105 Humble Inspiring Quotes on Strong Leadership

How to become a strong leader? What are the leadership qualities?

Leadership is all about becoming a better version of ourselves and then leading or guiding other people or teams to do the same.

Great leaders change lives with their actions, not just their words. When you lead well, people follow you because they want to, not because they have to. They believe in you and your vision.

May this collection of 105 quotes on strong leadership inspire, motivate, and drive you to strive for greatness. Even if a picture is worth a thousand words, an inspirational quote can help you get through the day, inspire your team, or shift your viewpoint.

Keep this list handy throughout the year, it can help you see things in a new way or find the right words to fire up your team. Let these quotes light a spark in you to become the best leader you can be. Then you can help your team reach higher than they ever thought possible.

So, let’s get started.

Jump to the Sections

Best Quotes on Strong Leadership Development
Quotes on Great Leadership Skills
Quotes for Good Leadership Qualities
Quotes about Strong Women Leaders
Quotes on Leadership in Tough Times
Quotes on Effective Leadership Communication
Quotes on Good Governance and Leadership

More Posts for You:

99 Best Life Moving Too Fast Quotes To Focus on Yourself

115 Powerful Keep Going No Matter What Quotes

The Best Collection of 125 Positive Thinking Attitude Quotes

100 Amazing Quotes about Personal Growth and Change

101 Simple Keep Pursuing Your Dreams Quotes & Take Risk

Best Quotes on Strong Leadership Development

105 Humble Inspiring Quotes on Strong Leadership

1. “Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.” — Harold S. Geneen

2. “The key to successful leadership is influence, not authority.” — Kenneth H. Blanchard

3. “Leadership is not a person or a position. It is a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good.” — Piyushi Dhir

4. “I think one of the keys to leadership is recognizing that everybody has gifts and talents. A good leader will learn how to harness those gifts toward the same goal.” — Ben Carson

5. “The past doesn’t equal the future. All great leaders, all people who have achieved in any area of life, know the power of continuously pursuing their vision, even if all the details of how to achieve it aren’t yet available.” — Tony Robbins

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

7. “To lead you must first listen with an understanding heart and then act with a decisive mind.” — Shannon Peel

8. “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about others.” — Jack Welch

9. “Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems.” — Brian Tracy

10. “Power isn’t control at all – power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give their strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own.” — Beth Revis

11. “Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise.” — Woodrow Wilson

12. “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” — Nelson Mandela

13. “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” — Jack Welch

14. “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” — Max DePree

15. “Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don’t tell.” — Lisa Stone

Quotes on Great Leadership Skills

16. “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” — Ken Blanchard

17. “There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage.” — Chan Master Fuchan Yuan

18. “It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead – in fact, it’s essential.” — Mary Barra

19. “The difference between a boss and a leader: A boss says go!-A leader says Let’s Go!” — E.M. Kelly

20. “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” — Douglas MacArthur

21. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” — Les Brown

22. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” — Steve Jobs

23. “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

24. “Never tell someone how to do something. Just tell them what needs to be done and they will amaze you with their ingenuity.” — General George S. Patton

25. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” — Martin Luther King Jr.

26. “If you are going to help people reach their potential, they need to be recognized and rewarded. Everyone needs that.” — Jacqueline Norcel

27. “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.” — Warren Bennis

28. “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis

29. “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it.” — Andrew Carnegie

30. “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time… so remember: great achievements take time, there is no overnight success.” — Leo Tolstoy

Quotes for Good Leadership Qualities

31. “Good leadership consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people.” — John D. Rockefeller

32. “Good leaders build products. Great leaders build cultures. Good leaders deliver results. Great leaders develop people. Good leaders have vision. Great leaders have values. Good leaders are role models at work. Great leaders are role models in life.” — Adam Grant

33. “It is the very essence of good leadership to give away all credit for positive achievement, to identify only team goals and always to refer to them as such.” — Joe Klock

34. “The secret to success is good leadership, and good leadership is all about making the lives of your team members or workers better.” — Tony Dungy

35. “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit.” — Arnold H. Glasow

36. “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

37. “Big jobs usually go to the men who prove their ability to outgrow small ones.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

38. “Good leaders make people feel that they’re at the very heart of things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she makes a difference to the success of the organization. When that happens, people feel centered and that gives their work meaning.” — Warren Bennis

39. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” — Edith Wharton

40. “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or to get all the credit for doing it.” — Andrew Carnegie

41. “Whatever you are, be a good one.” — Abraham Lincoln

42. “Average leaders raise the bar on themselves; good leaders raise the bar for others; great leaders inspire others to raise their own bar.” — Orrin Woodward

43. “Real leadership is leaders recognizing that they serve the people that they lead.” — Pete Hoekstra

44. “If you can’t swallow your pride, you can’t lead. Even the highest mountain had animals that step on it.” — Jack Weatherford

45. “A boss has the title, the leader has the people.” — Simon Sinek

Related Reading: Top 100+ Strong Men Make Good Times Quotes

Quotes about Strong Women Leaders

46. “You have been assigned this mountain so that you can show others it can be moved.” — Mel Robbins

47. “If you are committed to creating value and if you aren’t afraid of hard times; obstacles become utterly unimportant. A nuisance perhaps; but with no real power. The world respects creation; people will get out of your way.” — Candice Carpenter Olson

48. “If I didn’t fill my schedule with things I felt were important, other people would fill my schedule with things they felt were important.” — Melinda Gates.

49. “The biggest shame trigger at work is the fear of irrelevance…the most common response to the fear and shame of irrelevance is amour.” — Brené Brown

50. “Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.” — John Zenger

51. “Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.” — Sara Blakely

52. “Being able to put your blinders on, ignore negative opinions, and follow your strong intuition is what’s validating to me. It’s a great feeling to know you can trust your gut.” — Whitney Wolfe Herd

53. “Every time we got a knockback and understood why people wouldn’t invest, we changed and revised our pitch. Failure was never an option.” —Melanie Perkins

54. “As a leader, I am tough on myself and I raise the standard for everybody; however, I am very caring because I want people to excel at what they are doing so that they can aspire to be me in the future.” — Indra Nooyi

55. “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.” — Dolly Parton

56. “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

57. “On my own I will just create, and if it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, I’ll create something else. I don’t have any limitations on what I think I could do or be.” — Oprah Winfrey

58. “I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” — Ginni Rometty

59. “Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. ‘Here, open it, it’s perfect. You’ll love it.’ Opportunities – the good ones – are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They’re risky. They challenge you.” — Susan Wojcicki

60. “God measures people by the small dimensions of humility and not by the bigness of their achievements or the size of their capabilities.” — Billy Graham

Quotes on Leadership in Tough Times

61. “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” — Thomas Jefferson

62. “You don’t get any medal for trying something, you get medals for results.” — Bill Parcells

63. “You’ve got enemies? Good, that means you stood for something in your life.” — Eminem

64. “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett

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

66. “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” — Jack Welch

67. “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” — Steve Jobs

68. “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour but without folly.” — Jim Rohn

69. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” — Paulo Coelho

70. “If you have to choose between an easy thing and a hard thing, the hard one’s usually a lot more fun.” — Samantha Cristoforetti

71. “Don’t be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard.” — General Colin Powell

72. “Lessons in leadership: Own your mistakes, celebrate your successes, and know your strengths.” — Kristen Hadeed

73. “Be spectacularly great at what you do. Wear your passion on your sleeve and hold your heart in the palm of your hand. And work hard. Really hard.” — Robin Sharma

74. “The true test of leadership is how well you function in a crisis.” — Brian Tracy

75. “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” — Alexander the Great

Quotes on Effective Leadership Communication

76. “The art of communication is the language of leadership.” — James Humes

77. “Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for leadership.” —James Humes

78. “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results, not attributes.” — Peter Drucker

79. “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” — John C. Maxwell

80. “Leaders don’t adapt to the energy in a room, they influence the energy in a room.” — Josh Axe

81. “Communication is the most important skill any leader can possess.” — Richard Branson

82. “People leave managers, not companies.” — Marcus Buckingham

83. “When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” — Stephen Covey

84. “What you do has far greater impact than what you say.” — Stephen Covey

85. “I can give you a six-word formula for success: Think things through—then follow through.” — Edward Rickenbacker

86. “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” — Rumi

87. “It’s not about trying to find something to help you be a more effective leader. It’s about trying to be a better person. The other will follow.” — James A. Autry

88. “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” — Margaret Fuller

89. “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.” — Malala Yousafzai

90. “Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.” — Dianne Feinstein

Quotes on Good Governance and Leadership

91. “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

92. “Management is about arranging and telling. Leadership is about nurturing and enhancing.” — Tom Peters

93. “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” — Theodore Roosevelt

94. “True leadership lies in guiding others to success – in ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do, and doing it well.” — Bill Owens

95. “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” — Ralph Nader

96. “The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.” — Ray Kroc

97. “One of the keys to good leadership is good followership.” — James Cameron

98. “Bees have no constitution, police, or moral training, but they work together in order to survive. Though they may occasionally squabble, the colony survives on the basis of cooperation.” — Dalai Lama

99. “The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first.” — Iyanla Vanzant

100. “Team-building is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.” — Brian Tracy

101. “The X-factor of great leadership is not personality, it’s humility.” — Jim Collins

102. “Power can be taken, but not given. The process of the taking is empowerment in itself.” — Gloria Steinem

103. “Sometimes leadership is planting trees under whose shade you’ll never sit.” — Jennifer Granholm

104. “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.” — Mahatma Gandhi

105. “The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” — John Wooden

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this collection of inspiring quotes on strong leadership. Keep supporting and leading the way; it has an impact on others.

Achieving greatness requires daily mindful action rather than a distant pinnacle. As a result, let these words be your light on the path to leadership success. May they become an eternal source of inspiration, driving you to greater heights!

Which are your favorite leadership quotes? Would you like to add any more quotes to this list? Please feel free to put it in the comments section below.