A leader's dynamic does not come from special powers. It comes from a strong belief in a purpose and a willingness to express that conviction.
- Kouzes & Posner
People cannot be managed. Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.
- H. Ross Perot
Trust is a risk game. The leader must ante up first.
- Irwin Federman, CEO Monolithic Memories
You can only lead others where you yourself are willing to go.
- Lachlan McLean
Your job gives you authority. Your behavior gives you respect.
- Irwin Federman, CEO Monolithic Memories
Leaders get excited about their work and by their contagion, stimulate their (followers.) Excitement builds strong relationships and high morale throughout an organization.
Inspired leaders move a business beyond problems into opportunities.
- Dr. Abraham Zaleznik
Leadership happens at every level of the organization and no one can shirk from this responsibility.
- Jerry Junkins
Nothing is so potent as the silent influence of a good example.
- James Kent
Coaching isn't an addition to a leader's job, it's an integral part of it.
- George S. Odiorne
Cooperation with others. Perception, experience, tenacity. Know when to lead and when to follow.
- Deng Ming-Dao
COACH:
C = Conduct one-on-one meetings regularly
O = Offer feedback and assistance
A = Avoid overlooking the "middle stars"
C = Create an Everyone's a Coach environment
H = Help other succeed
or try this one:
COACH:
C = Commitment
O = Over learning
A = Audible-Ready (flexibility)
C = Consistency
H = Honesty based (walk your talk)
- (second set from "Everyone's a Coach" by Don Shula and Ken Blanchard
Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader.
- General George S. Patton, Jr.
TOP 10 SAYING OF INEFFECTIVE LEADERS:
10. We don't do it that way around here.
9. I don't care what they told you in that training class, this is the real world.
8. Drop what you are doing and get this to me ASAP!
7. Don't worry about WHY, just do it!
6. Don't let me influence your decisions, but here's my opinion.
5. I want you to take risks, but remember our motto: "Do it right the first time!"
4. You're planning to work this weekend, aren't you?
3. You oughta, wanta do this.
2. We need teamwork. By the way, I'll be doing your individual rankings this week.
1. If and when I want your opinion, I'll give it to you.
(create a special section under leadership to put all this empowerment stuff?)
Empowerment: Recognizing that people already have power through their knowledge, experience and motivation, and then creating an environment that encourages letting that power out.
The beaver is very skilled at its craft. It knows exactly what to do to fix a dam. The last thing it needs is someone on the bank shouting out dam instructions.
You don't empower people with a "Mandate."
Management's goal should be to do everything in their power to help others be as successful as possible. Management succeeds only when the rest of the organization succeeds.
Empowering others is essentially the process of turning followers into leaders.
Our chief want in life is somebody who will enable us to do what we can.
A seeing-eye dog is trained not always to do as it is told if what it is told doesn't make sense.
A Swedish study of 12,000 male workers showed that those who felt they had no control over things at work had a 162% higher risk of heart attack than those who felt they had some control.
If employees understand the reasons behind the rules and regulations, the chances are excellent that they will respect them.
- Johnson & Johnson Co. (Employee Relations Manual 1932)
We get our power from the people we lead, not from our stars and our bars.
- J. Stanford
Empowerment is the process of increasing an individual's belief in his or her effectiveness.
Three keys to Empowerment are:
1. Sharing Information with Everyone
- Without Information, People cannot Act Responsibly
- With Information, People cannot help but Act Responsibly
2. Declaring Boundaries that Create Autonomy
- Purpose, Values, Image, Goals, Roles, Structure & Systems
- Being Empowered to Act also means You are Accountable for Results
3. Allow Teams to Self-Manage
- Synergy: Empowered Teams Can Do More than Empowered Individuals
- Provide Training, Support & Encouragement
- Diversity: Appreciate Individual Differences
- Ken Blanchard
Find a middle ground between a doormat and a steamroller.
- Terry Paulson
Leadership appears to be the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced should be done.
- Vance Packard
No one enjoys addressing others' deficiencies. But failure to do so sends the message that people are on track when they really aren't. And that may be the greatest disservice a leader can do to someone else.
- Eric Harvey
Little value comes out of the belief that people will respond progressively better by treating them progressively worse.
- Eric Harvey
Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.
- Margaret Thatcher
Truly great leaders spend as much time collecting and acting upon feedback as they do providing it.
- Alexander Lucia
The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good people to do what he/she wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
- Theodore Roosevelt
Which way did they go? How many were there? How fast were they going? I
must find them; I am their leader.
If leaders are careless about basic things - telling the truth, respecting moral codes, proper professional conduct - who can believe them on other issues?
- James L Hayes
A loyal constituency is won when people ... judge the leader to be capable of solving their problems and meeting their needs.
- John Gardner
Leadership is not the private reserve of a few charismatic men and women. It is a process ordinary managers use when they are bringing forth the best from themselves and others.
Ultimately, leadership development is a process of self development.
How do they train killer whales to jump over the rope at Sea World? Do they hang a rope 20 feet over the pool and then shout to the whale "Up, up, up!" No. They start with the rope under the water. When the whale swims over the rope, it gets rewarded. Then the rope is gradually raised. Each time the whale swims over it, again, a reward is given. How often do you give a "reward" to those with whom you work? Only when the final goal is reached or do you give praise along the way as incremental progress is made?
- favorite story of Ken Blanchard who has worked with the Sea World staff in San Diego
Leadership Characteristics - Top Ten List
1. Visionary
2. Integrity
3. Consistency
4. Coach/Facilitator
5. Accessibility
6. Flexibility
7. Courage
8. Over-Communicates
9. Positive Role Model
10. Inspirational
What's important as a leader is not what happens when you are there. It's what happens when you're NOT there.
The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.
- Ken Blanchard
Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions.
- Harold Geneen
The leader is a teacher who succeeds without taking credit. And, because credit is not taken, credit is received.
- Lao Tzu, 6th Century BC
Leadership flows from the minds of followers more than from the titles of leaders, more from the perception of willing followers than from anointment.
- Lane Secretan
The motivating team leader is that one person with a dream for the future.
- Dr. Losoncy
What gets measured gets done; what gets recognized gets done even better.
A real leader, through actions and words, has the ability to motivate others to their highest level of achievement; then gives them the opportunity and the freedom to grow.
The leader acts with little motion, instructs not with words but by deeds, keeps informed but seldom interferes.
Leaders manage the dream. All leaders have the capacity to create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then to translate that vision into reality.
- Warren Bennis
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.
- Max DePree
Leaders have a significant role in creating the state of mind that is the society. They can serve as symbols of the moral unity of the society. They can express the values that hold the society together. Most important, they can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations, carry them above the conflicts that team a society apart, and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.
- John Gardner
Leadership is just another word for training.
- Lance Secretan
A company is like a ship. Everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.
- Morris Wilks
There is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality, vision and training. Its practice is an art. Management is a science of the mind. Managers are necessary; leaders are indispensable.
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists,
Not so good when people acclaim him,
Worst when they despise him.
'Fail to honor people,
They fail to honor you;'
But of a good leader, who talks little,
When his work is done, his aim fulfilled,
They will all say, 'we did this ourselves.
- Lao Tzu
Law of Leadership: A successful team with 100 members has 100 leaders.
- Lance Secretan
The best leaders are clear. They continually light the way, and in the process, let each person know that what they do makes a difference.
When team members regard each other with mutual respect, differences are utilized and are considered strengths rather than weaknesses. The role of the leader is to foster mutual respect and build a complementary team where each strength is made productive and each weakness irrelevant.
- Stephen Covey
The essence of leadership is the capacity to build and develop the self-esteem of the workers.
- Irwin Federman
Leaders need to strike a balance between action and patience.
- Doug Smith
Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.
Leaders are like eagles, they don't flock; you find them one at a time.
Managers have employees, leaders have followers.
- Workplace 2000
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success, leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
- Stephen Covey
Leading is Influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion.
- Warren Bennis
Successful leadership requires positive self-regard fused with optimism about a desired outcome.
- Warren Bennis
Leadership without mutual trust is a contradiction in terms.
- Warren Bennis
If you think about it, people love others not for who they are, but for how they make us feel. We willingly follow others for much the same reason -- it makes us feel good to do so.
- Warren Bennis
Leadership is like beauty; it's hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
- Warren Bennis
Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can be and should be, and he will become as he can and should be.
- Goethe
Effective team leaders adjust their style to provide what the group can't provide for itself.
- Kenneth Blanchard
Genuine leadership inspires, encourages and leads.
The signs of outstanding leadership are found among the followers.
- Max DePree
To get a feel for the true essence of leadership, assume everyone who works for you is a volunteer.
- Kouzes and Posner
Every leader needs to look back once in awhile to make sure he has followers.
- Kouzes and Posner
The mediocre leader tells
The good leader explains
The superior leader demonstrates
The great leader inspires.
- Buchholz and Roth
Ineffective leaders don't react to problems, they respond to problems and learn.
- Danny Cox
The level of morale is a good barometer of how each of your people is experiencing your leadership.
- Danny Cox
Effective team leaders realize they neither know all the answers, nor can they succeed without the other members of the team.
- Katzenbach & Smith
If I, the group leader, expect you, the group member, to be weak, then I elicit the weak part of you. If I expect you to be able to cope, I elicit your strength.
- Will Schutz
We are only as effective as our people's perception of us.
- Danny Cox
Nobody in your organization will be able to sustain a level of motivation higher than you have as their leader.
- Danny Cox
When you treat people like adults, 95% act like adults.
- Roger Gasaway, GE
We are reluctant to let go of the belief that if I am to care for something I must control it.
- Peter Block
If you need ownership and responsibility from core workers, patriarchy can't get you there.
- Peter Block
Communicate everything to your associates. The more they know, the more they care. Once they care, there is no stopping them.
- Sam Walton
You very best people will respond to what you actually do, what you evidently measure, and what you openly reward -- every single time.
- Betsy Sanders
Coaching is unlocking a person's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them.
- John Whitmore
The most vital task of the leader is to motivate, inspire, empower and encourage the team's primary resource -- the unlimited, creative human potential to find better ways.
- Dr. Lewis Losoncy
Team leader's encouragement = Team's courage to believe.
- Dr. Lewis Losoncy
Manageers manage people and the human effort. Leaders focus on the deeper, non-physical dimension -- energy, heart and spirit. Managers deal in organizational form, leaders embrace the unified culture and community.
- Jack Hawley
If you want someone to develop a specific trait, treat them as though they already had it.
- Goethe
95% of American managers today say the right thing. 5% actually do it.
- James O'Toole
Leadership is an activity -- an influence process in which an individual gains the trust and commitment of others and without recourse to formal position or authority moves the group to the accomplishment of oneor more tasks.
- Dinkmeyer and Eckstein
The key element in good business management is emotional attitude. The rest is mechanics.
- Harvey Geenan
Managers control. Leaders create commitment.
- Jonh Zenger
If he works for you, you work for him.
- Japanese proverb
If you really want people to respond to your leadership, you have to have a personal relationship with them. they need to know you're dependable and that you'll be there if they have a problem. That's personal power to me.
- Noreen Haffner
The way to make people shine is to let them be the gems that they are, and just provide a good setting and a little polish.
Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.
- Warren Bennis
Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
- Plaque on Ted Turner's desk
Be ENTHUSIASTIC as a leader. You can't light a fire with a wet match!
It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself.
- Eleanor Roosevelt
If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself. Do that well and you'll be ready to stop managing. And start leading.
It is a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead - and find no one there. - Franklin D. Roosevelt
| MANAGEMENT | LEADERSHIP |
|---|
| Works IN the system | Works ON the system |
|---|
| Is about doing things right | Is about doing the right things |
|---|
| Worries about the span of control | Increases the span of influence |
|---|
| Has you do things | Has you want to do things |
|---|
Give SPECIFIC praise and recognition frequently.
If you want 1 year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.
- old Chinese proverb
Lead people, manage things.
Bringing out the best in people: (by Alan Loy McGinnis)
1. Expect the best
2. Study other people's needs
3. Set high standards
4. Create an environment where failure is not fatal
5. Use role models to encourage success
6. Recognize and applaud achievement
7. Place a premium on collaboration
Leaders are like eagles - they don't flock ... you find them one at a time.
People don't CARE how much you KNOW, until they KNOW how much you CARE.
Celebrate what you want to see more of.
Serve but don't be servile. To really help someone does not require groveling to convince them of your sincerity.
Outstanding leaders have that special capacity to be able to read the capabilities of the people with whom they associate and extract higher standards of performance than the people themselves though they could display.
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.
- John Maxwell
Every leader needs to look back once in a while to make sure he has followers.
You only have power over people so long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no long in your power - he's free again.
Leadership is the wise use of power. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.
- Warren Bennis
A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.
- W. Wilcox
The wicked leader is he who the people despise.
The good leader is he who the people revere.
The great leader is he who the people say, "We did it ourselves."
- Lao Tsu
Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, he said.
They came.
He pushed them ... and they flew.
- Guillaume Apollinaire
Professionalism: It's NOT the job you DO, It's HOW you DO the job.
Cardinal rules of Leadership:
1. Praise in Public, Criticize in Private
2. Praise for What's Right and Train for What's Wrong
A leader should be out in front, clearing the way for the rest of the team. Similar to the game of curling, played on ice with big stones. You get out in front of the stone and sweep to help the stone get where you want it to go.
The best executive is the one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
- Theodore Roosevelt
PRAISE LOUDLY. Blame softly.
Leadership is the activity of influencing people to cooperate towards some goal which they come to find desirable (and which motivates them over the long haul).
- Orway Tead
As a team leader, create teams who: Care, Cooperate & are Committed.
| If you want: | Then use: |
|---|
| Compliance | Control, Force, Bully, Intimidate, Threaten |
|---|
| Agreement | Bargain, Negotiate, Exchange, Dicker |
|---|
| Commitment | Persuade, Accept, Teach, Integrity, Consistency |
|---|
What experienced professionals value most:
- respect and recognition of effort
- status and independence
- opportunity to make a difference
- honest, ethical management
- free exchange of information
- freedom in deciding how to do own work
Three things for a leader to remember when talking to his team:
- If anything goes bad, say "I did it."
- If anything goes semi-good, say "We did it."
- If anything goes real good, say "You did it."
If you want your team to be a "winner", the above is all that is required.
A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong - that's healthy.
- Robert Townsend
How to bring out the best in others:
1. Ask your people to share their ideas
2. Welcome change
3. Set challenging goals and measure performance
4. Be generous with feedback
5. Reward initiative
6. Develop people who show special potential
We found that the most exciting environments, that treated people very well, are also tough as nails. There is no bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo ... excellent companies provide two things simultaneously: tough environments and very supportive environments.
- Tom Peters
Six Traits of Effective Leaders. They:
1. Make others feel important
2. Promote a vision
3. Follow the golden rule
4. Admit mistakes
5. Criticize others only in private
6. Stay close to the action
Effective leaders are known by the questions they ask rather than the statements they make.
When pulling a sled, unless you are the lead dog, all of the scenery looks the same.
What gets recognized gets done and what gets rewarded gets repeated.
Example has more followers than reason. We unconsciously imitate what pleases us, and approximate to the characters we most admire.
- Christian Nestell Bovee
Think about the qualities of the best leaders you ever worked for. You'll find that most of them:
- were approachable and easy to talk to
- rarely became overexcited or flew off the handle
- didn't let a few problems poison their whole outlook took a friendly, pleasant, positive approach
- showed consideration for the feelings of the people who worked for them
You don't have to be brilliant to be a good leader. But you do have to understand other people - how they feel, what makes them tick, and the best way to influence them. There are a lot of brilliant people in this world who are, and will remain, ineffective leaders. Why? Because they are so interested in themselves and their own accomplishments that they never get around to appreciating and understanding the feelings of the other people who are sharing this world with them. Sometimes, usually later in life, these talented, egocentric individuals suffer painful hardships. They understand, often for the first time, the kind of problems less talented or less fortunate people have suffered all their lives. They suddenly discover a new and important dimension: sensitivity to the feelings, emotions, and experiences of other people. Effective leaders don't wait for life to bring them to their knees before they appreciate the kind of problems others are facing. Instead they constantly try to put themselves in others' shoes - try to imagine how they would feel in the same circumstances. They are constantly aware of what makes others tick, and try to be helpful at the same time they ask others to help them.
- John Luther
If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.
- W. Somerset Maugham
The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
- Frank C. Ross
The best leaders of all, the people know not they exist. They turn to each other and say "We did it ourselves."
- Zen
To survive, men and business and corporations must serve.
- John H. Patterson
How many of you "crammed" in school? (most of us) How many have worked on a farm? Did you "cram" on the farm? That is, did you forget to plant in the spring, loaf through the summer, then try to do everything in the fall just before harvest? Doesn't work. Growing plants is subject to natural laws & principles. Leadership. It doesn't just "happen". You can't cram for it. It isn't just a matter of attending a seminar or course. You need to work at it over a period of time to be effective. Why? Principles are involved. Takes time to appreciate and apply principles and allow them to become the center of your life. Values may vary from person to person but the principles of effective leadership are eternal and universal.
- Stephen Covey
In the last analysis, what we ARE communicates far more eloquently than anything we SAY.
Leadership has to do with direction. Management has to do with the speed, coordination and logistics in going in that direction. The WORKERS are chopping their way through the jungle. The MANAGERS are coordinating, making sure the tools are sharp, etc. The LEADERS climb a tree and shout "Wrong jungle!!" The MANAGERS shout back "Be quiet! We're making progress!"
If you want to retain the loyalty of those who are present, you must show loyalty to those who are absent.
If, as a coach, you devote all your energies to your present players, it is true that, for the present, you can win. However, if you spend no time on recruiting, you will eventually lose.
Efficiency tends to deal with "Things". Effectiveness tends to deal with "People". We manage "Things" we lead "People".
Guide others, do not try to steer them.
"Blind" or "Old Time" Leadership is like the old "galley" ships. 100s are rowing, but only one (the captain) knows where they are going.
Don Keough's (CEO Coca-Cola) 11 Rules on "HOW TO LOSE":
1. Stop taking risks
2. Be content
3. Never deviate from what the founder did
4. Be inflexible
5. Rely totally on research and experts
6. Concentrate on competitors instead of your customers
7. Put yourself - not the customer - first
8. Solve administrative concerns first
9. Let others do your thinking for example, headquarters
10. Rely on T-G-E: "That's Good Enough" and T-N-M-J: "That's Not My Job!"
11. Rationalize slow growth
There is nothing so annoying as a good example!!
- Mark Twain
In any situation, ask yourself: What strengths do I possess that can contribute towards accomplishing something in this situation? Then follow through.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT or growth is made possible only in those leaders that seek it as a result of an internal MOTIVATION to improve through the use of SELF-EXAMINATION, SELF-EXPECTATION and SELF-DIRECTION.
A BILL of RIGHTS for LEADERS & FOLLOWERS:
We, who lead and follow, hold these truths to be self-evident:
THAT every leader is sometimes a follower, and every follower is sometimes a leader
THAT the leader leads only when others follow; therefore it is the followers who bestow
leadership
THAT, therefore, the power of the leader emanates from the followers
THAT the collective wisdom of the followers is greater than the individual wisdom of the leader; therefore the leader is called to unleash the wisdom of the whole
THAT since power and wisdom reside in the followers, the leader's goal is to help each follower attain his or her own full potential
THAT the inclination to follow stems from the spirit of the followers and their belief in the
integrity of the leader
THAT the leader's goals are viable only when they are held commonly by the followers
THAT all leaders and followers are engaged in a common search to find a sense of individual
dignity and worth. Not only do we see these to be self-evident truths, but we hold them to be a
BILL of RIGHTS for followers. They are what we expect from each other while being led.
- Source: Gene Denk
THE BRIDGE BUILDER
An old man, going a lone highway,
Came at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast and deep and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim --
That sullen stream had no fears for him;
But he turned, when he reached the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting strength in building here.
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again must pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"
The builder lifted his old gray head.
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building the bridge for him."
- Will Allen Dromgoole
Guide others, do not try to steer them.
If, as a coach, you devote all your energies to your present players, it is true that, for the present, you can win. However, if you spend no time on recruiting, you will eventually lose.
As we approach the 21st century, leadership is becoming:
- A process entirely distinct from management
- A process in which other people besides managers can be leaders
- A relationship in which the focus is on the interactions of both leaders and followers instead of focusing on only the behaviors and /or traits of the leader
- A relationship that aims at mutual purposes rather than just the wishes of the leader
- A process in which people intend real changes as opposed to a process in which they achieve any goal
- A relationship in which only influence behaviors are acceptable rather than one wherein all legitimate behaviors (authority and other forms of coercion included) are acceptable
- "Leadership for the Twenty-First Century" - Joseph Rost
LEADERSHIP - FROM ISSUE TO ACTION:
l. BUILDING THE AGENDA: Leaders and followers decide to take on a significant issue after debating the pros and cons of attempting to do something about the issue.
2. ASSESSING THE ISSUE: Leaders and followers gather and analyze information and reach conclusions about the direction they intend to take concerning the issue.
3. PLANNING THE CHANGE: Leadership and followers develop an outline of the proposed change. The change reflects the mutual purposes of the leaders and followers.
4. GAINING SUPPORT: Leaders and followers influence others in the organization to support the change. People in the organization influence each other on the specifics of the proposed change.
5. MAKING THE CHANGE: Organizational policy makers decide on the proposed change. If the decision is positive, the staff members develop the strategies to institute the change in the organization. If the decision is negative, the leaders and followers go back to square one.
- "Leadership for the Twenty-First Century" by Joseph Rost
For other good quotes, see the book "Leadership" by William Safire.
