Quotes are often timeless pieces of wisdom that we need to understand, learn from and use to help us improve our performance as leaders. Here are 5 inspiring quotes on leadership that you need to hear, and look to benefit from their timeless wisdom.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. – William James
People are also looking to leaders to see what to do, how to great, hot to treat people. Leadership defines culture and you do that daily through your actions, so make sure you understand the importance of each action you take, because they do make a difference.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. Winston Churchill.
As a leader, your teams are going to experience both success and failure, and your job is to ensure that in both cases they get up and try again. The best way to do that is to make sure that you give them positive feedback for the effort because what gets recognized gets repeated and this will help to ensure that they go again. You also need to create a safe environment where teams feel that they will not be punished if they make mistakes or fail as that will give them the confidence to not only try, but to try again.
What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. – Zig Ziglar
I am a strong believer that our goal is to create a culture of success, where teams are constantly looking to raise the bar, and find that next opportunity to shine. To do this we need to achieve success, share the credit with the team and show them how they did it so it can be repeated. We must make success our goal, but achieving that transition to creating a culture where success is not only repeatable but expected.
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. – Theodore Roosevelt
The power of belief should never be underestimated. When we believe that we can achieve a goal it gives us the confidence and the inspiration to set off on the journey. Too often goals fail because people are too afraid to start, or that they quit at the first issue because they lack belief. A leader’s job is to create belief in the team’s ability, belief in the plan, and belief in the leader. When you can do that teams will rise to the challenge with confidence, they will overcome setbacks and persists until the goal is achieved. People are not afraid of hard work they are afraid of failure, and if we can remove that fear then the hard work will see them triumph.
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination. – Jimmy Dean
Flexibility is critical to any success. We should stick to our goals, but if our approach isn’t working we should be prepared to change it, to try something different, and find a way. Too often I see teams persist with approaches that will never succeed, with leaders who are too stubborn to change. Quitting on an approach is not the same as quitting on a goal. If something is not working change it. One of the definitions of madness is to keep doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results. Be committed to your goals, but flexible in how you achieve them, and change your approach to fit the situation.
Leadership has not really changed in the last 2000 years, what worked well before, still works today. The difference is the situation in which we apply leadership, and the environments we find ourselves in. I hope that these quotes will inspire you and help you to improve as a leader.
If you want to learn more about becoming an inspiring leader email me at gordon@gordontredgold.com to learn about the coaching and courses I offer that will help you on that journey.
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