John C. Maxwell

If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.

People who use time wisely spend it on activities that advance their overall purpose in life.

Success is…knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.

The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.

The art of leadership is a serious matter. One must not lag behind a movement, because to do so is to become isolated from the masses. But one must not rush ahead, for to rush ahead is to lose contact with the masses. He who wished to lead a movement must conduct a fight on two fronts–against those who lag behind and those who rush ahead.

Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.

I like to praise and reward in a loud voice and to scold in a whisper.

You do your job, you keep your job. Do it well, you get a better job.

A great leader has to be flexible, holding his ground on the major principles but finding room for compromises that can bring people together. A great leader has to be savvy at negotiations so we don’t drown every bill in pork barrel bridges to nowhere. I know how to stand my ground – but I also know that Republicans and Democrats need to find common ground to stand on as well.

The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.

I think people should be nicer to each other

The very essence of leadership is having vision.

If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?

Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.

It’s easy to demonise people, you’re usually wrong about it, people are nicer than you think.

A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

Leaders who are effective are leaders who are disciplined in their daily lives.

You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck.