Quotes on Leadership

"Power's Purpose"

There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people.

George Bush

"Govern Thyself First"

He that would govern others, first should be the master of himself.
Philip Massinger

"The First Art of Kings"

The first art of kings [is] the power to suffer hatred.

Seneca the Younger

"Abuse Not Power"

The most dangerous thing about power is to employ it where it is not applicable.

David Halberstam

"Nine Principles Of Effective Leadership"

He who would learn to command well must first of all learn to obey.

Greek Saying

The first and greatest imperative of command is to be present in person. Those who impose risk must be seen to share it... It is the spectacle of heroism, or its immediate report, that fires the blood.

John Keegen

"Slave King"

The greatest slave in a kingdom is generally the king of it.

Fulke Greville

"Be Good. Be Genuine."

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

Andre Gide

"Good Leadership Trumps Popularity"

One good measure of ego-strength and inner confidence is the degree to which a person can risk unpopularity when the occasion demands.

Norman F. Dixon

"Stand Firm - Even Alone"

If a man has acted right he has done well, though alone. If wrong, the sanction of all mankind will not justify him.

Henry Fielding

"Seek Out Truth In Examples And Parables"

The philosophic mind is that which habitually sees the general in the particular, and finds food for the deepest thought in the simplest objects.
Leslie Stephen

"Ruffle Necessary Feathers
"Especially in an age as corrupt and ignorant as this, the good opinion of the people is a dishonor.

Montaigne

"It's Your Baby, Baby"

It is well to designate a general for a task and let him plan it himself...No plan originated by another will be as sympathetically handled as one's own plan."
Conrad H. Lanza

"Healthy Detachment"
My soul preached to me and said, "Do not be delighted because of praise, and do not be distressed because of blame.

Kahlil Gibran

"Let's See It"
An orator's life is more convincing than his eloquence.

Publius Syrus

"Power Behind Pressure"

It is not well to threaten before having the power to act.

Machiavelli

"Assess The Advantage"

Maneuvering for petty advantage is short-sighted.

Mao-Tse-Tung

"Faithful First In The Very Little"

Someone asked Beth Moore how she felt about "The Prayer of Jabez", which emboldened us to pray for enlarged borders, a la 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 (bigger church programs?) "I feel just fine about it," she said. "But sometimes I wonder if God is thinking, 'I was kind of hoping that you would operate in the borders I already gave you.'"

Andree Seu

"Use Me"

"Use me, my savior, for whatever purpose and in whatever way you may require.  Here is my poor heart, an empty vessel: fill it with your grace.  Here is my sinful and troubled soul; quicken it and refresh it with your love.  Take my heart for your abode; my mouth to spread abroad the glory of  your name; my love and all my powers for the advancement of your believing people; and never allow the steadfastness and confidence of my faith to abate." 

Dwight L. Moody

"Leading Adolescents"

Who confronts them with urgency and tears? Who pleads with them not to waste their lives? Who takes them by the collar, so to speak, and loves them enough to show them a life so radical and so real and so costly and Christ-saturated that they feel the emptiness and triviality of their CD collection and their pointless conversations about passing celebrities?...

Oh, that young and old would turn off the television, take a long walk, and dream about feats of courage for a cause ten thousand times more important than American democracy - as precious as that is....

Christ came and died and rose again in order to gather a joyful, countless company for his name from all the peoples of the world. This is what every Christian should dream about....

John Piper

"Springboards"

[The commander] must always think and plan two battles ahead - the one he is prepared to fight and the next one - so that success gained in one battle can be used as a springboard for the next.
Bernard Law Montgomery

The commander must try, above all, to establish personal and comradely contact with his men, but without giving away an inch of his authority.

Erwin Rommel

Never speak ill of a subordinate except to his face.

Henry H. Adams

A bold general may be lucky, but no general can be lucky unless he is bold.

Archibald Percival Wavell

The dissimulation of the general consists of the important art of hiding his thoughts. He should be constantly on the stage and should appear most tranquil when he is most occupied, for the whole army speculates on his looks, on his gestures, and on his mood.

Fredrick II

A commander should have a profound understanding of human nature, the knack of smoothing out troubles, the power of winning affection while communicating energy, and the capacity for ruthless determination where require by circumstances. He needs to generate an electrifying current, and to keep a cool head in applying it.

Capt. Sir Basil Liddell Hart

I don't do much, except think a lot, scold a little, pat a man on the back now and then, and try to keep a perspective.

Douglas MacArthur

A man knew that he had met the Chief of Staff's expectations when he received increased responsibility and the rank that went with it.

Stephen E. Ambrose

"Don't Ask The Man On The Street"

How can they advise, if they see but a Part?

Benjamin Franklin

"Finding Miss Right"

A woman’s heart should be so hidden in Christ, that a man should have to seek Him first to find her.
Maya Angelou

"Woe To You When All Men Speak Well Of You"

To serve the publick [sic] faithfully, and at the same time please it entirely, is impracticable.

Benjamin Franklin

"Virtuous Leaders, A Safeguard"

The virtue of its ruler is a far greater safeguard to a state than a frontier of inaccessible cliffs.

Wu-Tzu

"Lead  Not For The Approval of Men"

If a man has acted right, he has done well, though alone; if wrong the sanction of all mankind will not justify him.

Henry Fielding

"The Outcomes Are God's"

My principle is to do whatever is right, and leave consequences to Him who has the disposal of them.

Thomas Jefferson

"Delightfully disarmed"  

If we are any good we must always be working towards the moment at which our pupils are fit to become our critics and rivals. We should be delighted when it arrives, as the fencing master is delighted when his pupil can pink and disarm him. 

C.S. Lewis

"Handling The Relentless Critic"

Pay no attention to what the critics say; there has never been a statue erected to a critic
Jean Sibelius

"Make Yourself Obsolete"

The proper aim of giving is to put the recipient in a state where he no longer needs our gift. We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need our teaching. Thus a heavy task is laid upon this Gift-love. It must work towards its own abdication. We must aim at making ourselves superfluous. The hour when we can say "They need me no longer" should be our reward...The instinct desires the good of its object, but not simply only the good it can itself give. A much higher love...desires the good of the object...from whatever source that good comes... 

C.S. Lewis

"Finish The Job"

It is one thing to show a man that he is in an error, and another to put him in possession of the truth."
John Locke

"Make The Most Of Your Water Cooler: Speak Of His Faithfulness"

  Psalm 40:10 “I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.”

 There are four lepers on the outskirts of a town under siege that is collectively starving to death. They stumble on the abandoned camp of their enemy and begin to gorge themselves on food that was left behind in haste. After filling their faces, they are seized with guilt and say to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household” (2 Kings 7:9).

How do we “hide God’s deliverance within our hearts”? We do it whenever we have an opening in conversation, and we hold back because we think of reasons why it is not the right time. We do it when we are more “culturally sensitive” than Holy Spirit-sensitive. We do it when we go for the cheap laugh. Like Paul Simon sang, “There are 50 ways to leave your lover.”

Jesus was not “culturally sensitive” in that respect. If he was “sensitive,” it was to the coming of the darkness and the misery of men plunging headlong into a joyless eternity. If we only knew how desperate people are, and how fast they would jump at even a fumbling presentation of the truth! My first Christian roommate, a Jewish hippy loitering on the Boston Commons, was won to Christ when a Christian walked up to her on the street and said, “Want to meet some normal people?” God is like a Rumpelstiltskin who can weave your straw comments into gold, soul-saving gospel.

No wonder Paul was not hindered by “cultural sensitivity” when he told the gospel all over the Mediterranean. He had witnessed its potency over and over. There is nothing like seeing how well the gospel works one time to make it easier the next time. And so he spoke truly when he said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

 Why are we remiss about telling people about Jesus? Horrible as it may seem, we of the saved cop an “I’ve got mine!” attitude. It’s the attitude new sophomores have toward new freshmen once they’ve made it past the first year and are no longer quivering wretches. “In the thought of one who is at ease there is contempt for misfortune” (Job 12:5). What is misfortune but not knowing Jesus or being saved? What is contempt but lazy withholding of a hand up out of hell?

There was a white-collar man who came back to his office on a Monday after getting saved over the weekend. He bubbled over with the news to one of his colleagues at the water cooler. The other man said, “Good. Now we can study the Bible together.” “What! You mean you’re a Christian?” asked the new convert. “Yup,” said the older Christian proudly. “But you were my biggest stumbling block. I watched you day after day, and you were so ‘together’ that for a long time I thought, ‘See, a person doesn’t need Jesus to live a moral life.’”

Jesus spoke up at the “water cooler” in Samaria when He struck up a conversation with a five-time divorcee. He wants us now to make the most of our own water coolers.

Andree Seu

"Popularity"

Though I prize, as I ought, the good opinion of my fellow citizens; yet, if I know myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of one social duty or moral virtue.
George Washington

"Love Wins"

If you want to win mankind, you must make them think you love them, and the best way to make them think you love them, is to love them in reality.
Jeremy Bentham

"Wait For Germination"

The very man who has argued you down will sometimes be found, years later, to have been influenced by what you have said.

C.S. Lewis

"The Rest Of Your Life Can Be The Best Of Your Life"

Love God with all your heart: You were planned for God’s pleasure, so your purpose is to love God through worship. Love your neighbor as yourself: You were shaped for serving, so your purpose is to show love for others through ministry. Go and make disciples: You were made for a mission, so your purpose is to share God’s message through evangelism. Baptize them...You were formed for God’s family so your purpose is to identify with his church through fellowship. Teach them to do all things: You were created to become like Christ, so your purpose is to grow to maturity through discipleship. [Join] a small group for accountability...We learn best in community. Our minds are sharpened and our convictions are deepened through conversation...Regardless of your age, the rest of your life can be the best of your life…

Rick Warren

"Power At Its Best"

What is needed is the realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A Kind of Immortality"

The influence of each human being on others in this life is a kind of immortality
John Quincy Adams

"Know When Help Does Not Help"

The more help a person has in his garden, the less it belongs to him
William H. Davies

"Love Freedom Heartily"

None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom but license.
John Milton

"What's Your Story?"

It does no good to exhort one another to be more bold and public with our faith if we have very little sense of the presence and power of God in our own lives. If we say to neighbors, “Come to Christ and He will change your life,” and if they then ask a follow-up question about how Christ has changed ours, we had better have something to answer.

 One cannot give away what one does not have. Jesus instructed the former demoniac, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you . . .” (Mark 5:19), and the man had something to tell. I am not at all saying that our conversions and lives should all be as sensational as the Gadarenes man’s. But my impression from Scripture is that we should all have some kind of narrative of the Lord’s dealing with us (See Psalm 40:1-3), whether it’s more like a Chopin nocturne or a turbulent Wagnerian opera.         

 The seriousness of our plight becomes evident when we realize that it is the joy of the Lord that advances the Kingdom. King David knew that, and so he was eager that his joy should be restored after the Bathsheba fiasco:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation . . . then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you” (Psalm 51:12-13).

Andree Seu

"Bring To Others The Deliverance"

He who has been delivered from pain must not think he is now free again, and at liberty to take life up just as it was before, entirely forgetful of the past. He is now a 'man whose eyes are open' with regard to pain and anguish, and he must help to overcome those two enemies...and to bring to others the deliverance which he has himself enjoyed.

Albert Schweitzer

"Direct With Thoughtful Compassion"

I do not believe that any man can lead who does not act...under the impulse of a profound sympathy with those whom he leads.

Woodrow Wilson

"With Boldness"

Who makes a timid request invites denial.
Seneca The Younger

"God's Power In Your Weakness

You have a bundle of flaws and imperfections: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. You also have uncontrollable circumstances that weaken you…the more important issue is what you do with these…Whenever you feel weak, God is reminding you to depend on Him...Vulnerability is an endearing quality; we are naturally drawn to humble people. Pretentiousness repels but authenticity attracts, and vulnerability is the pathway to intimacy. This is why God wants to use your weakness, not just your strengths. If all people see are your strengths, they get discouraged and think, “Well, good for her, but I’ll never be able to do that.” But when they see God using you in spite of your weaknesses, it encourages them to think, ‘Maybe God can use me!’ Our strengths create competition, but our weaknesses create community. At some point you are going to have to decide whether you want to impress people or influence people.

Rick Warren

"Saving Outcasts"

The first vital step in saving outcasts consists in making them feel that some decent human being cares enough for them to take an interest in the question whether they are to rise or sink.

William Booth

"Whose Opinion Carries Weight?"

...We all wish to be judged by our peers, by the men 'after our own heart.' Only they really know our mind and only they judge it by standards we fully acknowledge. Theirs is the praise we really covet and the blame we really dread. The little pockets of early Christians survived because they cared exclusively for the love of 'the brethren' and stopped their ears to the opinion of the Pagan society around them. But a circle of criminals, cranks, or perverts survives in just the same way; by becoming deaf to the opinion of the outer world, by discounting it as the chatter of outsiders who 'don't understand,' of the 'conventional,' the 'bourgeois,' the 'Establishment,' of prigs, prudes, and humbugs.

C.S. Lewis

"Nothing Matters More To God"

If you want to be used by God, you must care about what God cares about; what he cares about most is the redemption of the people He made. He wants his lost children found! Nothing matters more to God; the Cross proves that...more important than any job, achievement, or goal you will reach during your life on earth...Nothing else you do will ever matter as much as helping people establish an eternal relationship with God.

Rick Warren

"The Deadly Poison Of A Bad Report"

   Caleb was one of 12 men sent by Moses to scout out Canaan and bring back intelligence to prepare Israel for conquest (Numbers 13). Twelve spies all observed the same data: fertile soil, fortified cities, and giants descendant from Anak. At the debriefing Caleb said cheerfully, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” But the other men (except Joshua) gave the people “a bad report”:

 “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim . . . and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (13:32-33).

How little have we understood the deadly poison of “a bad report” on the hearers? I do it all the time. I nearly gave one today. Someone told me his relationship with the mother of his son was unsalvageable and that the idea of their reconciling and marrying was out of the question. He listed several reasons why he should give up and move on, and they were such formidable reasons that I almost agreed with him. (God could never fix that! Too far gone!)

 No Christian who insists that he is unable to do a difficult thing thinks he has a spirit of unbelief. He thinks, rather, that he is a realist. He considers someone with Caleb’s attitude to be nutty at best and theologically dangerous at worst.

God later weighed in on the spies’ reports and decreed that the 10 realists would never enter the land of Canaan. But as for the obnoxious faith fanatic, God said, “My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring him into the land into which he went. . . .” (14:24)...We have made things complicated but they are simple: Put your faith in God, in spite of all outward appearances. And do not go around giving “a bad report” and dousing other people’s faith by always pointing out the negative side of things, the obstacles and probabilities and statistics. Caleb saw opportunities for God to be glorious, where others saw only difficulties...

Andree Seu

"March With Me"

The test we must set for ourselves is not to march alone but to march in such a way that others will wish to join us.

Hubert Humphrey

"Save His Face"

Keep strong, if possible. In any case, keep cool. Have unlimited patience. Never corner an opponent, and always assist him to save his face. Put yourself in his shoes- so as to see things through his eyes. Avoid self-righteousness like the devil- nothing is so self-blinding. B.H. Liddell Hart

"Earn Respect"

Rank without merit earns deference without respect.

Chamfort

"Starting An Ideal Trajectory"

He who wishes to teach us a truth should not tell it to us, but simply suggest it with a brief gesture, a gesture which starts an ideal trajectory in the air along which we glide until we find ourselves at the feet of the new truth.

Jose Ortega y Gasset

"Measureless Influence"

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

Henry Adams

"Building On The Known"

There is no method of teaching that of which anyone is ignorant but by means of something already known.

Samuel Johnson

"The Art of Assisting Discovery"

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

Mark Van Doren

"Telling? Explaining? Demonstrating? Or Inspiring?"

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.

William Arthur Ward

"What If Everyone Were Like You?"

Become the lesson you would teach, be what you would have others become. Anonymous

"Fresh Eyes"

The visionary disciplines himself to see the world always as if he had only just seen it for the first time.

Colin Wilson