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Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.
Sep 10, 2025
"Spirituality" in business sounds lofty. How practical is it? The answer is "very." There's a fundamental way in which Spirit and consciousness contribute to worldly success-and it has long been ignored. [. . .] As experts, authors and gurus often note, the game of business is to influence the external world. But here's the point: How can you control your environment if you can't even manage your own thoughts and emotions? In other words, how do you rule the world without first mastering yourself? The cornerstone of effective leadership is self-mastery.
The cornerstone of effective leadership is self-mastery.
Charisma is the result of effective leadership, not the other way around.
The main characteristics of effective leadership are intelligence, integrity or loyalty, mystique, humor, discipline, courage, self sufficieny and confidence.
Efficient management without effective leadership is, as one individual phrased, it, "like straightening deck chairs on the Titanic".
As a result of our [my campaign's] discussions and other interactions with gay and lesbian voters across the state, I am more convinced than ever that as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent [Ted Kennedy].
The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I'. They don't think 'I'. They think 'we'; they think 'team'.
He who has great power should use it lightly.
Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better.
Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure - which is: Try to please everybody.
The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.
A leader is one who sees more than others see, who sees farther than others see, and who sees before others do." (Leroy Eims)
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
Inventories can be managed, but people must be led.
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
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.
Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.
People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.
In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still.
To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.
The single biggest barrier to effective leadership is, in my view, the leadership industry itself. Instead of telling people the skills and behaviors they need to be effective in getting things done, we tell them almost the opposite - blandishments about how we wish people would be, and how we wish workplaces were. That information is worse than useless as, to the extent people believe it, they often wind up losing their jobs.
Leadership is defined by results not attributes.
The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.
When the effective leader is finished with his work, the people say it happened naturally.
It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.
He who has learned how to obey will know how to command.
The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.
Leaders aren't born they are made.
Leaders are not born, they're made.
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
Questions are far more effective than defensive statements. They do not imply agreement, but they do convey interest and a desire to understand and facilitate an environment for peak performance, a central thread of effective leadership.... The next time someone accuses you of virtually anything, ask some questions. Resolving the situation may take more time, but the outcome will likely be more productive for both of you.
Effective leadership is the only competitive advantage that will endure. That's because leadership has two sides- what a person is character and what a person does- competence.
Marcus Buckingham has a keen sense of what it takes to excel, and he backs his insights with an impressive body of in-depth interviews and research. This is an important book for anybody who aspires to effective leadership, managing, or any kind of enduring individual achievement.
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists.
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
Be the change you want to see in your networks
Be the trouble you want to see in the world.
Be the change you want to see.
Be the compromise you want to see in the world.
Build what you want to see in the world.
We know that leadership is very much related to change. As the pace of change accelerates, there is naturally a greater need for effective leadership.
Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.
COURAGE isn't an absence of fear. It is doing what you are afraid to do, letting go of the familiar and forging ahead into new territory. What I have discovered is that the best leaders have the courage to act - are willing to take the risk, make the statement, point the way, lead the way - when others hesitate out of fear. Effective leadership requires the ability to stand up, stand out, and the conviction to do it. I have never known a successful leader that was not courageous.
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.
Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.