John C. Maxwell Leadership Quotations [Page 2]

Without failure there is no achievement.

The leader continually passes on the vision to those who come around, knowing that dreams, if presented right, are contagious.

People who are not leaders automatically gravitate toward lines--limitations set by others. Many people are taught this in kindergarten when they are instructed to stay within the lines while coloring. But leaders are more creative than that. They look for options and opportunities. They try to take things in a new direction, or beyond the limit. Progress and innovation are made by people who think without lines.

Management is the process of assuring that the program and objectives of the organization are implemented. Leadership on the other hand has to do with casting vision and motivating people.

Pride deafens us to the advice or warnings of those around us.

Leadership is the dream made reality.

Talented performers flock to the best and brightest leaders, and these leaders in turn lift the lids off their people and uncork the latent talent inside of them.

My leadership began to take flight when I allowed myself to press people to change-whether they thanked me or cursed me.

Over time, is it easier or harder to sustain your influence within your organization? With charisma alone, influence becomes increasingly more difficult to sustain. With character, as time passes, influence builds and requires less work to sustain.

Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.

True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from Influence.

Transmit your vision emotionally by gaining credibility, demonstrating passion, establishing relationships and communicating a felt need. Transmit it logically by confronting reality, formulating strategy, accepting responsibility, celebrating victory and learning from defeat.

Good leaders understand that they are stewards. They must find the best people they can, giving them the opportunity to join in the journey developing them, and encouraging them to reach their potential. But they must hold on to people lightly. Those who start with you seldom finish with you.

In my experience, followers always ask leaders 3 questions: 1) Do you care 4 me? 2) Can you help me? 3) Can I trust you?

It takes a lot of people to create a success. That's why I say that few leaders are successful unless a lot of people want them to be.

Knowing how to do a job is the accomplishment of labor - showing others is the accomplishment of the teacher - making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of the manager - inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of the leader.

You can't become a leader in one conference.

We cannot lead anyone farther than we have been ourselves.

You don't become an effective leader by default.

Leadership development is a lifetime journey, not a quick trip.

While everyone exercises influence, the size and strength of our influence depends upon our effort. No one leads well without paying the price of discipline. As we push ourselves to grow and to learn, we enlarge our sphere of influence.

Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.

Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.

Our days are like identical suitcases. Even though they are all the same size, some people are able to pack more into them then others. The reason? They know what to pack.

What I had been taught all my life was not true: experience is not the best teacher! Some people learn and grow as a result of their experience; some people don't. Everybody has some kind of experience. It's what you do with that experience that matters.

Perhaps our greatest power in life is the power to choose. Without question, choices are the most determining factor in how our lives turn out.

The great leaders in history were great not because of what they owned or earned but because of what they gave their lives to accomplish. They made a difference!

Cats do what cats do, ducks do what ducks do, and eagles do what eagles, do. If you take a duck and ask it to do an eagles' job, shame on you. As a leader, your job is to help your ducks to become better ducks and your eagles better eagles - to put individuals in the right places and help them reach their potential.

To gain credibility, you must consistently demonstrate three things: Initiative: You have to get up to go up. Sacrifice: You have to give up to go up. Maturity: You have to grow up to go up. If you show the way, people will want to follow you. The higher you go, the greater the number of people who will be willing to travel with you.

To succeed in life, we must stay within our strength zone but continually move outside our comfort zone.

We have to pick and choose between good and a little bit better.

Listen twice as much as you speak.

Creativity requires the willingness to look stupid.

42% of college graduates never read a book after college.

A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do." (Leroy Eims)

Leadership ability determines a person's level of effectiveness.

Good leadership isn't about advancing yourself. It's about advancing your team.

The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader and then the dream.

When people respect someone as a person, they admire her. When they respect her as a friend, they love her. When they respect her as a leader, they follow her.

The real test of leadership isn't where you start out. It's where you end up.

The real leader holds the power, not just the position.

True Leadership always begins with the inner person.

But the law of magnetism really is true: who you are is who you attract.

Encourage the many; mentor the few.

To do something really big, let go of your ego, and get ready to be part of a team.

The best leaders realize their success depends on their people.

Achievement comes to someone when he is able to do great things for himself. Success comes when he empowers followers to do great things with him. Significance comes when he develops leaders to do great things for him. But a legacy is created only when a person puts his organization into the position to do great things without him.

Thinking is hard; that's why so few do it.

The bottomline in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others.

Finish every day and be done with it..

As a leader, you will never get ahead until your people are behind you.

Leaders who practice the Law of Victory believe that anything less than success is unacceptable. And they have no Plan B.

People are training for success when they should be training for failure.

Without leadership ability,a person's impact is only a fraction of what it could be with good leadership.

Leadership is influence. It is the ability to obtain followers. When the leader lacks confidence, the followers have no commitment. A leader is great not because of his power, but because of his ability to empower others.