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23 Battle-Tested Leadership Quotes That Can Transform Your

Life
By Erik Sherman Erik Sherman's work has appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times
Magazine, and Fortune. He also blogs for CBS MoneyWatch. Full bio @ ErikSherman Contributor, Inc.com @ ErikSherman

While we remember those who served in the armed forces, it is also important to reflect on the lessons those
soldiers learned. No other setting that can drive fear and summon courage like battle. Top commanding officers
have to bring their troops through something no completely sane human would relish. The bad ones simply try to
drive soldiers through fear. The great ones, even when deeply flawed, urge them on with inspiration.
Here are 23 expressions of wisdom from those for whom leadership was a literal matter of life and death:
1. "You manage things; you lead people. We went overboard on management and forgot about leadership. It
might help if we ran the MBAs out of Washington." -- Rear Adm. Grace Murray Hooper
2. "A leader is a dealer in hope." -- Napoleon Bonaparte
3. "My own definition of leadership is this: the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common
purpose and the character which inspires confidence." -- Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
4. "The best executive is the one who has 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." -- President Theodore Roosevelt
5. "People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives." - T. Roosevelt
6. "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." -- T. Roosevelt
7. "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the
compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the
equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." -- Gen. Douglas MacArthur
8. "Never give an order that can't be obeyed." -- D. MacArthur
9. "There is no security on this earth, there is only opportunity." -- D. MacArthur
10. "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." - President Dwight Eisenhower
11. "You don't lead by hitting people over the head--that's assault, not leadership." -- D. Eisenhower
12. "We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and
make all other considerations bend to that one objective." -- D. Eisenhower
13. "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - Gen. George Patton
14. "Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader." -- G. Patton
15. "A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances." -- G. Patton
16. "If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking." -- G. Patton
17. "Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without
the strategy." -- Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf
18. "Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to
offer a solution everybody can understand." -- Gen. Colin Powell
19. "Experts often possess more data than judgement." -- C. Powell

20. "You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end -- which you can never afford to lose -- with
the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be." -- Vice Adm.
James Stockdale
21. "What we need for leaders are men of the heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the
need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers. Strange as it sounds,
great leaders gain authority by giving it away." -- J. Stockdale
22. "We need to learn to set our course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship." -- Gen. Omar
Bradley
23. "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak and
esteem to all." -- President George Washington