Best Leadership Advice From Famous Leaders And Thinkers

Leadership is both a science and art that involves the mobilization of people towards certain goals. In the midst of working and pursuing them, it will be to our advantage when we are well advised.

Let’s hear what some of the most famous leaders and leadership thinkers have to advice us regarding being effective leaders:

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

— George S. Patton, World War II General 

I don`t want any “yes-men” around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs.

— Samuel Goldwyn 1882-1974, movie producer 

We shape our environments, then our environments shape us.

— Winston Churchill 1874-1965, former British Prime Minister

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 1835-1919, Scottish industrialist 

The skilful leader subdues the enemy`s troups without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overtrows their kingdom without lenghty operations in the field. With his forces intact he wil dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without loosing a man, his triumph wil be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

— Sun Tzu c. 490 BC, Chinese military strategist 

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.

— Peter F. Drucker, American management guru 

The responsibility of the executive is (1) to create and maintain a sense of purpose and moral code for the organization; (2) to establish systems of formal and informal communication; and (3) to ensure the willingness of people to cooperate.

— Chester Barnard in The Functions of the Executive (1938)

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

— Washington Irving, 1783-1859, American author 

Personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them.

— Stephen Covey, American leadership author

Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.

— Jesse Jackson, Civil rights leader

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