Huge fan of quotes. Whenever I have something to say, I remind myself that someone has probably said it better, in fewer words.  For leadership, a few that made me really reflect.

Get results

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

BOOM, so powerfully said. Leadership = results, not attributes. So, while we can admire someone’s potential, principles, words, brand . . . are they delivering results? Long-term, sustainable results? 

Define reality

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant. —Max DePree

This sounds like something Ray Dalio might say. Without facing up to the truth of the situation, you don’t see the edge of the problem, the trade-offs needed, or the challenges ahead. Namely, you’re not paying attention. 

Love the book-ends. 1) Start with reality, 3) end with thank you, 2) in the middle, serve.  

Do the work

Earn your leadership every day. –Michael Jordan

Entitlement is everywhere. “Leaders” with title are no different. All of us need to do the work, earn our success. 

Grow others

Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. —Jack Welch

A client of mine often says, “Leaders make leaders.” Simple, direct, almost counter-intuitive. As leaders, we are judging our progress through the mile-markers of other people. Deep.

Say no 

The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes. —Tony Blair

Yes, strategy = what you don’t do. Blindly saying “yes” can definitely get you in trouble.” Also, we’ve all seen leaders of organization who simply ADD to their people’s burden. We need to take things OFF of people’s plate.

Prioritize and do

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

—Stephen Covey

This is classic Covey.

Take blame, give credit

A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. —John Maxwell

Leaders need to get results through their people; rarely are big problems are solved by 1 person. We all want to work for bosses that protect their people from undue blame:

• Smart, reasoned decision-making that happen to lead to poor results
• Unforeseen, black-swan events that affect everyone unilaterally
• The push to innovate, experiment, “wander” that don’t always work 

Don’t get in the way

So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work. —Peter Drucker

Oh my, I see this everyday. Layers of managers who call meetings, organize notes, get buy-in, and generally shuffle process. Is process needed (of course). Could we take out 20% of administrative processes with limited/no impact to productivity? (probably)

Be brave

The nation will find it very hard to look up to the leaders who are keeping their ears to the ground. —Sir Winston Churchill

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. —Max Lucado

Principled leadership is rare. It’s much more common to see elected officials reading polls, “pivoting” their stances to appeal to the audience in front of them, or to accommodate the #trend.

Be willing to follow

I am reminded how hollow the label of leadership sometimes is and how heroic followership can be. —Warren Bennis

Don’t have to be in the front to be the leader. Leadership takes so many forms. Yes, followership can be heroic.

Meet the challenge

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. —Rosalynn Carter

Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day. —Jesse Jackson

I struggle with this. As a management consultant, I thrive on making the client happy. Good at running workshops, getting alignment, finding the sweet spot compromise among all the corporate marriage counseling. However, leadership is also taking people where they might not want to go (or not an easy path). Vegetables, not sweets.

Be obsessed

To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way. —Pat Riley

Obsessed.  Big word. Sounds negative. Stubborn. Unrelenting. Hard-headed. Yes, leadership is about creating change and (NEWS ALERT) change is hard and often takes a long time. Leadership requires dogged consistency.

Change the world

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead