally. The logos is his ability to give solid reasons for an action, to move people intellectually." - Mortimer J. Adler, fully Mortimer Jerome Adler

"I believe that no man who holds a leader's position should ever accept favors from either side. He is then committed to show favors. A leader must stand alone." - Mother Jones, referring to Mary Harris Jones

"This pursuit of security in the past, this attempt to find a haven in a fixed dogma and an organizational hierarchy as substitutes for creative thought and praxis is bitter evidence of how little many revolutionaries are capable of ‘revolutionizing themselves and things,’ much less of revolutionizing society as a whole. The deep-rooted conservatism of the People’s Labor Party ‘revolutionaries’ is almost painfully evident; the authoritarian leader and hierarchy replace the patriarch and the school bureaucracy; the discipline of the Movement replaces the discipline of bourgeois society; the authoritarian code of political obedience replaces the state; the credo of ‘proletarian morality’ replaces the mores of puritanism and the work ethic. The old substance of exploitative society reappears in new forms, draped in a red flag, decorated by portraits of Mao (or Castro or Che) and adorned with the little ‘Red Book’ and other sacred litanies." - Murray Bookchin

"The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers." - Napoleon Hill

"A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind." - Nelson Mandela, fully Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

"Germany, formerly the most wasteful nation in Europe, now (is) the leader in recycling. (But they still have a ways to go, still averaging yearly 824 pounds of waste per household. At 1900 pounds per household, we Americans have even farther to go; we're the world's worst wasters. With just 5 percent of the world's population, we produce 50 percent of its solid waste.)" - Paul Hawken

"Your first and foremost job as a leader is to take charge of your own energy and then help to orchestrate the energy of those around you. " - Peter F. Drucker, fully Peter Ferdinand Drucker

"The key question for a leader is, ‘What can I do in this organization that nobody else can do?’ And several questions emerge from that: ‘What did the good Lord ordain me for? What are my strengths? Where have I seen results?’ Very few of us ask these questions because very few of us even know how we perform. What am I good at? We don't usually ask that question. We've been trained to notice our weaknesses, not our strengths. Schools, of necessity, are remedial institutions. When teachers meet with parents, rarely do they say, ‘Your Johnny should do more writing. He's so talented in writing.’ Now, more likely you'll hear, ‘Johnny needs more work on his math. He's a bit weak in that area.’ As a result, few of us really know our strengths. The great teachers, and great leaders, recognize strengths and focus on them. " - Peter F. Drucker, fully Peter Ferdinand Drucker

"The leader of the past knew how to tell. The leader of the future will know how to ask." - Peter F. Drucker, fully Peter Ferdinand Drucker

"To be a leader is to be awake and alert, to be dissatisfied at all times." - Peter Koestenbaum

"The bad leader is he who the people despise; the good leader is he who the people praise; the great leader is he who the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’ " - Peter Senge, fully Peter Michael Senge

"The lost opportunities of the years since September 11 are the stuff of tragedy. Remember the people rallying in sympathy on the streets of Teheran, the famous headline - 'we are all Americans now.' Five years later much of the world wonders what America is now. As we face this landscape of failure and disorder, nothing is more urgent than for us to begin again to rebuild a bipartisan consensus to ensure our interests, increase our security and advance our values. It could well start with what our founders had in mind when they pledged 'a decent respect for the opinions of mankind' in the Declaration of Independence. I think it's fair to say we are now all internationalists and we are all realists. This Administration's choices were false choices. Internationalism versus unilateralism. Realism versus idealism. Is there really any argument that America must remain a preeminent leader for peace and freedom, and yet we must be more willing to work in concert with other nations and international institutions to reach common goals? The American character is both idealistic and realistic: why can't our government reflect both?" - Hillary Rodham Clinton

"We would very much like to see Iran take a position as a responsible leader that doesn't intimidate or threaten or scare its neighbors and others. But the choice is really up to Iran and we're going to keep working to try to come out with the right decision." - Hillary Rodham Clinton

"A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done." - Ralph Nader

"The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves." - Ray Kroc, fully Raymond Albert Kroc

"The population of the US is nearly 300 million, including many of the best educated, most talented, most resourceful, humane people on earth. By almost any measure of civilised attainment, from Nobel prize-counts on down, the US leads the world by miles. You would think that a country with such resources, and such a field of talent, would be able to elect a leader of the highest quality. Yet, what has happened? At the end of all the primaries and party caucuses, the speeches and the televised debates, after a year or more of non-stop electioneering bustle, who, out of that entire population of 300 million, emerges at the top of the heap? George Bush." - Richard Dawkins

"I don't think that a leader can control to any great extent his destiny. Very seldom can he step in and change the situation if the forces of history are running in another direction." - Richard Nixon, fully Richard Milhous Nixon

"I just think that dreams are best, Just to sit and fancy things; Give your gold no acid test, Try not how your silver rings; Fancy women pure and good, Fancy men upright and true: Fortressed in your solitude, Let Life be a dream to you. For I think that Thought is all; Truth's a minion of the mind; Love's ideal comes at call; As ye seek so shall ye find. But ye must not seek too far; Things are never what they seem: Let a star be just a star, And a woman -- just a dream. O you Dreamers, proud and pure, You have gleaned the sweet of life! Golden truths that shall endure Over pain and doubt and strife. I would rather be a fool Living in my Paradise, Than the leader of a school, Sadly sane and weary wise. O you Cynics with your sneers, Fallen brains and hearts of brass, Tweak me by my foolish ears, Write me down a simple ass! I'll believe the real "you" Is the "you" without a taint; I'll believe each woman too, But a slightly damaged saint. Yes, I'll smoke my cigarette, Vestured in my garb of dreams, And I'll borrow no regret; All is gold that golden gleams. So I'll charm my solitude With the faith that Life is blest, Brave and noble, bright and good," - Robert Service, fully Robert William Service

"The greatest security for Israel is to create new Egypts." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan