Quotes About Leadership

Whenever a leader tries to build job security by making himself indispensable to the organization, he in fact does the organization a disservice. Job security is too often based on someone's insecurity.

When a leader attempts to become well-rounded, he brings down the average of the organization's leadership quotient—which brings down the level of the leaders around him. Don't strive to be a well-rounded leader. Instead, discover your zone and stay there. Then delegate everything else.

Every leader has authority over arenas in which he has little or no competence. When we exert our authority in an area where we lack competence, we can derail projects and demotivate those who have the skills we lack.

If we all got kicked off the staff and the board, and an outside group (a group of leaders who were fearlessly committed to the mission of this church) took our place, what changes would they introduce?68 What's the first thing they would do? Who would they replace? What would they refuse to fund?

Nothing hinders morale more than when team members with separate agendas are pulling against one another. When this happens, it's usually because those in charge have not taken the time necessary to clarify the win for their team.

I once heard John Maxwell say, "You are most valuable where you add the most value." It is vital to the health and success of our organizations that we as leaders discover that task, that narrow arena of responsibility where we add the most value. And once we find it, it's even more vital that we stay there.

If anything has kept me on track all these years, it's being skewered to this principle of central focus. There are many things I can do, but I have to narrow it down to the one thing I must do. The secret of concentration is elimination. (emphasis added) As you evaluate your current leadership environment and responsibilities, what do you see that needs to be eliminated? What needs to be delegated? What would it "not be right" for you to continue doing?

Are you willing to follow Jesus regardless of where he leads you politically?

Initially, your vision will exceed your competency.

Vision always precedes preparation. Initially, your vision will exceed your competency.

Several years ago I concluded that 80 percent of my professional productivity flowed from three activities: Corporate visioncasting Corporate communication Leadership development

A sixty-hour workweek will not compensate for a poorly delivered sermon. People don't show up on Sunday morning because I am a good pastor (leader, shepherd, counselor). Ironically, my pastoring skills have almost nothing to do with my success as a pastor! In my world, it is my communication skills that make the difference. So that is where I focus my time.

Leaders must challenge the process precisely because any system will unconsciously conspire to maintain the status quo and prevent change."9 Organizations seek an equilibrium.

The leader is the one who has the courage to act on what he sees.

A leader is someone who has the courage to say publicly what everybody else is whispering privately.

In this way, courage establishes leadership.

For this reason it is the dark that provides the leader with his greatest opportunities. It is your response to the dark that determines in large part whether or not you will be called on to lead. For the darkness is what keeps the average person from stepping outside the security of what has always been.

Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity. They are simply the first to seize an opportunity. It is the person who seizes the opportunity who emerges as the leader. But fear has kept many would-be leaders on the sidelines, while good opportunities paraded by. They didn't lack insight. They lacked courage.

simply a lesson in things not to repeat. Leaders can much more easily live with the prospects of having tried and failed than not having tried at all. Leaders fear missed opportunity more than they fear an unsuccessful enterprise.

Ministry makes people's faith bigger. If you want to increase someone's confidence in God, put him in a ministry position before he feels fully equipped.

Leaders are not always the first to see the need for change, but they are the first to act. And once they move away from the pack, they are positioned to lead.

You can't lead without taking risk. You won't take risk without courage. Courage is essential to leadership.

As I listen to leaders tell their stories, I hear very little about strategic planning and goal setting. I hear a lot about identifying and acting on opportunities. Strategies and goals have their place. But they don't define leadership. Leaders see and seize opportunity. And in most cases, the opportunities take them by surprise.

Leaders worth following are always careful. They are careful because they genuinely care for those who have chosen to follow. A leader who is careless will eventually be considered thoughtless by those who have entrusted their future to him.