Military Leadership Quotes

I had examined myself pretty thoroughly and discovered that I was unfit for military service.

A leader is a man who can adapt principles to circumstances.

Fight the enemy with the weapons he lacks.

A leader is the man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it.

Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.

I made efforts to swallow tears and to protect the species of the Japanese nation.

If officers desire to have control over their commands, they must remain habitually with them, industriously attend to their instruction and comfort, and in battle lead them well.

Leadership is the sum of those qualities of intellect, human understanding, and moral character that enables a person to inspire and control a group of people successfully.

We need a president who will lead with a stronger, more consistent foreign policy. We also need our commander in chief to put more faith in military leadership who have all of the combat experience. It’s bad policy to try to micromanage too much operationally and tactically from a desk in the Oval Office.

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself.

You want to be commander-in-chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it's not politically convenient.

The First Lady and I both spotted the President standing under the mistletoe and she moved in to grab a kiss from him following a dinner for Combatant Commanders and military leadership at Blair House in Washington, D.C.

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.

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.

Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership.

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.

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

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.

A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.

The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.

The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.

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.

Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

Never forget that no military leader has ever become great without audacity.

If the leader is filled with high ambition and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.

You don't lead by hitting people over the head - that's assault, not leadership.

You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.

To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war.

Always do everything you ask of those you command.

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.

The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Get the hell out of my way!

Be the hunter, not the hunted: Never allow your unit to be caught with its guard down.

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

Do not follow where the path may lead.

Any commander who fails to exceed his authority is not of much use to his subordinates.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says 'I was beaten,' he does not say 'My men were beaten.'

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

World War II had been such a tremendous success story for this country that the political and military leadership began to assume that they would prevail simply because of who they were. We were like the British at the turn of the 19th century.